Ravina stays at helm; Roque breaks thru

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – Rudy Roque and Ronnel Hualda blazed home to complete a 1-2 finish for LPGMA-American Vinyl even as Road Bike Phl’s Baler Ravina kept his hold of the overall lead with a gritty ride in Stage Five in the second Ronda Pilipinas presented by LBC yesterday.

Roque, 21, nipped his US-based teammate Hualda, Road Bike’s Ericson Obosa and a slew of others in the second massed finish to rule the 146.6-km race that was flagged off in Ormoc and ended in front of the City Hall here.

“I was told by my coach (Renato Dolosa) to just attack,” said Roque, a native of Tibo, Bataan, after posting his first lap win in a young cycling career.

Roque, who turned in a surprise ninth place finish in last year’s Ronda inaugurals, also moved up to No. 3 in the Best Young Rider race behind pacesetter George Oconer of Phl Under-23 and Metro Manila’s Denver Casayuran.

Roque and the rest clocked three hours, 32 minutes, 11 seconds but as lap winner, the LPGMA-American Vinyl bet will get a 10-second deduction and the top prize worth P50,000 for topping the race that featured a Category 2 climb, making it the toughest after five legs of the tour.

The 29-year-old Hualda, for his part, stayed afloat with the peloton that caught up the three-man lead pack composed of Roque, teammate Rustom Lim and One Tarlac’s Tomas Martinez before unleashing a strong finishing kick to snatch runner-up leg honors.

“I was in the peloton until I saw a chance to pull away,” said Hualda, a resident of Riverside, California who had three podium finishes in the last Ronda, including a lap victory in the final leg in Manila.

The 33-year-old Obosa, one of the country’s top sprinters who had won two international and three local sprint titles, settled for third and remained without a lap victory in three years now.

“There are still 10 stages, I will have my chance,” said Obosa, from Manaoag, Pangasinan, who hiked his winnings to P40,000, including a second place finish in the Butuan-Surigao Stage Four.

American Vinyl skipper Irish Valenzuela actually launched the early assault in the first 60km, right at the Category 2 climb.

But after claiming the KOM lap honors, he opted to slow down and allowed another group headed by Roque to take over going into the final stretch.

“He (Valenzuela) had no help when he attacked early, maybe he got tired,” said Roque.

Valenzuela gained 10 points from the stage to grab the KOM lead, moving past LPGMA-American Vinyl’s Cris Joven by virtue of a higher category climb – Category 2.

The second massed finish of this 15-stage, 20-day LBC-backed event also enabled the 30-year-old Ravina to cling to the No. 1 spot for the fourth straight day with a total clocking of 20: 54.35 ahead of V-Mobile’s Joel Calderon (20:55.05), Joven (20:55.23), V-Mobile’s Rey Martin (20:55.51) and One Tarlac’s Joseph Millanes (20:56.12).

“Just what I’ve said, I will try to hold on to the red jersey for as long as I can and I’m glad I’m still the leader,” said Ravina, who is coming off a victory in the four-stage Le Tour in northern Luzon last month.

Ravina, who surged ahead after topping the Tagum-Butuan City Stage Three, considered the longest lap (227km), last Saturday, however, said he expects his rivals to launch their move anytime.

Completing the top 10 in the overall individual race are Road Bike’s Mark John Lexer Galedo (20:56.18), the 2009 Tour of Luzon king, Mindanao’s Dexter Nonato (20:56.26), Metro Manila’s Ronadl Gorantes (20:56.38), One Tarlac’s Daniel Asto (20:57.21) and East Pangasinan’s Harvey Sicam (20:57.21).

Dropping off the elite 10 was former champ Arnel Quirimit of Western and Central Pangasinan as the 36-year-old 2003 Tour winner limped to 58th and slid to No. 19 overall with 21:00.53.

Reigning champion Santy Barnachea of Navy A-Standard and the other big guns, last year’s third placer George Oconer of the Phl Under-23 and last year’s second placer Joel Calderon of V-Mobile, all improved to Nos. 12, 14 and 16 with times of 20:57.45, 20:58.40 and 20:58.45, respectively.

“It’s still too early to tell,” said Barnachea, the Umingan, Pangasinan native seeking an unprecedented fourth Tour title.

Outside the Top 10, there are still around 17 riders still in contention for the top P1 million purse, including Valenzuela, who is 9.11 minutes off the pace.

Others in the group are West-Central Pangasinan’s Reynaldo Navarro (20:57.40), Martinez (20:58.11), Road Bike’s Juilus Mark Bonzo (20:58.41), Navy A-Standard’s Eusebio Quinones (20:59.59), Mindanao’s Tots Oledan (21:00.53), Army-RC Cola’s Alvin Benosa (21:01.11), Navy A-Standard’s Lloyd Lucien Reynante (21:01.22);

V-Mobile’s Alfredo Asuncion (21:01.58), Navy B-San Miguel’s Reinhard Gorantes (21:02.00), Army-RC Cola’s Arnold Marcelo (21:02.16), Mindanao’s Jay Tolentino (21:03.10) and Road Bike’s Jason Garillo (21:03.43).

Veteran Warren Davadilla of Air Force, 37 and winner of the Marlboro Tour in its last staging in 1998 and its revival seven years later, likewise made a significant stride, moving to 38th overall with a time of 21:12.56 from as low as 95^th.

Like in the individual overall race, there had been no major shake-up in the team category as the Calderon-skippered V-Mobile squad remained on top with 61:53.22 although Road Bike jumped to No. 2 with 61:55.36 while leaving Mindanao dropping from No. 2 to No. 3 with 61:57.32.

The Visayan phase of Ronda will be concluded today with the 170km Stage Six that will start here, pass through the San Juanico Bridge and end in Calbayog City in Samar.

RONDA NOTES: Former showbiz personality Cristina Gonzales-Romualdez graced the event at the finish line in front of Tacloban City Hall...West-Central Pangasinan’s Sherwin Carrera raced despite nursing a fever and was eventually disqualified, along with six others, after failing to meet the quota time of 10 percent in Stage 5. Others dropped off the roster were Nilo Estayo, Ryan Dawana and Dolar Leal, Ronald Oranza, Ryan Serapio and Michael Joguilon.