Oranza rules Stage 1 of Ronda Luzon leg; Barnachea shines

SAN JOSE, Tarlac – Ronald Oranza copped the stage victory but it was inaugural champion Santy Barnachea who served the biggest notice with a fourth place effort Monday in Stage One of the Luzon qualifier of the Ronda Pilipinas 2015 presented by LBC that started in the busy street of the city and ended in this mountaintop monastery here.

Oranza, 22, checked in at three hours and 32.01 minutes, raised his two hands in victory and blow kisses to a small but appreciative crowd who climbed the Monesterio de Tarlac, where a huge white monument of Jesus Christ facing the whole province was located.

Silently trudging behind was Barnachea, the inaugural Ronda edition champion four years back who finished at No. 4 in 3:33.11, sending warning signals to the opposition that he still has it at 38 years old.

"We'll see what happens next," Barnachea, who is skippering the Navy-Standard Insurance team that has recently recruited Oranza himself and a bunch of talented young riders in John Mark Camingao, El Joshua Carino and Rudy Roque, in Filipino.

Barnachea, of course, is seeking to make the cut as he seeks another solid effort in Monday's second and final stage in Antipolo City, which he thinks is easier than this stage where riders had to negotiate tough ascents.

"It's not yet finished but the Antipolo stage is less difficult than this one here," said Barnachea, who has trained with Navy for a week in Baguio City to prepare for this year's Ronda staging.

Oranza, who was part of the team that arrived a few years ago fresh from a stint in the Asian Cycling Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, won not just the stage but also emerged the leader in both the sprint and King of the Mountain races.

The proud son of Villasis, Pangasinan though will wear the LBC red jersey symbolic the overall individual leader while Jan Paul Morales, a silver medalist in the ACC, the Petron blue jersey for the sprint leader and Elmer Navarro for the white polka dot Mitsubishi jersey for the KOM frontrunner.

Interestingly, Navarro, representing Team Cebu, surprised everyone by sticking close to Oranza and eventually ending up second in the stage – clocking 3:32.17, just 16 seconds off the pace.

Morales, who would has made it to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics outright if he had struck gold instead of silver, finished at No. 3 in 3:32.41 followed by Barnachea and another Navyman, John Mark Camingao in 3:33.17.

Rounding up the top 10 were national team mainstay George Oconer, Jr., Nelson Martin, Leonel Biocarles, Daniel Asto and 7-Eleven's Mark Julius Bordeus, who is coming off a top 10 finish in the ACC.

Amerasian Jay Lampawog, a 17-year-old native of Villasis, Pangasinan like Oranza, shone the brightest in the junior race for 17-18 years old with a clocking of 2:34.00, besting Jayson Gupit (2:34.50) and Joshua Gile (2:35.20).

Camingao, for his part, leads the under-23 section ahead of Biocarles and Bordeus.

The race resumes Tuesday with 102.5-km race starting and ending in Antipolo City.

And the cyclists are expected to make the final push as this stage serves as the final qualifier before Ronda heads to the Championship round set Feb. 22-27 from Paseo Greenfield City in Sta. Rosa, Laguna to cool, breezy Baguio City.

All the qualifiers, including those from the Visayas leg that was won by Boots Ryan Cayubit of 7-Eleven, will join Lapaza, the national team and a composite European squad eyeing the top purse worth P1 million.

The race is presented by LBC and supported by major sponsors the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation, Petron and Mitsubishi and minor sponsors Cannondale, Standard Insurance, Tech1 Corp., Maynilad and NLEX and sanctioned by PhilCycling under Cavite Congressman Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino with TV5 and Sports Radio as media partners.

For updates, check Ronda Pilipinas’ official Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/RondaPilipinas, and Twitter account, @rondapilipinas.