BP standouts getting Asian slots

The podium finishers in the 16-17 years old category of the road cycling competitions of the 2024 Batang Pinoy that starts this weekend in Puerto Princesa City will get priority slots on the national junior team to the 31st Asian Junior Road Cycling Championships in Thailand in February.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, head of the national federation for cycling PhilCycling, also announced on Sunday that the 2025 National Championships for Road are set 24 to 28 February in Tagaytay City and provinces in Cavite Province’s Eighth District primarily Ternate and Maragondon.

Thailand is hosting from 7 to 16 February the Asian championships that also includes the 44th championships for elite and U23 and the 13th staging of the para championships.

The PhilCycling again intends to send a full contingent to the Thailand championships just like in this year’s edition in Kazakhstan last June.

At least one slot each in the national junior team for boys and girls in individual time trial (ITT) and individual road race (IRR or massed start) to the Asian championships will be up for grabs in the Batang Pinoy.

The ITT events are set on 26 November and the IRR on 27 November with both events featuring both the start and finish lines inside the Iwahig Penal Colony, which is known worldwide as the “Prison Without Walls.”

Parents or guardians of participants in Batang Pinoy cycling are advised to secure passports for their athletes for the smooth processing of their registration for the Asian championships

Criterium is not in the Asian championships program.

For the National Championships for Road, the Criterium and ITT will still be staged around the Tagaytay City Atrium and in the Lian-Tuy national highway in Batangas, but the roads in Agoncillo, Laurel and Talisay leading to the Sampaloc or Sungay climbs will be shelved next year.