Rains shower blessings on Korean

APARRI, CAGAYAN, Philippines – The dreaded foreign charge wasted no time flexing their muscles in the fourth Le Tour de Filipinas as Lee Ki Suk of Taiwanese Continental Team CCN spearheaded a 1-2-3 finish for the visitors in yesterday’s rain-drenched Stage One that ended here.

Although competing in the Le Tour for only the first time, Korean Lee encountered little problem in negotiating the relatively flat route for the opening stage – a 183 km ride from Bangui, Ilocos – for the lap win.

Lee took 4:35:42 to finish the route, which passed through some of the region’s landmarks like the Patapat viaduct and the Golden Gate Bridge-inspired Magapit Suspension Bridge, as he beat Douglas Repacholi  of City of Perth (also 4:35:42) for the top honors by a wheel’s length.

Ghader Mizbani Iranagh, two-time UCI Asia Tour champion and skipper of the vaunted Tabriz Petrochemica Team of Iran, checked in third at 4:35:44, practically in the company of his teammates Hossein Askari (4:35:44), Saeid Safarzadeh (4:36:12) and Hagh Amir Kolahdoz (4:36:12).

Left in the wake of the visitors’ rampage in the rains were the local riders, who finished outside the Top 10 after the initial salvo of the four-stage spectacle presented by Air21 in partnership with San Miguel Corp. and Smart.

Lloyd Lucien Reynante of Philippine team Standard Insurance and Ronnel Hualda of 7-Eleven presented by Roadbike were the best performers among the Pinoy bets at 14th and 15th places, respectively, 6 minutes, 57 seconds off the pace.  Last year’s third placer Joel Calderon of Philippine Navy Standard Insurance wound up 19th (7:04 adrift) while defending champion Baler Ravina also of 7-Eleven ended up at 22nd (7:15 off).

The 26-year-old Lee joined a 13-rider group that broke away from the pack in the descent from the lone King of the Mountain (KOM) spot at the 26.69th km mark on Alperr Highway near the border of Ilocos Norte and Cagayan Province. From there, the lead group pedaled without let up to the finish line set at Aparri Central School in this laidback town located in the northern tip of Luzon.

“After the KOM, I sprinted hard all the way,” said Lee, who also piled up 19 points from the sprints to grab the green jersey in addition to the yellow jersey he will don today in the 196-km Stage Two going to Cauayan City, Isabela.

The so-called advantage of the Pinoys in the intense weather conditions of Northern Luzon were somehow neutralized by the downpour in the town of Sanchez Mira that cooled down the temp.

“Rain (was) very good (for me),” said Lee, accustomed to the cool weather of his hometown Seoul.

Ravina and the other Phl aces were left playing catch up from the 30th kilometer onwards. “Late na yung dive namin kaya hindi na umabot (We were left behind in the dive and couldn’t catch up anymore),” he said.

Ravina’s conviction remains.

“Mahaba pa naman ang karera, pwede pang humabol (The race is not over yet, we still have three stages to make our move and catch up),” he said.

Today’s second stage featurea another ride on flat lands, the same as tomorrow’s Stage Three (104 Kms) from Cauayan to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya.

Tuesday’s culminating Stage Four from Bayombong to Baguio – a 132.7 km roller-coaster ride through the Cordilleras – is tipped to be the killer lap and likely decider of the event sponsored by Standard Insurance, Jinbei, Victory Liner, San Mig Coffee, Magnolia Purewater, Red Media, Foton, Maynilad, Kia, Sign Media, Integrated Waste Management Inc., Eurotel, American Vinyl, LBC and 7-Eleven.