PHNOM PENH—Ariana Evangelista did what she does best to snatch the silver medal in mountain bike’s crosscountry eliminator (XCE) for the country’s second medal in cycling at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
Evangelista is more adept to crosscountry Olympic where she remains unbeatable at home but was perfect for the eliminator for her penchant of bursting into sporadic speed on the saddle.
It was her second medal after the mixed team bronze on Sunday in the MTB races staged on the foothills of Kulen Mountain in Siem Reap.
“I am very thankful for this medal, this is a team effort,” Evangelista said. “This won’t be possible without the help of everyone.”
Indonesia’s Darah Latifah won her second gold medal after the mixed team relay, while Thailand’s Warinthorn Phetprephan bagged bronze.
“Ariana was perfect for XCE,” PhilCycling vice president Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez said. “She led after the first lap but missed the gold in the final sprint.”
XCE is an MTB discipline that has little or no following at all back home, thus national team coaches led by Eboy Quinones had to improvise in training with intervals and time trials.
“We need a lot of technical skills and riders were trained for short bursts of sustained power up a short and very technical climb and then down a steep technical downhill before a final sprint to the finish,” Rodriguez said.