Son of Tour of Luzon champ tops criterium

MANILA, Philippines –  Mark Bonzo, son of a former Tour of Luzon champion, bucked tough road conditions and topped the elite open division of the Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippine’ Pamaskong Handog sa Mga Siklista 20-km criterium races at the Elliptical Road in Quezon City yesterday.

Mark Bonzo fought bravely to stay ahead in the last 500 meters, keeping his lead up to the North Ave. finish line and clocking of 24 minutes, 26.73 seconds.

The 23-year-old Bonzo, the only son of the late Marlboro Tour champion Romeo Bonzo, used a red, black and white-painted aluminum-framed Giant TCR bike he named after his own six-month-old son to win the 10-lap race organized by the ICFP under its president Dr. Philip Ella Juico.

Due to 30 minutes of light rain, Bonzo and rivals Cris Joven and his Liquigaz teammate Rudy Roque ran a cautious race as they tried to maintain control and coasted along the slippery and wet roads around the Quezon Memorial Circle.

“Maganda iyung daan na inikot ng karera. Pero, nakakatakot iyung basa ng ulan dahil sobrang dulas,” said Bonzo, who earned the P7,000 top purse.

The Renato Dolosa-coached Joven and Roque stuck it out with Bonzo in the last five laps before they made their move to break free and settle for second and third, respectively.

They finished ahead of heavily-favored 7-Eleven rider Irish Valenzuela, who took precautions in the last 500 meters and came up with a safe fourth-place finish.

In the junior division, Jazy Sports’ Arnold de Jesus upstaged members of the national team to earn the top honors in his category. The 18-year-old De Jesus registered a time of 24:58.78 in beating national youth riders John Mark Camingao and Asian Games veteran George Oconer.

Valenzuela rider Ruel Gendrano topped the Masters’ category in 2:52.97, after finishing ahead of Hortaleza bet Rex Cortez and Jun Divinaflor.

Meanwhile, winners of the New San Jose Builders-Photo Contest will be announced on Dec. 22 at the Shangri-La Finest Chinese Cuisine, where a thanksgiving dinner will be hosted by the ICFP for those who were instrumental in the staging of the National Open.

To assure fairness, the ICFP asked a neutral judge – the Camera Club of the Philippines – to decide on the winners of the photo contest offering P15,000, P10,000 and P5,000 to the first, second and third placers, respectively.