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Aguja, Dela Cruz reap bronze in Japan MTB

Sports

Aguja, Dela Cruz reap bronze in Japan MTB

By Mark Rey Montejo

At A Glance

Filipino riders John Andre Aguja and James Carl Dela Cruz produced electrifying performances and secured bronze medals in their respective events in the 2024 Yawatahama International MTB Race in Japan last weekend.

Filipino riders John Andre Aguja and James Carl Dela Cruz produced electrifying performances and secured bronze medals in their respective events in the 2024 Yawatahama International MTB Race in Japan last weekend.

Go for Gold MTB bets James Carl Dela Cruz and John Andre Aguja (Go for Gold Cycling Team)

The 18-year-old Aguja crossed the line in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 58 seconds to finish third in men's juniors behind hometown bets Koshi Narita (1:01:05) and Zenshin Nozaki (1:02:11) in the 20-kilometer course.

With his bronze medal finish, the Iriga City pride earned 60 UCI points for a total of 182 to take the 34th place in the cross-country junior world rankings.

Aguja opened the year with historic feats as he topped the Thailand MTB Cup for two consecutive years and was hailed as the highest-ranked Asian cyclist after clinching 7th place in the Union Cycliste International (UCI) MTB junior global rankings.

In the men’s U23 category, the 22-year-old Dela Cruz clocked 1:15:38, enough for third place in the podium and behind Japanese Sho Takahashi and Tatsuumi Soejima.

The Santa Maria, Bulacan native bested his fellow Filipino mountain bikers in Dhave Roa (5th), Adrian Nacario (7th) and Gart Gaerlan (8th).

Meanwhile, Paris Olympics hopeful Shagne Yaoyao came up short for podium in women’s elite where she timed 1 hour, 20 minutes and 16 seconds – more than four minutes slower than bronze medalist Yui Ishida (1:16:25) of Japan.

Two-time Asian champion Urara Kawaguchi snagged the gold in 1:11:01 while Indonesian Sayu Bella Sukma Dewi (1:12:03) settled for silver.

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