MAURA DE LOS REYES shone brightest among the seven Filipinas competing at the 13th Biwase Cup road race in Vietnam on Friday by ruling one intermediate sprint and one King of the Mountain point.
De los Reyes, riding in a mixed team along with Jelsie Sabado and three Kazahstan junior riders, made her mark in the 120-km first mountain stage of the 10-stage race hosted by the Vietnam Cycling Federation.
Thailand’s Somrat Phetdarin topped the stage in three hours, 25 minutes and 29 seconds, same time as Japan’s Shoko Kasiki. Thailand’s Nguyen Thi Thu Mai finished seconds behind to complete the podium.
PhilCycling National Women’s Team’s Marianne Dacumos finished in a bunch at 18th position that finished some 15 minutes behind the stage winner, while her teammates Kate Yasmin Velasco and Avegail Rombaon, as well as De los Reyes and Sabado, were with the 33rd group some two minutes later.
Mhay Ann Linda was in the 48th group — 17 minutes behind — while Mathilda Krog figured in a crash that damaged her bike in the stage that was flagged off in Thống Nhất, Đồng Nai and finished in Bảo Lộc Cityin Lâm Đồng through the Bảo Lộc mountain pass).
Dacumos, meanwhile, was the best-placed Filipino in the general classification at 15th place—five minutes and 26 seconds behind leader Phetdarin.
The PhilCycling team—supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, Tagaytay City, MVP Sports Foundation, Standard Insurance, Excellent Noodles and 7-Eleven—ranked seventh among 18 squads in the team classification.
The Filipinas were 19 minutes off leader Tuyen Biwase-Binh Durong of Vietnam.
Stage 4 on Saturday covers 110 kms featuring another climb from Bảo Lộc City to Đà Lạt City via the Prenn mountain pass.
Vietnam annually hosts the 10-stage Biwase Cup in celebration of the International Women’s Day.
The race is livestreamed on https://www.facebook.com/vcfchannel/posts/pfbid0JWL3EfCcczQdEMuN7aZTHTpnDKxn8QG2dB7Y8Ur9VwC7NLw8yYkS8zKTxEWA54bcl.