MANILA, Philippines — Ipinakita ang kanilang matinding determinasyon, hinirang ang Go For Gold Philippines Continental Cycling Team bilang Best Filipino Team sa katatapos na 10th Le Tour de Filipinas.
Pumadyak para sa Go for Gold squad sina Jonel Carcueva, Daniel Ven Cariño, Ismael Grospe at Jericho Lucero sa nasabing five-day UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) 2.2 category race.
“As a young team with young Pinoy riders, I believe this validates the faith we have given our developmental team and shows the enormous improvement they have made against other powerhouse Filipino teams,’’ sabi ni Go For Gold godfather Jeremy Go.
Nauna nang sumabak ang koponan sa 2019 Ronda Pilipinas at PRURide PH kung saan hinirang sina Grospe at Cariño bilang best young rider, ayon sa pagkakasunod.
“Of course, we would have preferred to get a better placing, especially in the best young rider category, which we had successfully won in our two previous UCI races,’’ ani Go, ang vice president for marketing ng Powerball Marketing & Logistics Corporation.
Ibinibigay ang best young rider award sa best-performing cyclist na may edad 23-anyos pababa.
Humataw ang Go For Gold riders sa Stage One ng Le Tour de Filipinas sa Tagaytay City bagama't hindi nakuha ni team captain Elmer Navarro ang 'curfew' (limit time).
Ang solidong teamwork nina Lucero, Grospe, Carino at Carcueva kasama ang pagsunod sa estratehiya ni Go For Gold project director at head coach Ednalyn Hualda ang nagbigay ng magandang resulta sa tropa para kilalaning best Filipino squad sa karerang naglatag ng UCI ranking points para sa 2020 Tokyo Olympics.