Gendrano tops 2nd stage; Camingo keeps Larrazabal lead

ORMOC CITY—Sprinter Ysmael Gendrano peeled off from the pack nearing the homestretch to rule Stage 2 of the 9th Terry Larrazabal Bike Festival Tour de Larrazabal yesterday.

Gendrano of Excellent Noodles Team clocked 1 hour 55 minutes 19 seconds in topping the largely flat 90-kilometer ride from this city by the sea to Baybay town and back.

Romeo Camingao, Gendrano’s teammate, placed second  after checking in three seconds later, followed by a big wave of riders, and retained the overall lead in Category C going into today’s penultimate lap in Palompon town.

Camingao, 43, compiled an aggregate time of 2:11:14.6 after two stages of the four-day race, 14.6 seconds ahead of Nilo Barbalose of TORCC and 16.8 ticks infront of John Gayatin of Leo Cebu Team in the event organized by the Emerterio Larrazabal Foundation.

Ramonito Espinosa of Admor Load kept the overall lead in Category B with a combined clocking of 2:11:11.1 while Nonito Antigua of Ormoc Cycling Team paced Category A (2:11:46.5).

Today’s mountainous loop will take the 100 participating riders on a 140 km trek in the uplands of Palompon and back to this city. The race concludes with a criterium within the city.

In the seeding run of the mountain bike downhill, Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Joey Barba of Groundzero Wim Top Gun emerged fastest in the elite category (1:37.82) followed by John Dersick Farr (1:40.88).