Sembrano rules first stage of Padyak Pinoy

APALIT, Pampanga, Philippines – Renato Sembrano, a Pangasinense whose recent international campaigns toughened up his riding skills, outmaneuvered two breakaway partners at the finish to rule the first stage of the 2009 Padyak Pinoy Tour of Champions ending in this quaint Pampanga town yesterday.

Sembrano, a member of Jazzy Sports Beacon team which has just competed in international invitational tours in Indonesia and Malaysia, sneaked ahead in the last 600 meters and sustained his bristling pace to beat Merculio Ramos and Warren Davadilla for stage honors at the start of the eight-stage tour flagged off at The Fort in Taguig.

Air21 boss and PhilCycling chairman emeritus Bert Lina and his wife Sylvia, Smart-PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tinga and PhilCycling president and Tagaytay Mayor Abraham Tolentino were among the VIPs who graced the kickoff rites of the tour which has Tanduay, Smart, Air21 and Wow Magic Sing as major sponsors.

The skies cleared a day after Typhoon Emong battered Central Luzon and flooded some parts of Metro Manila, with the 75 riders instead bathing under searing heat in the 165-kilometer route which Sembrano negotiated in 3:24.48.41.

Ramos and Davadilla, who with Sembrano and Mark Julius Bonzo, peeled away from the lead pack in Sta. Ana, Pampanga, submitted the same clocking in the stage slowed down by a heavy gridlock in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija.

Riders had to dismount and carry their bikes to squeeze through the jam. The rest of the tour entourage (those on four wheels) got stuck for nearly an hour.

“The lead group grew big because of the traffic. We lost precious minutes there. But in the end, those in top shape contended for the stage honors,” said Sembrano in Filipino.

It was the very first stage win for this Mangaldan, Pangasinan native who can be considered a late-bloomer as he’s just starting to peak at 29.

Sembrano, assistant skipper of the Tanduay team here, has had only one Top 10 finish in the tour, finishing seventh in 2006 before Padyak Pinoy took a two-year hiatus. He missed the recent Tour of Luzon won by Mark Guevarra since he was with the Jazzy Sports Beacon team then in Malaysia.

“He was toughened up by their international campaigns. He’s so strong, it’s hard to keep pace with him,” said Ramos, a two-time Tour runner-up.

“Actually, they were the ones setting the pace entering the last 600 meters. But there they slowed down in one stretch and I took the opportunity to make a move and I was able to sustain the momentum,” said Sembrano.

The stage winner was among those who mounted an early breakaway attempt, making their move after the peloton’s leisure ride at the North Luzon Expressway from Balintawak to Sta. Rita. The other big guns who joined Sembrano in the early attack were Arnel Quirimit, Baler Ravina and Joel Calderon.

The group, however, faded in no time, prompting Davadilla, Santy Barnachea, Sherwin Carrera and Jay Tolentino to make their own breakaway bid as they hit the rolling and winding stretch of Maharlika Highway in San Rafael, Bulacan.

Barnachea, a two-time Tour champion bannering the Air21 team in this race, even had his solo breakaway attempt that seemed to backfire as he settled for a fifth-place finish, 22 seconds behind Sembrano.

Mark Bonzo, son of former Tour champion Modesto, finished fourth but with the same clocking with Barnachea.

Making up the next five were Quirimit (3:25.10.38), Nicardo Guanzon (same), Orlie Villanueva (3:25.46.56), Carrera (3:25.52.21) and Ravina (same).

Ravina, the Burger King team captain, had a strong finish despite two flat tires.

Fancied riders winding up with the main group at 3:28.04.83 were Calderon, Oscar Rindole, Bernard Luzon, Hilson Mangahis, Frederick Feliciano, Lloyd Reynante, Enrique Domingo, Ronald Gorantes, Robert Villaber and Eboy Quinones.

Next up is the Apalit-to-Apalit stage covering a distance of only 98 kilometers with Sembrano wearing the yellow jersey for the first time in his career. The race will take the riders on a minor uphill ride in Olongapo before they take the long, smooth SCTEX from Subic to Angeles.

Team Tanduay benefited most from the strong finishes of Sembrano, Bonzo and Carrera, taking the early lead in the team competition with an aggregate clocking of 10:15:33.

Reigning overall team champion Wow Magic Sing (10:20:16.05) was at second and Mail and More (10:20:48.01) third.