Philippine riders cop gold in UCI Asian series

MANILA, Philippines - Ariana Dormitorio and Eleazar Barba Jr. struck gold for the Philippines in the UCI Asia Mountain Bike Series’ Leg 1 races over the weekend in Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia.

Dormitorio stamped her class in the women’s elite cross country Olympic competition while Barba dominated the men’s elite downhill race.

The 20-year-old Dormitorio covered the 16.4 kilometer course in 1:16:58 as she beat Malaysian star Mohd Radzi Masziyaton (1:24:56) and Zainal Abidin Nur Assyira (1:36:49) with plenty to spare.

Dormitorio said she was inspired by the encouragement and support from back home and got challenged having raced against Masziyaton, the Malaysian National Champ and a perennial medalist in the Asian and Southeast Asian Games.

“She was really strong; I was trailing her at the start but I just stayed with the plan my coach/dad (Donjie) laid out for me, which was to be just 90 percent at the first 2-3 laps of the 5-lap race since it was very tough course,” Dormitorio said.

“I was surprised at the steep climb of the first lap; I was able to grab a big lead already despite the moderate pace I was doing. I just took that opportunity and never looked back. I believed our intensive training specific for this race prepared me really well,” she added.

Barba, 28, dominated the action in the 3.1 kilometer downhill competition, logging a winning time of 2:53:23 over Malaysians Norshahriel Haizat Ahmed Nazali (3:05:13) and Muhamad Aim Fauzi (3:05:19).

Jun Duron added a silver in the Phl harvest as he finished second in the 13-kilometer Masters-A cross country event. He reached the finish in 1 minute and 16 seconds after winner Kusnadi of Indonesia.