ARIANA Dormitorio successfully defended her Philcycling National Trials for MTB title on Sunday in dominating fashion during the first sanctioned race during the pandemic held in Danao City.
Dormitorio clocked one hour, 29 minutes, and 50.75 seconds to take home the gold medal again in the women’s cross country elite and reassert her supremacy as the best lady XCO rider in the country.
Competing in her first elite race, Nicole Quiñones, daughter of 2003 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Eboy Quinones, placed second with a time of 1:42:12.89, more than 12 minutes behind Dormitorio, while Pamela Jane Ruiz finished third with 1:48:25.24.
"I'm glad to have successfully defended my national champion title for the fourth time," said Dormitorio on her Facebook page. "And by far the biggest lead I had in a national championship race."
Niño Surban, meanwhile, ruled the men’s XCO, with the reigning silver medalist in the SEA Games checking in at 1:22:11.21. Jericho Rivera took the second spot with a time of 1:24:30.01, as Mark Louwel Valderama timed 1:25:25.03.
The competition served as trials for the national team bound for this year's Southeast Asian Games.
Gart Gaerlan and Athena Marie Magpantay won in the men’s and women’s junior division. The two riders also tabbed the 15 to 16 years old division.
Other age-group champions include Julius Raphael Cabitingin (11 to 12) and Jhon Andry Labuga (13 to 14).
Philcycling president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino applauded the staging of the event, the first sanctioned race of the federation since the Ronda Pilipinas in 2020.
“The results showed our cyclists stayed in competitive form even during the pandemic. Everyone wanted to return to action,” said Philcycling vice chairman and MTB commission head Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez.
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