Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino vowed to up the ante for cycling after receiving the 2024 Merit Award during the Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) Congress in Kazakhstan.

“It’s a recognition from cycling’s continental body that inspires us to do better for Philippine cycling,” said Tolentino after receiving the award at the Intercontinental Hotel in Almaty on Thursday.

Tolentino is also the president of the national sports association for the sport, Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines (PhilCycling), which fielded a 22-athlete team, the biggest since 1995, to the ACC Championships for Road that coincides with the Congress.

“My heartfelt gratitude to the ACC for recognizing the PhilCycling’s effort to advance further our sport in the country,” he said.

Tolentino’s administration at PhilCycling started to bear fruit back in 2005 when, as mayor of Tagaytay City, hosted BMX racing as demonstration sport and eventually as a medal sport at the UCI-standard BMX track when the country hosted the 30th Southeast Asian Games in 2019.

His watch saw the conduct of two UCI continental races and emergence of four continental teams, and more importantly the participation in the London Olympics of Danny Caluag, who went on to win the Philippine one and only gold medal at the Incheon Asian Games in 2014.

SEA Games medalists Jermyn Prado and Ronald Oranza, meanwhile, lead the 20-man national team competing in the continental championships road that started on Thursday and ends on 12 June.

The participation of the delegation, the biggest since 1995 when the country last hosted the Asian championships in Subic and the then Amoranto Velodrome in Quezon City, is principally backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, POC and Standard Insurance with the support of Asiana Airlines.