Velodrome action heats up in Tagaytay

TAGAYTAY City, Philippines — The big guns didn’t disappoint as the country’s first hosting of the Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) Track and Para Track Championships shifted to high gear at the Tagaytay CT Velodrome.

Olympian Eiya Hashimoto of Japan topped the men’s elite elimination race and Sze Wing Lee of Hong Kong dominated the women’s race late Thursday in the championships organized by the ACC, hosted by the PhilCycling and Tagaytay City and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Hashimoto showed that he’s the man to beat in ruling the 14-cyclist men’s elite elimination race that included returning Mark Julius Bonzo, who held fort and exited at No. 11 in one of most interesting events in track cycling.

A three-time Asian Games gold medalist and 14 time winner in the Asian Championships, Hashimoto had good words for both the Filipino cyclists and organizers.

“The Philippine team looks good,” Hashimoto, 32, said in halting English. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the Philippine riders improve next year.”

China’s Junjie Wu secured the silver medal, while Uzbekistan’s Nikita Tsvetkov took the bronze in the elimination race of the championships supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, MVP Sports Foundation, Sports Plus PH, Toyota and Peak.

Bonzo, 36, a former Philippine team road racer, stood his ground but was eliminated ahead of more experienced rivals Joe Lau of Malaysia, Harshveer Singh Sekhon of India and Manssour Ameen Alhayyan of Saudi Arabia.