CLARK, Pampanga—Mark Galedo crossed the finish line without a red rose for his lovely wife on Valentine’s Day. But he made sure he was still wearing the overall leader’s red jersey.
Returning to the flat roads of Central Luzon, Galedo successfully held the fort in Friday’s Stage 12 won by Cris Joven as the skipper of the 7-Eleven Continental Cycling Team moved closer to cycling greatness with two more legs remaining.
“I’m sorry I forgot to buy a rose,” Galedo said in Filipino as he kissed his wife Grace at the team’s tent after the smooth but scorching 157-kilometer ride from Agoo, La Union, to this sprawling former United States Air Force base.
“But I brought you a present and I hope you’ll like it,” added the two-time bikathon champion, pinching his red shirt—worth P1 million if he stays on top of the field when the 14-stage tour ends tomorrow in Marikina City.
Joven, Galedo’s iron-willed teammate, beat Joel Calderon of Philippine Navy Standard Insurance by a wheel’s length in a wild dash to the line, clocking three hours, 30 minutes and 59 seconds in earning his second stage victory in local cycling’s showcase tour.
Oscar Rindole of Team Cebu Kalit-Philippine Air Force placed third with the same time as Joven and Calderon.
They led a six-man breakaway that was reduced to three with 4 km left after Dutch rider Jeroen Breewel and Taiwan’s Yang Wu-hsing fell behind and Ronald Lomotos of PLDT Maynilad punctured a tire.
Galedo and his main rivals—Riemon Lapaza of Cycleline Butuan Mindanao and French climber Peter Pouly of Infinite Singha—checked in 3:39 after the leading trio in the middle of a huge pack.
“They (Lapaza and Pouly) didn’t attack, I guess they’re just contented to ride along with the peloton,” said Galedo, the 28-year-old champion of the 2012 Ronda and 2009 Tour of Luzon.
The top of the standings didn’t change. Galedo remained 2:16 ahead of Lapaza, 3:28 faster than Pouly and 5:20 in front of Marcelo Felipe of Road Bike Philippines.
Navy’s George Oconer stayed 6:37 behind the pace in fifth, Ronald Oranza of PLDT Maynilad was 9:04 back in sixth, three-time Tour champ Santy Barnachea was 9:24 off in seventh, PLDT’s Rustom Lim was 11:02 behind in eighth and Army’s Irish Valenzuela, last year’s champ, 13:54 back in ninth spot.
7-Eleven, the team owned by cycling benefactor and Philippine Seven Corp. boss Vic Paterno, stayed on top in the team race, 2:17 ahead of PLDT and 2:22 clear of Philippine Navy Standard Insurance.
“We’ll go all-out tomorrow (today),” said Galedo, who could become the third three-time Tour champion in Philippine cycling history—after Antonio Arzala and Barnachea—and the third Filipino to win a foreign-spiced multistage race here.
Saturday’s penultimate stage is a bumpy 149.1 km ride along hills between Clark and Subic.
Warren Davadilla, a two-time champion, won an international Tour held in the country in 1998. Baler Ravina followed suit with a victory in a foreign-flavored tour in 2012.
“My teammates and I will watch out again for the attacks and mark our rivals on the road,” said Galedo, who has held on to the overall lead since the sixth stage that ended in Antipolo City last week.
“I should also be careful not to puncture a tire or figure in a crash.”
Stage Individual Classification: 1. Joven, Cris (7EL) 3:30:59, 2. Calderon, Joel (PNS) same time, 3. Rindole, Oscar (CAF) same time, 4. Breewel, Jeroen (DGT) 1:38 behind, 5. Yang Wu Hsing (GCT) 1:38, 6. Lomotos, Ronald (PMP) 1:40, 7. Liu Chin Feng (GCT) 3:39, 8. Hsiao Shih Hsin (GCT) same time, 9. Im, Jae Yeon (UJB) same time, 10. Catalan, Alfie (PAR) same time
Overall Individual Classification: 1. Galedo, Mark (7EL) 40:21:26, 2. Lapaza, Riemon (CBM) 2:16 behind, 3. Pouly, Peter (ISC) 3:28, 4. Felipe, Marcelo (RBP) 5:20, 5. Oconer, George (PNS) 6:37, 6. Oranza, Ronald (PMP) 9:04, 7. Barnachea, Santy (PNS) 9:24, 8. Lim, Rustom (PMP) 11:02, 9. Valenzuela, Irish (PAR) 13:54, 10. Joven, Cris (7EL) 14:21