Walang nakahabol kay Hill

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — Nang humataw si Australian rider Samuel Hill ng Team Nero Bianchi sa huling 12 kilometro ng karera ay hindi na nakahabol sina Pinoy riders Dominic Perez ng 7-Ele-ven Cliqq at Mark Galedo ng Celeste Cycles.

Nagsumite ang 6-foot-2 na si Hill ng tiyempong apat na oras, 33 minuto at 12 segundo para pamunuan ang Stage Three 183.7-kilometer race na binitawan sa Daet, Camarines Norte at nagtapos dito sa Rizal Avenue kahapon.

“I thought that if I’m going to get a headstart I will be able to get past them,” sabi ng 23-anyos na tubong New Castle, Australia kina Perez (4:34.03) at Galedo (4:34.06).

Aminado si Perez na hindi nila nakayanang habulin ni Galedo, ang 2014 Le Tour champion, ang humarurot na si Hill.

“Nag-try kami mag-habol ni kuya Mac (Galedo), kaso talagang matulin siya eh,” sabi ng 24-anyos na tubong Sto. Tomas, Pangasinan. “Pero hindi pa naman tapos ang karera eh. May chance pa tayo.”

Kasunod nina Hill, Perez at Galedo sina Angus Lyons (4:35.01) ng Oliver’s Real Food Racing, Stage Two winner Mario Vogt (4:35.06) ng Team Sapura Cycling, Mohd Zamri Saleh (4:35.06) ng Terengganu Cycling Team, Jamalidin Novardianto (4:35.06) at Aiman Cahyadi (4:35.06) at ng PGN Road Cycling Team at Jan Paul Morales (4:35.06) ng Philippine National Team.

Hindi naman bini-bitawan ni Stage One winner Jeroen Meijers ng Taiyuan Mogee Cycling Team ang purple jersey para patuloy na pangunahan ang individual ge-neral classification.

Naglista ang Dutch rider ng aggragate time na 12:34.06 sa nasabing Ca-tegory 2.2 event na may basbas ng UCI.

Nakasunod sina Choon Huat Goh (12:34.51) ng Terengganu Cycling Team, Lyons (12:35.44), Daniel Habtemichael (12:36.19) ng 7-Eleven Cliqq, Sandy Nur Hasan (12:36.21) at Cahyadi (12:36.38) ng PGN Road Cycling Team.

Lalarga ang Stage Four 176.00 kms. Sorsogon-Albay ngayon.