Jan Paul Morales won a sprint finish against Ronald Oranza and Jermyn Prado won pulling away to rule the Philippine National Cycling Championships for Road over a technical and treacherous route yesterday in Subic and Bataan.
A total of 96 riders answered the gun for the men’s elite race of the PhilCycling but it was Morales, a many-time national team member who emerged as one of the biggest winners of the event that awarded the coveted national champions’ jerseys to the victors.
“I really went for the win but I had to work hard for this one,” said Morales moments after his victory that earned him not only P50,000 in cash from organizer Pru Life UK but also an all-expense paid trip to the Prudential Ride London in July.
Morales clocked three hours, 42 minutes and 55 seconds – same time as Oranza –over the 137-km course that included a treacherous climb to the Dambana ng Mga Bayani at Mt. Samat in Mariveles, Bataan.
Felipe Marcelo and Jonel Carcueva figured in a race incident close to the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center finish and shared third place in one of the races that highlight the PRUride PH 2018.
Oranza brought home P25,000 while Marcelo and Carcueva shared the third and fourth place prizes of P15,000 and P12,500, respectively.
Also earning tickets to London and R50,000 each were Prado and Men Under 23 winner Ismael Gorospe.
