Barnachea rules Padyak's extra-long stage

APALIT, Pampanga, Philippines – Air21 skipper and two-time champion Santy Barnachea unraveled his own tour de force as the big guns made their moves in an expanded, rerouted Apalit-to-Apalit stage yesterday, snatching the overall individual leadership after the second day of the 2009 Padyak Pinoy Tour of Champions.

Veteran SEA Games campaigner Irish Valenzuela topped a mad dash to the finish among 10 riders but Barnachea proved to be the day’s biggest gainer as he finished with the lead group, stripping Renato Sembrano of the “MVP” yellow jersey heading to the third stage that will bring the riders to Dagupan today.

Barnachea, winner of the 2002 Calabarzon Tour and 2006 Padyak Pinoy Tour ng Pilipinas, held his own in a spirited race among fancied bets, sticking it out with the lead pack that negotiated the 210km race in 4:52:55.

The original out-and-back route was only to cover 98 kilometers. The distance was doubled by rerouting due to highway repair works or roads made impassable by floods brought about by Typhoon Emong.

“The route became tough, paving the way for a fierce race. It was so exhausting, I myself ended up groggy,” said Barnachea.

The stage featuring stiff ascents in Bataan and Olongapo, a descent in Dinalupihan and a long up-and-down run on SCTEX left only Barnachea, Valenzuela and eight others in the lead pack entering McArthur Highway in Mabalacat for the last 20 kilometers.

Seven team skippers in Barnachea, Arnel Quirimit (Columbia Sportswear), Eric Feliciano (Cargohaus), Oscar Rindole (Ube Media), Joel Calderon (Smart Buddy), Baler Ravina (Burger King) and Lloyd Reynante (American Vinyl) were part of the group which stuck with each other to the finish.

They had identical clockings of 4:52:55.

Quirimit, the 2003 champion, jumped from sixth to second, 19 seconds behind Barnachea, while Ravina moved seven rungs up to third with overnight leader Sembrano relegated to joint fourth with Rindole.

Aside from Reynante, two other American Vinyl riders in Ronel Hualda and Cris Joven figured in the sprint for stage honors. As a result, American Vinyl seized the team classification leadership from Tanduay.

Valenzuela, Hualda and Feliciano checked in first, second and third. For being the stage winner, the Columbia Sportswear assistant skipper earned the P5,000 official prize plus P5,000 incentive from Smart-PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan and P10,000 special bonus from Apalit Mayor Jun Tetangco.

Like the first stage winner (Sembrano), Valenzuela, 22, was part of the Jazzy Sports Beacon team which has just competed in international invitational tours in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Apparently, the Mangaldan, Pangasinan native made a good impression in those events that he has a standing invitation to ride for an Indonesian team.

“That boy has a promising future,” said tour legend Jess Garcia, whose son Jazzy coaches and supports Valenzuela.