Overtime

PHL RIDERS BAG BRONZE IN MTB CROSS-COUNTRY MIXED RELAY

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cycling delivered a bronze medal in the mixed team relay of cross-country of mountain bike on another searing day on Sunday in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Siem Reap City.

7 May 2023

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cycling delivered a bronze medal in the mixed team relay of cross-country of mountain bike on another searing day on Sunday in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Siem Reap City.

Ariana Evangelista, Shagne Yaoyao, EJ Flores, and Jerico Rivera clocked 52 minutes and 25 seconds to finish third in the 14.80-km event raced over a 3.7-km circuit in the foothills of Kulen Mountain in the city 300-km from the Cambodian capital made world-famous by the mystical Angkor Wat heritage site.

Feri Yudoyono, Zaenal Fanani, Darah Latifa, and Sayu Bella Sukma Dewi were timed 50 minutes and 11 seconds for Indonesia’s third gold medal in MTB cycling after a sweep of the individual cross-country Olympic events on Saturday.

Thailand’s Keerati Sukprasart, Phunsiri Sirimongkhon, Supuksorn Nuntana, and Warinthorn Phetraphan clinched silver in 51:44.

“Thank you!” PhilCycling vice president Oscar Rodriguez said. “There are some negative reactions to our first-day performance, but like what I have said. the odds were against us.

The Philippine XCO riders missed the podium on the first day of cycling action on Saturday.

“The weather and unfamiliarity [of the track] went against us. But this did not put down the team,” he said. “I told them we compete in the heat and we strategize and that today [Sunday] will be our day.’

He added: “We were just 40 seconds away from silver. This is a tough, resilient, and believing team! More to do tomorrow. We are not yet done!”

Naomi Gardoce, women’s downhill bronze medalist last year in Vietnam, leads the campaign in MTB cycling’s final event—XCO eliminator—on Monday along with Evangelista, veteran Eleazar Barba Jr., and Mark Louwel Valderama.