Monday, January 21, 2008 Surban outhustles Quiñones in Bayawan race
JUST before the hangover from the 24th Southeast Asian Games subsided, Cebuano Niño Surban plunged into action and topped the sixth Bayawan Charter Day Cross Country Competition in Negros Oriental.
Surban, who competed in the Sea Games last December in Thailand, topped the Bayawan race after winning over fellow RP team member Eusebio Quiñones, who settled for second place.
Surban tackled the 35-kilometer course in just 50 minutes. Quiñones followed a few minutes after trailed by a racer from Bacolod, who took the third spot.
In all the six races in Bayawan, Surban ruled four of them. He skipped the race in 2006 after he failed to arrive for the race on time as he was stranded at the port going to Negros because of a typhoon.
In 2004, Surban, who had a confident lead after breaking away from the pack, squandered the lead as his brand new tires busted twice, to eventually lose.
However, after all the excitement brought about by his participation in the Sea Games, starting with the preparations and then competing in Bayawan, it drained all the interest in the Danao City-trained mountain bike protégée of Councilor Oscar “Boying Rodriguez.
After mountain bike, Surban is set to compete in a road race, the Tour ni Frank next week. The Tour ni Frank will be a criterium on Jan. 26, followed by a climb on the Jan. 27.
After this, Surban is set to take part in the qualifying for the Tour Pilipinas, which will be held in Luzon in February. This elimination for the country’s premier bike race will be from Tagaytay to Batangas. The individual time trial takes place in Nasugbo, Batangas the following day.
“I have not started training yet. Napul-an nako after Sea Games. I have kept on extending my vacation because I could not bring myself to get back to training,” said Surban.(MCB)
