NUVALI announced that the Top 20 male and Top 20 female finishers of the Union Cycliste Internationale Cross Country Marathon World Series qualifying race at Dirt Weekend have the chance to represent their respective countries in the 2016 World Mountain Bike Championship in Laissac, France.
Leading the race in the men’s division was Milton Javier Ramos Gomez of Team Honduras Intense Bikes-GoPro, who finished the 60-kilometer course in 2 hours and 18 minutes, followed by Tawatchai Jeeravatchatam of Team Thailand-Singha Infinite in second place and Alvin Benosa of Team BMC Philippines in third.
Ilda Pereira of Team Portugal-Mozinho MTB bested riders in the women’s category with a finishing time of 3 hours and 1 minute, while Yazid Kusmawati of Team Indonesia-Jabar Polygon and Melissa Jane Jaroda of Team Philippines-Ground Zero trailed behind at second and third places.
Both champions received P46,000 each in cash prize, while the first-runners up and second-runners up received P35,000 and P15,000 respectively.
Dirt Weekend is one of the country’s premium mountain biking events held yearly since 2009 in Nuvali, Ayala Land’s largest eco-city development south of Manila.
The 2,290-hectare estate has dedicated bike and running trails, part of its sustainability-grounded development plan which allots 50% of the property to green, elevated spaces. This year’s main event, the XCM World Series Philippine qualifying leg, was attended by participants representing various parts of the country, as well as delegates from Spain, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Indonesia, Portugal, France, Thailand and Singapore.
“This is the first time that Nuvali hosted a UCI World Championship Series event and it has been a great honor for us to serve as a venue where Filipino athletes can showcase their talents. Nuvali is dedicated to developing world-class athletes, specifically mountain bikers, through the annual Dirt Weekend program,” said John Estacio, Nuvali General Manager.
As the international governing body on sports cycling and competitive cycling events, UCI designed the XCM race course at Nuvali to be at par with international technical standards to ensure that qualifiers will be ready for the 2016 World Mountain Bike Championship. The course ran for 60 kilometers and simulates mountain terrain with challenging climbs, as well as fast and technical descents.