MANILA, Philippines – The national cycling championships for road, mountain bike and BMX, which serves as part of the selection process for the 31st Southeast Asian Games late this year in Hanoi, Vietnam, have been postponed due to the alarming rise of new cases of COVID-19.
“The priority is always the health and safety of everyone — cyclists, officials and fans, no questions asked,” said PhilCycling chief Abraham Tolentino in a statement Wednesday. The national tilt for road bike was initially set from May 5-8 at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority while mountain bike and BMX are scheduled in June in Tagaytay City.
The Philippine Olympic Committee president and Tagaytay Congressman did not say when will they resume the reset events but stressed it will depend on how the spike in cases will be curbed.
“We’ll just have to wait until the pandemic is contained,” said Tolentino.
The national championships were part of the criteria for the selection of riders for the biennial meet set November 21 to December 2.
Competitions for road included individual time trial, team time trial, criterium and massed start for men and women, cross country, downhill and cross country mixed relay for mountain bike, and racing event for BMX.