INQUIRER Sports

FORMER TOUR champion Santy Barnachea grabbed the overall lead after coming home with a 10-man pack which Irish Valenzuela towed to the finish in yesterday?s Stage 2 of the Padyak Pinoy 2009 Tour of Champions.

Six other team captains also made it to the top 10 overall classification behind Barnachea, the 2006 champion and Air2100 skipper, paving the way for an exciting race among the big guns of the eight-stage bikathon.

Valenzuela of Columbia Sportswear, who is being eyed by an Indonesian professional team, made his move in the last 100 meters to nip Ronnel Hualda of American Vinyl and mountain bike specialist Frederic Feliciano of Cargohaus for lap honors.

?We took turns up front,? said Valenzuela, who timed four hours, 52 minutes and 52 seconds for the 210-km lap that saw the field tackle some portions of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway before finishing in Apalit where it started.

Barnachea floated with the lead pack that also included 2003 Tour champion Arnel Quirimit of Columbia Sportswear and Baler Ravina of Burger King, who went on to secure the No. 2 and No. 3 spots overall.

Mainly because of his fifth place finish in the opening lap, Barnachea took a slim overall lead of 19 seconds over Quirimit with an aggregate time of 8:18:04. Ravina was just 43 seconds behind.

Renato Sembrano of Tanduay, the Stage 1 winner, led the nine-man second group for the day and wound up fourth overall, 2:40 behind.

Completing the top 10 were Oscar Rindole of Ube Media (2:40 behind), Warren Davadilla of Mail and More (2:43), Hualda (2:45), Feliciano (2:51), Cris Joven of American Vinyl (2:53) and Joel Calderon of Smart Buddy (2:55).

American Vinyl, with the strong showing of Hualda, Joven and Reynante for the day, surged into the team lead with a time of 25 hours, 2 minutes and 48.2 seconds.

Ube Media moved up to second 3:11.47 behind and Columbia Sportswear was third 16:46.088 off the leader. Erstwhile team leader Tanduay dropped to eighth, 31:30.717 behind.

Aside from the regular lap prize of P5,000, the 22-year-old Valenzuela received P10,000 more courtesy of Apalit Mayor Jun Tetangco.

Hualda?s second-place finish in the stage was his best since since his rookie season in 2004.

The 74 survivors will head up north to Dagupan City in today 153.3-km third lap of the event offering P500,000 to the team champion and P50,000 to the overall individual winner.

Ravina topped the tour?s first King of the Mountain contest in Dinalupihan in Bataan and earned eight points, followed by Reynante and Rey Martin of Go 21 with two points each and Albert Basirgo of Solarlina and Calderon with one point apiece.

Results
Stage 2: Apalit to Apalit, Pampanga (210 km)

SECOND LAP RESULTS
1. Irish Valenzuela (Columbia Sportswear) 4:52:55
2. Ronnel Hualda (American Vinyl) same time
3. Frederick Feliciano (Cargohaus) same time
4. Arnel Quirimit (Columbia Sportswear) same time
5. Cris Joven (American Vinyl) same time
6. Santy Barnachea (Air2100) same time
7. Oscar Rindole (Ube Media) same time
8. Joel Calderon (Smart Buddy) same time
9. Baler Ravina (Burger King) same time
10. Lloyd Lucien Reynante (American Vinyl) same time

OVERALL AFTER 2 LAPS
1. Santy Barnachea (Air 21) 8:18:04
2. Arnel Quirimit (Columbia Sportswear) 19 seconds behind
3. Baler Ravina (Burger King) 43s behind
4. Renato Sembrano (Tanduay) 2:40 behind
5. Oscar Rindole (Ube Media) 2:40 behind
6. Warren Davadilla (Mail and More) 2:43 behind
7. Ronnel Hualda (American Vinyl) 2:45 behind
8. Frederick Feliciano (Cargohaus) 2:51 behind
9. Cris Joven (American Vinyl) 02:53 behind
10. Joel Calderon (Smart Buddy) 2:55 behind

TEAM OVERALL
l. American Vinyl 25:02:48.201
2. Ube Media 03:11.247 behind
3. Columbia Sportswear 16:34.290
4. Air2100 18:52.488
5. Smart Buddy 21:41.621
6. Burger King 23:13.517
7. Wow Magic Sing 29:31.676
8. Tanduay 31:30.717
9. Mail and More 33:44.868
10. Go 21 34:37.006
11. Gin Kapitan 37:28.038
12. U-Freight 57:14.249
13. Solarlina 58:30.781
14. Cargohaus 1:03:53.257
15. Navray 1:11:22.899