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PH Navy cyclists tipped to deliver in 2021 SEA Games

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/life/02/23/20210223-ph-navy-standard-insurance.jpg"/><figcaption>Riders of Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance. <em>File photo.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA, Philippines -- If everything falls into place, the riders from the Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance team should deliver gold medals in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam this November.</p><p>This, according to Standard Insurance chairman Ernesto &quot;Judes&quot; Echauz.</p><p>&quot;They&#x27;ve been training for two months,&quot; Echauz said of his team during Tuesday&#x27;s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum.</p><p>&quot;They will be very competitive,&quot; he guaranteed.</p><p>Echauz has supported cycling and duathlon through the years, and has formed a star-studded team made up of enlisted men in the Navy and employees of his giant insurance company.</p><p>For this year&#x27;s SEA Games, scheduled for November 21 to December 2 in Hanoi, Echauz expects at least 10 of his riders to be part of the national team that will compete in eight events in road race, and two more events in duathlon.</p><p>The top riders in Echauz&#x27;s stable include: Ronald Oranza, Jan Paul Morales, Emmanuel Comendador, George Oconer and Junrey Navarra in the men&#x27;s team; and Jermyn Prado, Kate Velasco, Mathilda Krogg and Marriane Grace Dacumos in the women&#x27;s team.</p><p>His cyclists, according to Echauz, are &quot;fully equipped.&quot; The male riders have been training in Naic, Cavite for the past two months, while the female cyclists are based in Subic.</p><p>&quot;In Naic, we have a building with 14 rooms, with a swimming pool and a gym that is comparable to the top gyms here in Manila. The place is very conducive to training,&quot; said Echauz, who is also the president of the Philippine Sailing Association.</p><p>Because sailing is not on the SEA Games program this year, Echauz is pouring all of his support to the cycling and duathlon teams.</p><p>There will be eight gold medals at stake in cycling – two each in the team time trial (TTT), individual time trial (ITT), criterium and massed start, where Echauz said his riders are expected to give Thailand and Indonesia a run for their money.</p><p>In the 2019 SEA Games, the Philippines as hosts won three gold medals, four silvers, and four bronzes in cycling, including in BMX and mountain bike.</p><p>&quot;We should be at par if not better than Thailand and Indonesia. We have a very big chance in the women&#x27;s because we’ve seen the caliber of our rivals,&quot; said Echauz. &quot;In the men&#x27;s, we will improve in the ITT and TTT.&quot;</p><p>&quot;And our riders are familiar with the terrain in Vietnam, because they&#x27;ve competed there,&quot; he added.</p><div><strong>Related video:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RIL1sPmKgVo?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>If everything falls into place, the riders from the Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance team should deliver gold medals in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam this November.</p>

If everything falls into place, the riders from the Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance team should deliver gold medals in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam this November.