SIEM REAP—Shagne Yaoyao heads out as the best-ranked among three Philippine riders as cycling competitions of the 32nd Southeast Games kick off Saturday morning with the women’s cross-country Olympic event of a mountain bike.
The venue is Kulen Mountain within the vicinity of the world-famous Angkor Wat, the same track which the men will tackle later in the day.
Yaoyao is No. 4 here with her International Cycling Union ranking of 196, a rung higher than Ariana Evangelista (UCI No. 210) and Nicole Quinones (UCI No. 416) seeded 12th among 18 riders entered.
Indonesia’s Sayu Belma Sukya Dewi and Dela Anuar Wulan are the top two seeds in the women’s XCO race which starts at 9 a.m. (10 a.m. in Manila).
Men’s action follows at 10:30 a.m. here with Edhmel John Rivera Flores leading the country’s charge as the sixth-ranked rider in the 20-athlete field.
Mark Loowel Valderama is ranked eighth and Jerico Rivera 11th in the event that Zaenal Fenani of Indonesia and Riyadh Hakim Bin of Singapore are expected to rule as 1-2 seeds.
“Our athletes have gotten a feel of the track and hopefully, we get to do better from last year’s races in Vietnam,” MTB head coach Eboy Quinones said.
Cruz clinched a bronze medal in MTB’s downhill last year—along with Naomi Gardoce in the women’s event—but had to race in XCO this year after Cambodia scrapped the event this edition.
To be contested also in MTB on Sunday’s XCO mixed relay and on Monday, it will be the XCO eliminator.
Road races of cycling will start with criterium races on 11 May, followed by individual time trials on 12 May and road races on 13 May.
