TILL the king and queen of the cross-country marathon.
Emmanuel Dave Montemayor completed a men’s three-peat while national campaigner Nicole Quiñones was hailed as the women’s back-to-back champion after photo finish victories in the 7-Eleven Trail 2025 over the weekend at the Timberland Heights in San Mateo, Rizal.
Mr. Montemayor, who rode his bike from Bulacan all the way to Timberland as a warm-up, clocked in one hour, 47 minutes and six seconds in the enduring 40-kilometer (km) trail to make history.
He bested his pal James Carl dela Cruz (1:47:07) by the slimmest of margins following a climactic sprint in the last 100 meters.
It’s the same story for the Philippine national cycling team member Ms. Quiñones, who covered the dreaded single-loop course comprising a mix of road climbs, fire roads and single tracks in 2:12:40 to prevail over teammate Shagne Yao (2:12:41) in a close duel in the last 150 meters.
Both, who took home P25,000 each, will test their mettle in the PhilCycling National Championships for Road in Tagaytay this week, getting a much-needed momentum with sweet crows in trail, where they ran away from the pack as early as the first 10 km.
Jerico Rivera (1:48:29) completed the men’s podium while Adel Pia Sendrijas (2:16:07) finished third in the women’s overall of the ninth 7-Eleven bike trail, which gathered almost 1,500 participants.
Meanwhile, Cleo Dale Morales (2:01:30), Laurent Briel Ballog (2:01:34) and Jan Alfred Dominic Ong (2:03:27) topped the junior division (16-18 Male) as 7-Eleven put premium on trail cycling entering its milestone 10th edition.
And Philippine Seven Corp. President & Chief Executive Officer Jose Victor Paterno beamed with pride and honor for this sustained success of the 7-Eleven Trail Series — all for the sake of Philippine cycling.
“I think we have made a positive impact on Philippine cycling. As a former amateur racer myself, I feel like I owe a lot to Philippine cycling in terms of keeping me healthy, keeping me motivated, keeping the mind fresh and learning how to compete again,” said Mr. Paterno. — John Bryan Ulanday
