BMX riders begin bike ride to Rio

Daniel Caluag. FILE PHOTO

DANIEL Caluag and Sienna Fines begin the long bike ride to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics when they see action in the ongoing UCI BMX World Championships in Medellin, Columbia.

The US-based Caluag and Fines, both Asian champions, should finish in the top 16 of their divisions to clinch Olympic berths.

Philippine Sports Commission Chair Richie Garcia confirmed yesterday the participation of Caluag after getting in touch with the 2014 Incheon Asian Games gold medalist.

The PSC had not heard anything on Caluag’s progress for a long time and was bothered by the situation with barely two months to go before the Philippine delegation sets out for the Games slated Aug. 5 to 21.

Fines, the reigning BMX continental junior women’s champion, had earlier requested the Philippine Olympic Committee through PhilCycling, the local governing body for the sport, to finance her participation in Columbia.

Currently ranked 20th in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) rankings, the 17-year-old from Sacramento, California, has over 100 podium finishes and at least 49 victories aside from seven national age group top 10 rankings in the US.

Success for Caluag in the world championship will mean a second tour of duty in the Olympics. The 29-year-old from Lexington, Kentucky, was the only Asian rider in the 2012 London Olympics.