#PinoyPride: Philippine Cycling Team Qualifies at the 2022 Trek UCI Gravel World Series
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is set to hold its
inaugural sanctioned gravel world championships series, with the first event to
take place in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija in the Philippines on April 03, 2022.
The Trek UCI Gravel World Series will serve as its alternative
off-road version for the premier UCI Gran Fondo World Series and World
Championships, and the winners will be awarded with the coveted UCI rainbow
jersey.
The Switzerland-based governing body for sports cycling, which
also oversees international competitive cycling events, announced in a
press release in September last year that it will “organize—in collaboration
with events organizer Golazo [Sports]—a UCI Gravel World Series consisting of
events enabling athletes to qualify for the Trek UCI Gravel World
Championships.”
With more than 15 events serving as qualifiers, the races are
anticipated to be “mass participation events,” as Gravel continues to be a
booming discipline around the world, combining elements of road and mountain
bike, and takes place mainly on unsealed roads such as gravel, forest tracks,
farm roads, and cobbles.
On the Trek UCI Gravel World Series’ first iteration’s criteria
for participation, Erwin Vervecken, the off-road and gravel manager for
Belgium-based sports marketing agency Golazo Sports, told American cycling
magazine VeloNews
that whereas the Gran Fondo focuses on masters
and cyclotourists, the Trek UCI Gravel World Series is more geared towards
non-professionals. “In gravel, elite riders of the top level, riders from the
WorldTour, from UCI teams, can participate, can qualify and do world
championships. We expect the top riders.”
In order to qualify for the 2022 Trek UCI Gravel World Series,
participants must finish in the top 25% group per gender and age group, with
each age group ranging five years between 19 and 79. Riders with no license,
holds amateur and masters license, cycling for all license, and elite license. The
equipment and course regulations of Gran Fondo will apply to Gravel World.
While the final list of locations are yet to be revealed, races
will be held in select event venues in North America, Europe, Australia, and
Asia.
The Trek UCI Gravel World Series Philippines event will include an
85km (qualifier distance for 19 to 49) and 62km course (qualifier distance for 50
and above)—the majority of the race is flat and fast. Starting in Vega Grande,
located north of Bongabon, the 85km course is a mix of flat gravel roads along
the river, forest roads, and dirt roads. The shorter, 62km course includes a
shortcut to the same finishing point of the 85km course.
The first race of the Trek UCI Gravel World Series will coincide
with Bongabon’s festive season, which includes the Sibuyas Festival, held every
10th of April. The celebration is a form of thanksgiving for a bountiful onion
harvest. Perfect in the summer, tourists can also enjoy the Falls Deepsap
waterfall at Barangay Labi and a visit to Mount Labi Peak.
Bongabon Mayor Allan Xystus A. Gamilla is honored that the
municipality will be part of the upcoming UPCI Gravel Series in the
Philippines. “Bongabon, being an emerging destination for cycling tourism and
outdoor recreation, offers breathtaking sceneries with the most wonderful views
of the Philippines’ untapped countryside. It’s also a great place with exciting
backroads, trails, and routes that every adventure seeker would be thrilled to
experience. Perfect in the summer, tourists can also enjoy the refreshing
rivers and the cool weather at Mount Labi. It is also the home of the Bongabon
Bike Park in Ariendo, an Enduro and Downhill MTB destination for the gravity
riders.”
As the first Trek UCI Gravel World Series inch closer, organizers
hope that its inclusiveness and scale will inspire “any rider who wants a shot
at the rainbow stripes.”
The 2022
Trek UCI Gravel World Series – Bongabon Philippines is supported by brands and
institutions who push the sport forward for the cycling community: Black Mamba,
8A Apparel, Genesis Eyewear, iGsport, Milo and Yakult.
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