First Pinoy to win UCI race: Ravina rides home le champ

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Baler Ravina of GO21 and Joel Calderon of Mail and More pedalled nearly side-by-side past the finish line in front of Burnham Park, shook hands, gave each other a hug, and stayed in one place to catch their breath and meet greeters.

The brightest stars in the ascent-laced killer Stage Four from Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya that capped the 2012 Le Tour de Filipinas have authored the biggest achievement for Phl cycling: Ravina as the first-ever Pinoy to rule a UCI-sanctioned tour, Calderon the third local lap winner.

Forming a “local alliance” in the 133.83-km lap that challenged riders to navigate steep climbs and difficult curves along the slopes of the Sierra Madre and the Cordillera mountain ranges, Calderon and Ravina checked in with identical time of 4:36:06, to finish 1-2 in the last stage.

It was good enough for Ravina to wipe out a deficit of 2 minutes and 11 seconds from the overnight yellow jersey wearer, Timo Scholz of CCN, in the general individual classification race, vaulting straight to the title from ninth spot.

“First time ko na mag-champion at international pa. Runner-up lang ang best finish before, noong 2007 sa Padyak Pinoy (This is my first time to be a champion, and in an international race at that. My previous best finish was runner-up in the 2007 Padyak Pinoy),” said 30-year-old Ravina, who netted $950 for this triumph plus $400 for his runner up finish in Stage Four.

He accumulated a time of 13:20:26, disposing of Terengganu’s Loh Sea Keong by just 16 seconds after the Malaysian bet placed third in the final stage (4:37:56) of the event held in partnership with Smart and supported by Foton and Jinbei.

Calderon, in 14th spot through three days of action, built on this lap win to finish No. 3 overall with 13:21:56. Scholz (4:40:27) settled for fourth with 13:22:42, followed by Koos Jeroen Kers of Global Dutch (13:24:32 after a final day 4:40:31).

“Ito talaga ang inaabangan kong lap. Pangako ko sa sarili ko at sa coach, floating muna ako sa patag dahil dito sa Baguio magkaalaman at magkakainan ng oras (I made a promise to myself and my coach that I will make my move in this lap after floating in the flat roads of the first three stages. I knew that this was where the race will ultimately be decided),” said Calderon, whose stage win completed the Filipinos’ romp in all but one of the four laps in this bikathon that started up north in Sta. Ana, Cagayan.

The 31-year-old Calderon was the third Pinoy to top a stage in a UCI race after teammate Oscar Rendole (Stage One) and Arnel Quirimit of GO21 (Stage Two).

Four more Pinoys joined Ravina and Calderon in the overall Top 10. Mark Galedo of Smart (13:28:14 after a final day 4:40:31), American Vinyl-LPGMA duo Rustom Lim (13:28:34 after 4:42:40) and Iris Valenzuela (13:30:23 after 4:42:40) and Rendole (13:33:18 after 4:49:57) occupied 6-9th spots overall.

Carrying the colors of two sister teams under the Lina Group, Ravina and Calderon joined the lead pack at the 46th kilometer mark. They either kept company with the pace or stayed within striking distance the rest of the way, implementing their decision to hook up against the foreign crew as they negotiated the hardest parts of the race.

The riders tackled a pair of King of the Mountain summits in Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya, the first a 5.8-km ascent to an elevation of 1,200 meters above sea level and the second a 5.6-km climb to a peak of 1,400 meters. They then went through a dizzying 13.7-km rise to Ambuclao, Bokod (1,500 meters above sea level) in a KOM summit overlooking Ambuclao Dam before the descent to the City of Pines.