Teener spoils home riders bid; Galedo hangs on

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines  – John Rene Mier upstaged a number of seasoned riders and a slew of Novo Ecijanos in a sprint to the finish to claim his first lap win even as Mark Galedo kept his 16-second lead over Harvey Sicam intact in Stage 10 of the second LBC Ronda Pilipinas that took off in San Fernando, Pampanga and ended here yesterday.

Mier, a promising 19-year-old rider from Lahug, Cebu, spoiled the Novo Ecijanos’ bid of winning in front of their hometown crowd as the Army-RC Cola mainstay outsprinted four others to book his first stage triumph since joining the annual racing spectacle, presented by LBC Express, Inc., last year.

Mier, along with One Tarlac’s Merculio Ramos, Northern Luzon-Ilocos Sur’s Ronald Oranza, Central Luzon-Tarlac’s Johnny Bautista and V-Mobile’s Orlie Villanueva, all clocked three hours, 46 minutes and 41 seconds in the 120-km leg but will take home the top stage purse worth P50,000 and the 10-second bonus deduction for his feat.

“It feels good winning my first lap, it’s like a dream come true,” said Mier, best remembered for his teammanship when he offered his bike to allow his then Phl Under-23 teammate George Oconer, who sustained mechanical problems, to finish in last year’s inaugurals, in Filipino.

It was also Mier’s second straight podium finish after ending up third behind American Vinyl-LPGMA’s Irish Valenzuela and Galedo in last Sunday’s Lucena City-Antipolo City Stage Nine.

Ramos, a former two-time Tour runner-up was actually leading approaching the final stretch to the finish before Mier darted from nowhere to pull the rug from under the veterans.

Ramos, who finished second overall in the 2009 Tour of Luzon behind Galedo and the 2003 Tour next to Arnel Quirimit, settled for second place worth P25,000.

Like Mier, the 19-year-old Oranza, a Ronda rookie, was just too happy to finish third worth P15,000.

“This is something special,” said Oranza, a bike mechanic after graduating from Ramon Costales Memorial National High School before deciding to try out for a slot in his team.

Mier also played the spoiler’s role as he snatched the lap honors from Novo Ecijanos Villanueva and Oscar Rindole.

Rindole, a native of neighboring Guimba, made his move as early as the first 50 kms but fizzled out in the final stretch. He wound up sixth along with Metro Manila’s Dominador Marana in 3:46.44 to the disappointment of a sizeable crowd that waited in front of the College of Immaculate Conception.

At the end of the day, the 26-year-old Galedo of Road Bike retained the red or leader’s jersey as he stuck with the peloton that reached the finish line at eighth in 3:49.05 with a total time of 40:42.47, or 16 seconds ahead of the 26-year-old Sicam, of East Pangasinan and nephew of Jacinto Sicam, a former two-time Tour king.

Although he failed in his podium bid, Rindole’s effort enabled him to move up to No. 5 from No. 11 with 40:46.42.

The rest of the big guns, Lloyd Lucien Reynante and reigning Ronda champ Santy Barnachea of Navy A-Standard, American Vinyl-LPGMA skipper Irish Valenzuela, last year’s third placer George Oconer of the Phl Under-23, and former leaders Baler Ravina of Road Bike and Cris Joven of American Vinyl-LPGMA all remained in the top 10 and in the hunt for the top prize of P1 million.

Reynante is at No. 3 with 40:44.26, Valenzuela at No. 4 with 40:45.37, Barnachea at No. 7 with 40:46.48, Oconer at No. 6 with 40:46.42, Ravina at No. 8 with 40:47.17 and Joven at No. 9 with 40:47.17.

And everybody knows everything will be decided in the dreaded 96.7km Lingayen-Baguio Stage 12.

“The race will be decided there,” said the 25-year-old Valenzuela, a former many-time King of the Mountain winner including the 2009 Manila-to-Baguio race.

“It will make or break one’s campaign in the Lingayen-Baguio stage,” Galedo, who won the Cabanatuan-Baguio Stage on his way to ruling the 2009 Tour of Luzon, for his part, said.

Metro Manila likewise clung to the team lead, and thanks to solid Stage 10 efforts by Marana, two-time Tour titlist Warren Davadilla and Emelito Atilano, the Big City bets turned 1.35-minute lead over a Barnachea-captained Navy A-Standard side to almost four minutes with a total cumulative time of 121:08.20 against the latter’s 121:12.16.

One Tarlac, mentored by former Tour campaigner Loreto Mandi, remained at No. 3 with 121:16.32 while V-Mobile (121:19.02), American Vinyl-LPGMA (121:26.17), Road Bike (121:27.46), Army-RC Cola (121:29.49), Mindanao (121:31.57), West Central Pangasinan (121:37.13) and East Pangasinan (121:59.19) rounding up the top 10.

Oconer leads the Young Rider award while Joven the sprint and Valenzuela the king of the mountain categories.