By MARK REY MONTEJO
Filipino wunderkinds John Andre Aguja and James Carl Dela Cruz produced valiant performances to secure bronze medals in their respective events in the 2024 Yawatahama International MTB Race in Japan last weekend.
The 18-year-old Aguja negotiated the 20-kilometer course of the men’s juniors in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 58 seconds to reach the podium behind hometown bets Koshi Narita (1:01:05) and Zenshin Nozaki (1:02:11).
With his bronze medal finish, the Iriga City pride cyclist earned 60 precious UCI points to improve to 34th place (182) in the cross-country junior world rankings.
It was a fitting follow up to his title-retention in the Thailand MTB Cup last March that saw him jump into 7th place in the Union Cycliste International (UCI) MTB junior global rankings.
In the men’s U23 category, the 22-year-old Dela Cruz clocked 1:15:38, enough for a spot in the podium with Japanese Sho Takahashi and Tatsuumi Soejima taking the gold and silver medals, respectively.
The Santa Maria, Bulacan native bested his fellow Filipino mountain bikers in Dhave Roa (5th), Adrian Nacario (7th) and Gart Gaerlan (8th).
Meanwhile, Paris Olympics-hopeful Shagne Yaoyao fell short of a podium finish in women’s elite where she timed 1 hour, 20 minutes and 16 seconds – more than four minutes slower than bronze medalist Yui Ishida (1:16:25) of Japan.
Two-time Asian champion Urara Kawaguchi snagged the gold in 1:11:01 while Indonesian Sayu Bella Sukma Dewi settled for silver (1:12:03).
