Lim rules stage; Santy keeps lead

TARLAC CITY, Philippines – Rustom Lim of PSC-PhilCycling outsprinted teammate George Oconer Jr. and Navy’s Jan Paul Morales in a frenetic finish to rule Stage Four even as Navy’s Santy Barnachea kept his hold of the overall lead in the Ronda Pilipinas 2015 presented by LBC here yesterday.

Lim, 21, stuck with the big guns majority of the way then made his move in the final 200 meters to nip Oconer and Morales for lap honors with hands in air to the delight of the loud and appreciative crowd in front of the Tarlac Provincial Capitol. He clocked four hours, 43.41 minutes.

“It’s a nice feeling winning a stage again,” said Lim, a Guimba, Nueva Ecija native, who ruled the Olongapo stage last year. He placed fourth in the Stage One criterium in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

A member of the national team that competed in the Asian Cycling Championship in Thailand last week, Morales checked in at second while Oconer settled for third with identical times of 4:43.43.

Barnachea, meanwhile, fended off threats by Oconer and Army’s Cris Joven to close in as the veteran campaigner finished in 39th place in 4:44.01 to keep the symbolic red LBC jersey with an aggregate clocking of 14:21.01.

“I just tried to keep up with them as close as possible,” said the 38-year-old Barnachea, the 2011 inaugural Ronda champion, referring to Oconer and Joven.

Despite Barnachea’s tight watch, Oconer and Joven succeeded in chopping off some precious seconds off the former’s lead.

Oconer, the Stage One winner in Paseo who finished fourth overall last year, moved just 7.37 minutes off the lead after starting out eight minutes behind. He has a total time of 14:28.38.

Joven, an Armyman, gained 10 seconds after a joint 13th finish in 4:43.51 for a total clocking of 14:29.20.

Joven actually broke loose from Barnachea and the pack halfway through the race but lost steam in the end.

Mark Galedo, the 7-Eleven team captain now 15th overall with a time of 14:38.10, also made a daring attempt but was checked by Barnachea’s Navy teammate.

The 2012 Ronda king, however, has refused to give up.

“It’s not yet over. We still have four laps to go,” said Galedo.

Rounding up the top 10 in the overall standings were Navy’s Ronald Oranza (14:29.31), Morales (14:30.34) and Mark Jhon Camingao (14:33.20), Cebu-VMobile’s Rey Nelson Martin (14:36.05), Navy’s Lloyd Lucien Reynante (14:36.06), Army’s Irish Valenzuela (14:36.18) and Cebu-VMobile’s Elmer Navarro (14:36.18).

Outside Barnachea, the other colored jersey wearers were Morales (sprint), 7-Eleven’s Baler Ravina (KOM), Camingao (Under-23) and 7-Eleven’s Jay Lampawog (juniors).

The race resumes with an all-flat 138.9 Stage Five that will start in Tarlac and end in Dagupan, Pangasinan.

The race is presented by LBC and supported by major sponsors the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation, Petron and Mitsubishi and minor sponors Cannondale, Standard Insurance, Tech1 Corp., Maynilad, NLEX and NLEX Cycling and sanctioned by PhilCycling under Cavite Rep. 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.