Rich champ rides home trouble-free

BAGUIO, Philippines  â€“ Irish Valenzuela turned the 16th and final stage of Ronda Pilipinas 2013 into a victory ride and coronation as he emerged the race’s third millionaire champion before a huge crowd at the Lakeshore Drive of the busy Burnham Park here yesterday.

Valenzuela, who virtually snatched the crown from PLDT-Spyder’s Ronald Oranza by ruling the make-or-break race against time Thursday and wresting a two-minute lead over Rolando Gorantes, opted to ride it safe in the closing 67.5-km criterium in-and-around this cool city but kept his closest pursuers in check the whole race.

With the P1 million purse in the bag, the top LPGMA-American Vinyl bet slowed down in the final stretch and settled for joint 67th finish alongside teammate Edgardo Bolliser in one hour, 44 minutes, 18 seconds, or just 31 seconds behind eventual lap winner Jan Paul Morales of Navy-Standard.

After 16 grueling, challenging laps spread through more than 2,200kms in 21 days of paved and rough roads and toughened up by killer ascents in scorching heat, strong winds and rains, the 25-year-old Valenzuela wrapped it all up with an aggregate time of 50:53.58.

Upon reaching the finish line, he smiled to the loud, appreciative crowd, raised his P.5 million-worth Giant TCR Advance bike before his LPGMA-American Vinyl teammates gave him the traditional victory ride.

He pointed a finger to the sky then later hugged his parents, Kiko and Francia, as he savored the sweet taste of victory he fashioned out through hard work and sheer determination.

“I’ve waited and worked long enough for this moment and now I’m finally here,” said a teary-eyed Valenzuela, who lost the crown to Mark Galedo of Roadbike Phl last year, in Filipino.

“But I wouldn’t have done this without my family, my team, my bosses Arnel Ty and Eric Sy, my friends, supporters and most especially God.

“The feeling is really indescribable, I’m just so happy right now,” he added.

For his feat, Valenzuela pocketed P1 million which he said he would use to put up a small business.

Ty also gave Valenzuela a Tour de France scholarship where he will have a chance to train with the Liquigaz Pool B team.

To cap it off, Valenzuela got a kiss from comely Ronda girl Ces Angeles during post-race ceremonies.

“He (Valenzuela) stole a kiss from me, I was stunned,” said the 24-year-old Angeles.

The Tabaco, Albay native also became the first Bicolano to win the Ronda since his coach Renato Dolosa won the fabled Marlboro Tour in 1992 and 1995.

“This one is also for my provincemates,” he said.

Roadbike Phl shared the spotlight as it clinched the team title, also worth P1 million, behind strong finishes in the last two stages of the event bankrolled by LBC Express, Inc., sanctioned by PhilCycling and backed by Total, the MVP Sports Foundation, Jinbei Auto, Smart, Icom iDAS, Standard Insurance, Maynilad, SunStar and NLEX.

Roadbike’s pooled a total clocking of 162:51.29, besting Navy-Standard and PLDT-Spyder, which finished second and third places in 162:53.28 and 162:54.25, respectively.

Gorantes led Roadbike’s attack by finishing second overall in 55:20.49 while team captain Galedo ended up at No. 6 in 55:33.32.

The second and third place lap finish by Jimmy Aquino, Jr., 20, and Ronnel Hualda, 30, helped cap Roadbike’s victory. The other team members were Baler Ravina, Ericson Obosa, Harvey Sicam and Alfie Catalan.

“The key was team effort. And we also kept the faith,” said Roadbike’s rookie coach Ednalyn Hualda, the 31-year-old wife of Ronnel and the only lady coach in this 12-team race.

“I’m happy and proud of the boys for finally winning it for Roadbike Phl,” said Roadbike Phl team manager Bong Sual.

Morales, a 27-year-old Calumpang, Marikina native and Seaman 2nd class, edged 18 others in a mass finish with identical clocking of 1:43.47 to become the rider with the most lap triumphs with two.

He did the feat despite taking a spill in the Tuguegarao-Solano Stage 13, the longest lap at 204.4 kms, that almost took him out of the race.

“I’m glad I was able to endure the pain during that crash and finish the race. I’m really thankful I still got this chance of winning another lap,” said Morales, who now has four stage wins in the Ronda, two in Surigao and Naga last year and one in the Aparri-Tuguegarao Stage 12 this year.

Rounding up the Top 10 in the individual race were former leader Oranza (55:21.00), Navy’s Santy Barnachea (55:23.20), PLDT-Spyder’s El Joshua Carino (55:26.26), Mindanao-Cycleline Butuan’s Junrey Navarra (55:37.12), VMobile-Smart’s Joel Calderon (55:39.40), LPGMA’s Cris Joven (55:39.49) and Navy’s George Oconer (55:43.27).

Next to Roadbike, Navy-Standard and PLDT-Spyder in team race, LPGMA-American Vynil wound up fourth (163:29.50), VMobile-Smart (163:34.26), Mindanao-Cycleline Butuan (163:46.27), Y101 FM-Cebu (163:55.19), Team Tarlac (164:09.55), Hundred Islands-Pangasinan (165:04.17), Team Enrile (165:04.17), Metro Manila-San Miguel (165:43.34) and Ilocos Sur/East Pangasinan (166:51.37).

Hualda, 30, needed to rule the two intermediate sprint races of the lap to overtake Oranza, 20, as the Jinbei Auto Sprint King while Oranza and Navarra took the MVP Foundation, Inc. Young Rider and Total KOM awards, respectively.