South African snares Tour overall crown

MANILA, Philippines - South Africa’s Dennis Van Nickerk kept rival David Veilleux of Canada within sight throughout the final stage to capture the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association-Tour of Luzon title at the Ayala Triangle in Makati yesterday.

Nickerk never strayed too far from Veilleux, who was trailing the South African rider by just 11.2 seconds going into the 15-lap, 60-kilometer race at the heart of Makati.

It was Nickerk’s first multi-stage race since riding competitively in 2004, making his move in Stage 8 in Subic last Saturday where he grabbed the yellow jersey from Veilleux.

Nickerk eventually finished third and checked in six seconds behind stage winner Reynard Butler, who clocked one hour, 20 minutes, 47.01 seconds. Veilleux came in second five seconds behind.

Nickerk had a total clocking of 20:41:36.31 over nine days while Veilleux settled for runner-up finish, 6.2 seconds behind.

“We just controlled the pace from start to finish and protected the lead,” said the 25-year-old Johannesburg-born rider, who drew support from teammates James Perry, Reynard Butler, Tylei Day and Loto Petrus.

Perry, the EMG team captain, wound up third (3:20.07).

Baler Ravina of Liquigaz (3:27.77) led the fight for the local riders after ending up fourth overall followed by American Vinyl’s Irish Valenzuela (3:33.61), Santi Barnachea of Liquigaz (4:20.25), Smart’s Tomas Martinez (5:28.71), Tagaytay’s Jay Tolentino (5:34.88), Joel Calderon of Smart (6:46.56) and Reid Mumford of Kelly Benefits (7:55.58).