Caluag sets crown defense

JAKARTA — The road to a title-defense will not be easy for Daniel Caluag as he battles an elite cast of competitors in the men’s BMX event Saturday at the Jakarta International BMX Track here.

The 31-year old United States-based rider will have to overcome a pair of Asian champions and a reigning Southeast Asian titlist if he wants to defend the title he won in the Incheon edition of the Asiad in 2014.

Although he opted to train on his own rather than compete in UCI-sanctioned races as he had done in the past, Caluag is confident that he prepared well for this prestigious quadrennial tourney.

A total of 12 riders are out to challenge Caluag.

Asian champions Jukia Yoshimura and Yoshitaku Nagasako of Japan as well as SEA Games titlist Gusti Bagus Saputra of Indonesia are tipped to give him a tough time starting the men’s seeding race at 9:25 a.m. (10:25 a.m. in Manila).

“It’s not a matter of watching out for my opponents. For me, it’s watching out about myself, how I will fare on race day,” said Caluag, who will race with younger brother Christopher.

“I’m sure they know me and I, too, know about them. It’s ‘whoever shows up at the gate’ that a competitor in my event has to brace for—and that includes my brother.”

Also seeing action is Sienna Elaine Fiennes, who will compete in her first international tourney since coming out from the UCI BMX juniors program at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland.

Fiennes, 19, will battle tough opponents from China in Asian champion Zhang Yaru and Incheon Asiad silver medalist Lu Yan.

Fiennes also feels that everyone has a fighting chance for the gold in BMX racing where one spill would totally hurt a rider’s medal aspiration.

The Jakarta track is basically UCI regulation that puts the participants on a level playing field.

Caluag, who works as registered nurse in two California hospitals, said he is more conditioned to race now than he was for Incheon.

“I’m definitely more prepared now than (I was in) Incheon,” said Caluag, who said he draws inspiration from his wife Stephanie and daughters, Sydney and Kailani.