Monday, May 05, 2008 Quiñones tops Danao race By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
“KAPOY oy!”
This was all Eusebio Quiñones could utter after crossing the finish line of the mountainbike cross-country competition of the Congressman Red Durano Road and Mountainbike Invitational Cup which wrapped up at the Manlayag Patag race course in Danao City.
Before the afternoon race, Quiñones competed in the road bike event, where he wound up at third place to Tour Pilipinas campaigner Lloyd Renante and Alvin Benosa.
Despite wasting too much energy pedaling under intense heat for three hours to finish more than 100 kilometers of racing from Danao to Bogo and back, Quiñones lightheartedly said, “Warm up lang ito,” for the upcoming stint in the afternoon.
In the cross-country mountainbike competition, Quiñones paced himself well and just trailed race leaders March Mcquin Aleonar and Niño Surban for three laps before making his move in the fourth to the final lap to win the premier Open division with a time of 1 hour, 43.40 minutes.
The racers tackled the seven-kilometer course five times.
Upon crossing the finish line, Quiñones, RP team member and an Asian standout, dropped to the grass, gobbled some milk and shook the fatigue off his tired legs, which
served him well the entire day.
Coming in at second was fellow RP team member Frederick Feliciano, who checked into the finish line eight seconds after Quiñones.
Kennedy Guinoo finished at third place, while Aleonar, who led the race in three of the five laps, dropped to fourth place. Surban, on the other hand, succumbed to exhaustion and failed to finish the race. Surban also competed in the road race in the morning, but his body was not prepared for another race and he dropped out in the final lap.
The race route was so technical and muddy that five riders in the Open division failed to finish it. The most dreadful among them was Nilo Estayo, who was punctured
seven times in his arm and leg with his bike’s crank after he hit a tree stump.
Tree
“I bumped a tree stump so I was thrown off towards a cliff. I managed to hold on to a tree to keep me from getting thrown over but the bike still fell on me,” said Estayo after medics cleaned him up and bandaged him.
In the women’s division, RP team cast out Maritess Bitbit was way too powerful in the women’s race and won the title with a time of 1:05.21, some 17 minutes clear of second placer Alexandra Guanzon.
Jasmin Lasota came in at third place.
In the road road race, Renante managed to merge with the lead pack of Alvin Benosa, Quiñones and Surban in a junction nearing Carmen on their way back to the finish line at the Danao City Hall.
At the last turn towards the finish line, Renante pushed all he could and overtook Quiñones, who was at the front of the pack, in a 30-meter sprint towards the finish. All four riders finished with the same time of three hours and 27.53 minutes.
The other top three winners in the other divisions of the cross-country competition were (Veterans) Noel Famor, Ramon Espinosa, Romeo Endrina; (Masters A) Melencio Java, Antonio Eguinto and Renato Sampan; (Masters B) Delon Lunasco, Richard Pansoy and Reyner Quiapo; (Executive) Bobby Paz, Jonathan Simbajon and Jezreel Ramoneda; (Junior/Senior) John Paul Las Pinas, Julius Diez and Eusebio Ravanes.
The road race winner received P20,000, while the cross country champion got P40,000 richer.
