Tolentino pushes for track cycling in UCI Congress

The country’s much-awaited return to track cycling appears right on track.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino laid the ground work for the country’s comeback during the International Cycling Union (UCI) 193rd Congress recently in Zurich.

A brand-new UCI-standard indoor 250-meter velodrome is on the rise in Tagaytay City and is expected to be operational early in the second quarter of 2025 and negotiations with the UCI, including with the international federation’s president, David Lappartient, has started in earnest.

“The UCI provides support to all its member nations and I’m glad that with the velodrome in Tagaytay City, the Philippines could kickstart its return to active track cycling,” said Tolentino, who is also the president of the national sports association for cycling, PhilCycling.

The support, Tolentino said, would come through the UCI’s Solidarity and Emerging Countries Commission and Program.

Tolentino also established deeper links between the UCI and Southeast Asia, particularly with his Indonesian counterpart, Raja Sapta Oktohari.

Tolentino, Oktohari and Lappartient are presidents of their respective national Olympic committees and cycling federations, with Lappartient announcing his candidacy to become the next president of the International Olympic Committee to replace Thomas Bach, who’s bound to retire.