New Zealand rider rules 2nd Le Tour stage

IBA, Zambales—New Zealand rider Scott Ambrose broke free from a speeding pack on a hot and humid but windy Monday to seize the second stage of the 2015 Le Tour de Filipinas while Australian Eric Sheppard retained the overall lead after the mostly flat ride across this province.

Ambrose, the 20-year-old skipper of Team Novo Nordisk, peeled away from an 11-man lead pack in the last three kilometers and punched the air as he crossed the line in three hours, 49 minutes and 52 seconds.

Ronald Oranza, the national team’s best rider, ferociously chased Ambrose but his rally fell short and he settled for second while Ronald Yeung Ying-yon of Taiwan’s Attaque Team Gusto placed third, both coming in 13 seconds behind the stage winner after the energy-sapping 154.7-km ride from Balanga, Bataan.

“It was a hard day—super hot but at the same time windy,” said Ambrose after his first career stage victory in a UCI-sanctioned multistage race.

Ambrose joined the United States-registered team after he was diagnosed with a Type-1 diabetes at age 18.

Sheppard, Sunday’s opening-stage winner, and defending champion Mark Galedo trailed close behind the lead group along with their main rivals.

Overall, Sheppard, who rides for Attaque Gusto, stood just three seconds ahead of Galedo, who was himself four seconds clear of French rider Thomas Lebas of Japan’s Bridgestone Anchor Cycling and 10 seconds in front of Kazakhstan’s Oleg Zemakiov.

With the win, Ambrose jumped from 27th at the start of the day to fifth overall, 1:35 behind Sheppard while Oranza vaulted from 25th to sixth, 1:48 back.

Yeung slipped to seventh (1:59 behind), Frenchman Damien Monier dropped to eighth (2:07), Go Choon Huat fell to ninth (2:13) and Marcelo Felipe advanced from 25th to 10th (2:16).

“I didn’t launch an attack,” said Sheppard. “I preferred to just float with the other contenders and defend the yellow jersey.”

Apparently unaffected by the searing heat, Sheppard said he intends to keep the overall lead in Tuesday’s Stage 3, another flat 150.10 km challenge relished by sprinters in the seaside towns of Zambales and Pangasinan and finishing in Lingayen.

“All eyes are on the yellow jersey,” said Galedo. “Tomorrow’s (today) strategy will be the same as today: watch out for riders who plan to attack. They’re just waiting for the right opportunity.”

Iranian ace Ghader Mizbani of Tabriz Petrochemical Team saw his hopes of duplicating his 2013 title vanish after he failed to start due to a bum stomach.

The riders’ only challenge yesterday was a winding, mid-grade ascent in Morong, Bataan, where 2012 champion Baler Ravina of 7-Eleven/Road Bike Philippines launched an attack to gain points for the King of the Mountain crown.

Ravina pulled away from the peloton along with national riders Ronald Lomotos and Oranza, Yeung, Ambrose and Monier and six other riders approaching the second KOM challenge overlooking the Subic Freeport.

They increased the gap to almost eight minutes after the second intermediate sprint in San Marcelino town before the chase group of Sheppard, Galedo and the rest of the contenders gradually picked up speed entering the final 20 km to cut  the gap to 2:35.

After they closed in with 5 km left, the chase unit decided to save energy for the next stage and allow Ambrose and company to dispute stage honors.

The four-day bikathon presented by Air21 and co-presented by MVP Sports Foundation and Smart ends Wednesday in Baguio City.

Stage Individual Classification: Ambrose, Scott (TNN) 3:49:52, 2. Oranza, Ronald (PHI) 0:13 behind, 3. Yeung, Ying Hon Ronald (ATG) same time, 4. Monier, Damien (BGT) 0:17, 5. Goh, Choon Huat (TSG) 0:26, 6. Ravina, Jonipher (T7E) 0:27, 7. Suryadi, Dadi (PCT) same time, 8. Felipe, Marcelo (T7E) 0:30, 9. Henttala, Joonas (TNN) same time, 10. O’Connor, Ben (NSR) 0:53