LPGMA-American Vinyl riders back in the fight

ORMOC CITY, Philippines  – Any ordinary coach would automatically shift to panic mode once his team plunges to the depths of the standings.

Don’t tell that to LPGMA-American Vinyl road strategist Renato Dolosa, who stayed calm despite a disappointing start for the defending team champions in the 2012 LBC Ronda Pilipinas.

The multi-titled club co-owned by LPGMA party-list Rep. Arnel Ty and cycling figure Eric Sy opened its title defense in an unexpected way, plummeting to 12th overall right in the opening stage held in General Santos City on the first week of the 21-day, 15-leg race.

But instead of losing heart, Dolosa’s riders headed by Cris Joven and Rustom Lim took the challenge, slowly pulling LPGMA-American Vinyl, which also captured the team crown in the four-day Le Tour de Filipinas last month, out of the doldrums.

``It was a bad start but we’re not backing down. We’ll slowly inch our way into contention one stage at a time,’’ said Dolosa, who also steered the club to the 2009 Le Tour de Filipinas and 2010 Tour of Luzon titles.

Just like the grit and poise that he displayed in winning the fabled Tour twice during the 90s, Dolosa has been successfully guiding his team back into the derby for the P1-million team prize.

With skipper Irish Valenzuela, Rudy Roque, Ronnel Hualda and Edmundo Nicolas also helping out, LPGMA-American Vinyl climbed to 11th in Stage 2 (GenSan to Davao City) and eighth overall after four stages. From a deficit of more than 17 minutes, they are now trailing overall team leader V-Mobile by 14:43.

Except for Joven, the entire team was hit by cramps in the kick-off stage from GenSan to Kiamba, Sarangani and back to the country’s tuna capital covering 183.3 kilometers.

``Those things normally happen at the start. But I believe my riders are peaking at the right time,’’ said Dolosa, who made his hometown Sorsogon proud with his cycling exploits.

``We have to improve on every stage and earn as many points as possible before reaching the mountains,’’ he added.

Coaches from the 16 Ronda teams agreed that Stages 12 (Lingayen, Pangasinan to Baguio City) and 13 (Tuba, Benguet to Baguio) will decide the individual crown as well as the team champion.