Feliciano buries ghost of Tour debacle

ALAMINOS — Cross-country specialist Eric Feliciano yesterday rode triumphantly to this hotbed of pro cycling, the place of his downfall last year.

Determined in his bid, Feliciano didn’t spare Pangasinan’s favorite sons, including STAR carrier Enrique Domingo who basked in glory before his cheering kababayans last year.

This time, Domingo finished a frustrated rider and later figured in a near fist fight with rookie Guerrero Brandy teammate Marlon Servino whom he felt let him down in the race.

It was the same story as in Sunday’s stage for Warren Davadilla and Rhyan Tanguilig as they watched each other’s move throughout the 205km. race from Olongapo and stayed running first and second, respectively, halfway through the 10-stage Golden Tour 50 @ 05.

Feliciano towed nine other riders in an early attack on the narrow highway in Castillejos and sustained a bristling pace until his breakaway partners faded one by one as the 27-year-old Aliaga, Nueva Ecija native zoomed by his lonesome to the finish for his first major break in the 11-day tour presented by Tanduay.

"I was already lagging way behind in the standings, that’s why I worked hard for this one," said Feliciano in Filipino after an impressive performance that had him finally breaking into the Magic 10.

Feliciano, winner of the cross-country event in the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games, retraced his triumphant ride in the same route in the recent Tour de 100 Islands, clocking 4:23’13 as he leapfrogged from 18th to sixth place, 3:34 behind three-day yellow jersey holder Davadilla.

"My luck changed in this stage," said Feliciano, who still vividly remembered how he was stripped of the yellow jersey by Domingo in the Olongapo-Dagupan run last year.

A strong competitor in the first six stages of the 2004 Tour Pilipinas, he was never the same again after losing the lead in Pangasinan.

The long, winding journey from Zambales’ "Sin City" to this wonderful Pangasinan resort town created a major shakeup in the leader board with Customs’ Reynaldo Navarro turning out to be the next big gainer with a jump from No. 9 to No. 3.

Fernando Alagano surged to No. 3 from No. 5 while Lito Atilano improved to No. 10 from No. 14.

Alvin Benosa is now at No. 5, followed by Feliciano, Arnel Quirimit, Barnachea, Benito Lopez and Atilano to round out the Magic 10 going into the sixth stage Wednesday.

The riders, who have trekked 590 of the 1,492-kilometer total distance of the tour, take a rest today.

In team competition, Atilano’s Metro Drug squad will still be in the lead at the resumption of the tour with the sixth stage from Lingayen, Pangasinan to Vigan, Ilocos Sur tomorrow.

The Davadilla-led Colt 45 team is four minutes and 51 seconds behind while the Domingo-skippered Guerrero Brandy squad is five minutes and 30 seconds behind.

Two sorry mishaps marred the fifth stage with a bystander in Subic, Zambales being hit by a private vehicle trying to join the tour entourage and a vehicle assigned to the photographers suffering mechanical problems after bumping a big cow in Mabini, Pangasinan.