Young riders Jhay Oconer and Luis Krog will be following the footsteps of their parents when they suit up for the Victoria Sports Cycling Team in one of its first international outings—the Tour of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
Oconer and Krog hope to earn points and a good placing in this five-day, class 2.2 race slated from Jan. 27 to 31, with their 11-member team.
“Sa one year ko pong pagba-bike, sana po ay maging maganda ang performance ko,” said the 19-year-old Oconer as he seeks to emerge from the shadows of his dad, Norberto Oconer and his brother George.
Oconer and Krog talked about their next cycling journey during Saturday’s team presentation at the Victoria Sports Tower in Quezon City.
The elder Norberto competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics, while George is currently one of the top riders of the Standard Insurance-Philippine Navy team and is also a member of the national squad.
The 22-year-old Krog is the eldest son of former national women’s rider Marita Lucas and brother of Maritanya Krog, a promising rider, who claimed a gold medal in the girls’ 13-below criterium event of the recent 2022 Batang Pinoy in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Krog, a silver medalist in the 2018 Asian Cycling Championships Naypyidaw, Myanmar—is ecstatic in his first major international race with an intercontinental team, considering that he would be making his family proud of him as he seek to gain UCI points.
Nineteen professional cycling teams are coming to the UAE tournament, which will have 10 national squads in the Middle East and nine intercontinental teams.
The other Filipino riders of the team are Kelvin Mendoza, Ean Cajucom, Daniel Carino and Jerry Aquino Jr.
They will be led experienced Portuguese riders Jose Mendes, Andre Cardoso, Pedro Paulinho and Pako Ochoa. (see related story on C2).
Philippine Olympic Committee president and Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippine president chief Rep. Abraham Tolentino hailed the formation of the team, saying that this brings hope to their dream of having a Filipino rider or riders see action someday in the Tour de France.
“This team was our dream before. Victoria is here for the team. Hopefully, may mga Filipinos na makakalaro sa mga major tournaments sa Europe, at makarating sa Tour de France,” said Tolentino.
Sports director Micael Isidoro said that they have formed a very strong team and their exposure in the international scene will help create experiences for them.
Isidoro said they plan to bring the team to international races for the next five months, before they go to Portugal for a series of events there.
Assistant director Rhayzon Galdonez said that he needs the team to bond in their first outing together in the Middle East.
“We’re not focused much on racing when we get there. It’s their training as a team that we’re working on,” said Galdonez.
Young riders Oconer, Krog join pro team - manilastandard.net
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