Former titlist Arnel Quirimit topped a six-man sprint duel to rule the stage on another stormy day in the Tour where reigning champion Warren Davadilla finished beaten and weary, then readily admitted he may not be in best shape to achieve a record-tying third Tour crown.
Another former Tour winner Santi Barnachea figured in the mad dash to the finish in front of the San Fernando City Hall and thought he would already wear the yellow jersey in their trek to Baguio for Stage Three today.
Quirimit, Barnachea and four other riders checked in with the same clockings of 4:26’56, couple of seconds ahead of Obosa who, with a sad face, came in with the third group.
Chief commissaire Renato del Mundo, however, later declared Obosa was given the same time as Quirimit and Co., citing a particular UCI rule applied on the incident.
"Under the UCI modified last three-kilometer rule, a rider figuring in flat tire, mechanical trouble or spill in the last three kilometers is given the same clocking as his original groupmates. This rule is applied in this case because we didn’t see any illegal manuever. It was simply miscalculation on the part of the riders that caused the spill," said Del Mundo.
Obosa, the Quezon City-Cabanatuan stage winner Friday, flew off his bike as he got tangled with Alfredo Asuncion while taking a sharp turn heading to the homestetch of the 180km stage to this La Union boom capital city.
Rookie Irish Valenzuela wasn’t able to avoid the pileup and also fell off his bike. Asuncion and Valenzuela also got a 4:26’50 clocking and gained a big improvement in the overall standing after the second stage of the eight-stage Tour organized by Dynamic Outsource Solutions Inc. presented by Tanduay Rhum in cooperation with Wow Magic Sing.
But Quirimit emerged as the day’s big gainer as the 2003 Tour Revival champion showed tremendous strength and power while traversing the roads in his home province Pangasinan and went on to top a sprint battle among big guns at the finish.
A poor 68th placer in the first stage, Quirimit flashed home triumphantly this time despite dismounting his bike to answer the call of nature still inside Cabanatuan then also taking a spill with two others in a slippery road in Umingan.
He shrugged off minor bruises on high right hand and back as he waged a daring chase of the lead group then conspired with Obosa for a searing breakaway they staged before cheering provincemates in San Quintin, Natividad, San Nicolas, San Miguel, Binalonan, Pozzorubio and Sison.
Quirimit, 30, gamely took the pace as they hit his home town of Pozzorubio welcomed by adoring fans with placards bearing his name.
"I drew tremendous strength from my kababayans and I made sure I was in front when we passed Pozzorubio," said Quirimit in Filipino.
Quirimit moved up to 29th after the race that triggered some significant movements in the leaderboard. Staying in their spots in the top three were Obosa, Barnachea and rookie Harvey Sicam.
At first, Barnachea thought he had stripped Obosa of the yellow jersey as they checked in with the first stage winner nowhere in sight.
"I didn’t plan to get it now. My original plan was to get it in Baguio tomorrow," said Barnachea.
Davadilla had modest plans as he seemed to have accepted the fact that he’s not prepared well for a shot at a title-repeat.
"I just couldn’t keep pace with the big guns. So I’m now just hoping to at least land in the Top 10," said Davadilla, whose Tour preparation was hampered by a fever three days before flagoff.
"I haven’t gone home from a tour without stage honors. This time, I may really have a hard time even in the battle for stage victory," he added.
A known mountain-climber who basked in glory in Baguio last year, Davadilla is specially wary of his climb to the Benguet mountains today.
"Yung maliit na ahon lang sa Angat (Bulacan) kahapon (Friday), nahirapan na ako. Lalo na siguro sa Baguio," said Davadilla.