Carcueva leads Cebuano winners in Philcycling National Championship for Road
THE TASTE OF GOLD! Jonel Carcueva bites his gold medal during the awarding ceremony. | Photo from Philcycling.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Minglanilla’s pride, Jonel Carcueva grabbed the spotlight during the finale of the Philcycling National Championship for Road by ruling the men’s elite mass start on Friday, June 24, 2022, in Tagaytay.
Carcueva, who represented Scratch It! of Go For Gold Philippines, finished the grueling 146-kilometer race in three hours, 19 minutes, and 54 seconds to bag the gold medal among 80 riders who vied in the category.
The 27-year-old Cebuano cyclist who earned the 2019 Southeast Asian Games bronze medal in the men’s team classification race, was 14 seconds clear of second placer Felipe Marcelo Hernandez of Team 7 Eleven CliQQ who crossed the finish line in 3:20.08.
Rounding off the top three in the men’s elite mass start was John Mark Camingao of the Philippine Navy Standard Insurance, who finished the race in 03:20.09.
Go For Gold’s Ronnilan Quita (3:20.09) and Rodney Fernando (3:21.08) grabbed the fourth and fifth places, respectively.
In his Facebook post, Carcueva thanked his supporters, sponsors, and family. He profusely thanked God for his strength during the lung-busting race.
The race has a high-elevation route traversing the upland areas of Batangas, particularly in Tagaytay, which gave the riders a grinding experience.
The race route featured two strength-sapping climbs, one with a 400-meter elevation traversing the Agoncillo road, and a short but steeper Sungay Road in Batangas.
Nonetheless, Carcueva, who ruled stage five of last March’s Ronda Pilipinas, delivered an outstanding performance.
Aside from Carcueva, other Cebuano cyclists also made a good account of themselves.
Khalil Sanchez won the men’s junior criterium on Tuesday in thrilling fashion. The 17-year-old vaunted mountain bike rider captured the race’s top spot via a photo finish.
Sanchez added another silver medal by finishing second in the men’s junior mass start.
In addition, Samstill Mamites ruled the men’s youth time trial 15-16 years old category. /rcg
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