Mad dash to the finish

SAN JUAN, La Union, Philippines — A wide-eyed Ean Cajucom dreamed of becoming an astronaut when he was a kid.

And then he discovered the beautiful sport of cycling and began shooting for the stars.

Bringing with him that same ambition, the 22-year-old Victoria Sports sprinter delivered the biggest victory of his young career and topped the 135-kilometer Stage Three that started in Vigan and featured a mad dash to the finish at the Municipal Hall of this tourist coastal town yesterday.

“This is my first stage win,” said Cajucom, who edged eventual second and third placers Malaysia Pro Cycling’s Ahmad Syazrin Awang Ilah and Standard Insurance’s Ronald Oranza with the same clocking of two hours, 51 minutes and 42 seconds along with 96 others.

It was truly a moment to remember for Cajucom, who fell in love with the sport because of his father Romeo and elder brother and Navy mainstay John Mark Camingao.

“I stopped schooling because I began to like cycling. My dream when I was a kid was to become an astronaut,” said Cajucom, who is using his mother’s surname. “I wasn’t able to pursue it because I was already recruited by Victoria and we trained and competed in Europe last year.”

“I’m just happy to be given this chance,” he added.

Part of that huge peloton that checked in with Cajucom was Joo Dae Young of South Korea’s Gapyeong Cycling Team, who will continue to wear the yellow or leader’s jersey in today’s Stage 4, a rolling 168.76km lap that will start in nearby Agoo and will end in Clark, Pampanga.

Joo, who imposed his will early by running away in the Paoay-Paoay Stage One Thursday, remained untouchable at least for now as he holds a massive, 4.32-minute lead over his closest pursuer in Oranza.

The former Ronda Pilipinas titlist chopped some seconds off Joo’s lead, thanks to the former’s second podium finish in this 1,074km, eight-stage race.

And the Villasis, Pangasinan native almost lost it after coming close to being dragged into a 14-rider spill approaching Balaoan in this province known for its scenic coastal attractions.

“I almost got involved in that spill. I was just seconds away from it,” he said.

But it didn’t spare Oranza’s Standard teammates George Oconer and Junrey Navarra.

“They’re still checking in the hospital if Junrey suffered an injury while Oconer sustained bruises. But they were still able to finish the race,” said Oranza.

While Oranza kept reiterating they will focus on the overall team race where they hold a slim 19-second lead over closest pursuer MPT Drivehub Team coached by former Tour king Santy Barnachea with a total time of 28:38:24, he vowed he will try to inch closer with Joo even if takes him second by second.

Just a breathe behind Oranza at third was Go for Golds Aidan James Mendoza with a time of 7:05:07 while rounding out the individual top 10 were Exodus Army’s Dominic Perez (7:05:11), Oconer (7:05:13), MPT Drivehub’s Mervin Corpuz (7:05:17) and Rustom Lim (7:05:22), Malaysia’s Mohammad Faiz Fakhri Omar (7:09:54), Standard’s Jan Paul Morales (7:09:54) and MPTD’s Junreck Carcueva (7:09:55).