The Tour ni Surban

CAT A

Nino Surban practically owned the 2011 Tour ni Frank. He won the crit on the first day and then on the second day (Toledo-Cebu City via the Trans-Central Highway, on the dreaded slopes of the Camsomoroy, he dropped everybody like a bad habit! According to Ome Rodriguez, who saw the action as it unfolded, the attack was, "Contador-like" and from that point on, Nino just stepped on the gas, even doing 70kph on the descent and in the rain. The only opposition came from Rolly Cabaluna, Niño’s main rival in the MTB scene, but Rolly needs to improve his downhilling skills especially in the wet if he wants to challenge the crown on the road. It was also nice to see new faces doing the road scene and doing good like Elmer Navarro, Adan Abrenica and Cabaluna.

CAT B

Ramon Espinosa broke away early in the race 30-minutes, 3-lap race crit. Ome Rodriguez of HBC/Cebucycling and Danny Sena of MOSSIMO team (2010 CORRATEC champions, runner-up, 2010 Tour of Matabungkay) was able to come up to Espinosa but he easily outsprinted Rodriguez for the sprint. Sena, unfortunately, was dropped earlier. But on the Trans-Central Highway, it was the triathlete, ElmoClaraval, who was the better climber than the rest. Espinosa came in at 2nd place though, more than enough to claim the overall honors.

CAT C

In a 2-up sprint, Tata Ty bettered Lito Quebec. Ty had broken away early and Quebec, a chef at Chopstick, was able to escape from the pack and join Ty in the break. Tata Codina of Cebucycling won the sprint for third after bumping shoulders with Nony Abasola as they approached the line. On the second day, it was an unknown, Adri van Dongen who had the steadier rhythm. Adri and I were at the back of the Cat C pack when the race was flagged off while the rest were already charging up the earlier slopes. But he clawed his way back to the front. Ronnie Adlawan could only chase with his eyes as the Dutchman claimed top honors.Unfortunately of Quebec, he crashed hard just after the Ayala Heights and DNF'd, but he's doing fine.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

In my previous column, I wrote that Frank Gatdula wasn't coming for his race but a last minute gift from his very supportive wife, Salome, a plane ticket for home, made it all possible….…chapeau to May Ojales, the first and only lady cyclist who was all heart when she joined, suffered and conquered the Trans-central Highway on race speed! ……There are so may people and companies to thank and I'll write about them in my next column. Next up is the Talisay Fiesta crit tomorrow and then the Sinulog Weekend Race.

2010 TOUR NI FRANK RESULTS:

Day 1 Mandaue Crit. Cat C 1-Tata Ty, 2-Lito Quebec, 3-Tata Codi-Nonoy Abasola, 5-Ronnie Adlawan …Cat B 1-Ramon Espinosa, 2-Ome Rodriguez, 3-Lyndyl Caraquel, 4-Danny Sena, 5-Art Lambo…Cat A 1-Nino Surban, 2-Elmer Navarro, 3-Junvie Pagnanawon, 4-Jaybop Pagnanawon, 5-Nilo Barbalose.

Day 2 Cat C 1-Adri Van Dongen, 2-Ronnie Adlawan, 3-Raffy Bacayo, 4-Ryan Ocanada, 5-Igi Maximo…Cat B- 1-Elmo Clarabal, 2-Jonas Ponseca, 3-Ramon Espinosa, 4-John Christopher Gaspar, 5- Danny Sena…Cat A 1-Nino Surban, 2-Rolly Cabaluna, 3-Nilo Barbalose, 4-Adan Abrenica, 5-Elmer Navarro; Overall Cat C 1- Ronnie Adlawan, 2-Tata Ty, 3-Raffy Bacayo, 4-Ryan Ocanada, 5-Igi Maximo…Cat B 1-Ramon Espinosa, 2-Elmo Clarabal, 3-Jonas Ponseca, 4-Danny Sena , 5-John Christopher Garpar…Cat A 1-Nino Surban, 2-Elmer Navarro, 3- Nilo Barbalose, 4- Rolly Cabaluna, 5- Jaybop Pagnanawon.