TAGAYTAY CITY?With just a few kilometers of undulating road ahead, it never occurred to Merculio Ramos that victory was imminent.

Ramos furiously kicked away in the last five kilometers and left his closest challenger far behind for a solo finish in the second stage of the Liquigaz-LPGMA Tour of Luzon.

The Army man from Tarlac City clocked four hours, eight minutes and 32 seconds from Lucena City to this cool city famous for its picturesque view of the Taal volcano after pulling away from a pack of stage-hungry riders inside the 20-kilometer mark.

Apart from claiming the Burlington stage honors, Ramos also grabbed the overall lead of the race. He will don the yellow jersey on Wednesday on the way to Marikina City, a 164.5-kilometer drive marked by three treacherous ascents in Rizal town, Laguna, Mabitac and Teresa, Rizal.

The My Photos team captain surged ahead after he cut loose from a group of eight cyclists, which included Joseph Millanes and Dante Cagas of 7-Eleven/Road Bike, GeoEstate/The Beacon skipper Oscar Rendole, Lloyd Reynante of American Vinyl and Mobile Wonders captain Santy Barnachea.

?They all looked tired and groggy so I grabbed the chance and pulled away,? said the 29-year-old Ramos in Filipino.

Cris Joven of Liquigaz stubbornly gave chase with approximately a hundred meters separating him from Ramos but lost steam four kilometers to the finish.

Joven arrived with Millanes and Rendole in 4:09:01 while the third group of Barnachea, Reynante, Cagas and Batang Tagaytay?s Wilson Mangahis came in at 4:09:48.

?Even though I was way ahead in the last four kilometers, I still had doubts that I could win the race,? said Ramos, who earned the distinction of becoming the first Filipino cyclist to secure the yellow jersey in the challenging Tour de Langkawi back in 2004.

?I just kept on pushing until I saw the finish line,? he added.

Stage One winner Tomas Martinez belonged to a group that paced the 90-rider field before the entourage got entangled in a traffic jam in Bauan, Batangas, 79 kilometers into the race.

When the peloton finally managed to elude the logistical mess after 25 minutes, it broke into splinters that left Martinez and a large group of riders behind.

Martinez finished 15th in the stage (4:13.24) along with a cluster of nine cyclists, including close friend Joel Calderon, who captured runner-up honors in Lucena.

Martinez now sits at eighth place in the overall standings.