Fighting Irish is Ronda champ
By June Navarro
Falling short in his previous attempt by a mere 33 seconds, Irish Valenzuela yesterday formalized his enthronement in the pantheon of Filipino cycling heroes.
Falling short in his previous attempt by a mere 33 seconds, Irish Valenzuela yesterday formalized his enthronement in the pantheon of Filipino cycling heroes.
Irish Valenzuela ruled the punishing individual time trial in yesterday’s Stage 15 and all but seized the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas individual title by opening a huge lead going into the concluding leg here today.
A virtually unknown Junrey Navarra swept into the limelight by dominating the most dreaded stage of the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas yesterday.
Ronald Oranza of PLDT/Spyder survived a rally by Santy Barnachea of Philippine Navy to keep the overall lead yesterday after a methodical high-velocity race in Stage 11 of the Ronda Pilipinas won by Ronnel Hualda of Road Bike Philippines.
Attacking winding roads as one cohesive unit, Philippine Navy/Standard Insurance was a picture of solid teamwork yesterday.
Irish Valenzuela of LPGMA-American Vinyl grabbed the overall lead by finishing second behind El Joshua Cariño of PLDT, who ruled what turned out to be a punishing and decisive Stage 5 of the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas here yesterday.
Harvey Sicam, a nephew of a two-time Tour champion, topped a three-man sprint in yesterday’s Stage 4 to capture a lap for the first time in his career even as Santy Barnachea kept the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas overall lead.
Recharged after a much-deserved rest, three-time champion Santy Barnachea sets out to accomplish his goal of keeping the overall lead in Stage 4 of the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas scheduled to start and end today at Plaza Independencia in Cebu City.
After hurdling a couple of tricky climbs in Mindanao, the 92 surviving riders of the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas will encounter more punishment in two hilly stages here in the Visayas.
Rudy Roque of LPGMA-American Vinyl used his sprinting prowess to rule Stage 3 of the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas yesterday even as three-time champion Santy Barnachea of Philippine Navy retained the overall lead going into a pair of punishing mountain legs in Cebu.
Former Tour champion Joel Calderon dominated the first hilltop finish of the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas yesterday, triggering a major shakeup that saw 2011 champion Santy Barnachea grabbing the overall lead after Stage 2 of the country’s premiere race.
On the twilight of his career, Ericson Obosa now concentrates on compiling as many stage victories as possible. The sprint specialist from Road Bike Philippines was up to his goal as he seized the opening stage of the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas yesterday, nosing out Cris Joven of LPGMA-American Vinyl by a wheel in a mad dash by the five-man lead pack to the finish.
With a series of punishing climbs that could slow down riders’ pace to a crawl, the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas looks more challenging than before.
