Monday, April 10, 2006
Mendoza does it again
CLARKFIELD, Pampanga—Ryan Mendoza reaffirmed his status as the best duathlete in the whole of Asia now.
The 29-year-old Air Force man, fresh from an impressive victory two weeks ago in an Asian Duathlon Cup event in Thailand, added the Asian championship crown to his collection with an equally brilliant come-from-behind victory in yesterday morning's Clark-Asian Duathlon Championship at the Clark Expo grounds in Clarkfield, Pampanga.
It was not an easy victory, however, for the Guagua native, who kept alive his unbeaten streak in all duathlon races held inside Clark, including four straight national duathlon championship.
Australian guest entry Rafael Baugh and top seed Takashi Nakata, ranked 30th in the world by the International Triathlon Union, conspired against Mendoza, particularly in the initial run leg of the 10K run—40K bike—5K run race, hosted by Clark Development Corp. (CDC), a major supporter of the national duathlon team.
“Alam ko na hindi ko sila kaya du'n sa 10K run, kaya nag-maintain lang ako at sunod lang sa kanila. Alam ko sa bike, kakayanin ko sila,” said Mendoza, who finished the first run leg close to a minute behind Baugh and Nakata.
And even in the next bike leg, the two foreign bets took turns in pacing the field. “Pero kinuha ko sila sa kurba, pagdating ng third loop, tapos inilayo ko na nang husto. Kung abutan man nila ako, malapit na sa finish at kahit igapang ko pa ito, tatapusin ko ang karera,” added the father of five after he crossed the finish line all alone in 1:55.47 to the delight of the local crowd on hand at the finish, including CDC president Antonio Ng.
When asked of his future plans for duathlon, Mendoza, who shifted from fulltime cycling to duathlon several years ago after realizing he had better chances to make good in this multidisciplined sport, he replied: “Pag-iisipan ko ‘yung pagsali pa sa mga bike tours. Baka masira pa ako doon. Dito sa duathlon, mas maganda ang performance ko.”
With his victory, Mendoza avenged his defeat at the hands of Japanese Kodo Hiramatsu, who beat him in the 2002 Asian Duathlon held in Subic.
Source: Manila Standard