Ex-Ronda King grabs top spot, aims for 2nd crown

ANTIPOLO CITY--Call it deja vu for 7-Eleven's Mark Galedo.

Racing on a familiar route, Galedo rallied from way back and finished in a sixth man group that checked in at fourth in the 153-kilometer Lucena-Antipolo Stage Six Friday to snatch the red jersey from Santy Barnachea of Navy-Standard Insurance.

Galedo, 28, came all the way from the fourth group, tried to go for a stage win before deciding to settle back in a pack consisting of reigning champion Irish Valenzuela of Army, PLDT-Maynilad's Junrey Navarra, Navy-Standard's Lloyd Lucien Reynante, Roadbike's Marcelo Felipe and Cyclineline-Butuan Mindanao's Reimon Lapaza that reached the finish line at No. 4 with a three-hour, 34-minute and 25-second clocking.

Kiwi Jason Christie, who topped the Stage One criterium at the Quezon City Circle last week, won the stage in 3:33.59 ahead of CCN Danish teammate John Ebsen and Frenchman Peter Pouly of Infinite-Singha, who wound up second in identical times of 3:34.00.

But it was Galedo, out to become the first two-time winner of this annual bikathon on its fourth staging now, who made the most significant gain as he zoomed from No. 2 behind Barnachea to No. 1 with a total clocking of 20:48:30, or 14 seconds atop the dangerous and overachieving Lapaza.

Interestingly, Galedo has grabbed the overall lead on the exact same route that he took the top spot on his way to the second edition crown two years ago.

"There's something in this stage that is giving me luck, I guess I'm lucky here because this is also where I took the lead when I won here two years ago," said Galedo in Filipino.

Like Galedo, Lapaza had to scramble back into action after the latter suffered a punctured rear tire in the railroads of Candelaria, Quezon and finished alongside the former.

"I was in the breakaway group early on but the flat tire slowed me down," said the 28-year-old Butuan City native. "Good thing I didn't give up and fought my way back."

Mark Julius Bordeos of 7-Eleven was another surprise of the day as he inched his way from No. 5 to No. 3 in 20:50:49, a rung ahead of the 36-year-old Barnachea, the first Ronda King who was at No. 4 in 20:51:31.

Pouly, 36, regained his place in the Top 10 after getting nudged out of No. 3 after Stage Five as he is now No. 8 in 20:54:10.

A known mountain-climber, Pouly knows he's being keenly watched.

"I'm targetting to win the King of the Mountain here but if I get the chance to win everything, I'll go for it," said Pouly. "But it’s going to be tough because I know I'm being watched by the Filipino riders."

Rounding up the Top 10 were Roadbike's Marcelo Felipe (20:52:26), PLDT-Maynilad's Ronald Oranza (20:53:15), Navy-Standard's George Oconer (20:53:29), Cycleline's Vicmar Vicente (20:55:26) and Cebu-Kalit Air Force's Oscar Rindole (20:56:01).

7-Eleven continued to lord it over the team race in 62:31:06 ahead of Navy-Standard (62:37:20) and Cycleline-Butuan MIndanao (62:40:00).

This 14-stage event is presented by LBC, the largest courier and cargo company, sponsored MVP Sports Foundation, Petron, NLEX, Maynilad, PLDT and Mitsubishi, Versa 2 Way Radio and Standard Insurance and minor sponsor Air Asia Zest and C! Magazine, sanctioned by PhilCycling and backed by Shimano Cannondale bikes, the Department of Tourism and Phl National Police chief Allan Purisima.