RP riders retain 5th spot in Indonesian tour

MANILA, Philippines - The Roadbike Phils.-711 riders, running a cautious race, retained fifth overall after the fifth stage of the Speedy Tour d’Indonesia, a 146-kilometer trek from Semarang to Jogyakarta, last Wednesday.

After vaulting from ninth place through veteran Victor Espiritu’s strong seventh-place finish in Stage 4 last Tuesday, the RP-711 cyclists decided to coast but still managed to remain in the same position as where they began in the leg ruled by Iranian Abbas Saeidtanha.

Saeidtanha covered the relatively flat route from Semarang to the Indonesian education center in three hours, 15 minutes, 57 seconds, nine seconds ahead of Australian runner-up Bradeley Hall, who nosed out hometown bet Iwan Setiawan by two seconds and had to settle for third place.

The best Filipino finisher was Tots Oledan of the LPGMA cycling squad, who checked in 22nd place with a time of 3:16.10 in the main pack with 60 other riders in the event sponsored by Indonesia’s telecommunications giant.

But the evergreen Espiritu, who is set to compete in next month’s Laos Southeast Asian Games, was still the top Pinoy bet in the individual overall standings at No. 11 with an aggregate time of 14:50.04.

Espiritu was followed by teammates Sherwin Diamsay (14:54.17) and Lloyd Lucien Reynante (14.54.17), who were in 29th and 42nd spots, respectively.

The RP-711 riders were in fifth in the general classification standings with a total time of 44:05.24 and within striking distance and just nine seconds behind No. 4 D.I. Jogjakarta. (44:05.16).

The LPGMA squad was second to the last in the 15-team field at 14th place with a cumulative time of 44:28.23.

After a one-day respite yesterday, the 1,513-km., 10-stage bikathon resumes today with the sixth leg, a 146-km. ride from Jogjakarta to Madiun.