Lebas captures Le Tour crown | Inquirer Sports

Lebas captures Le Tour crown

By: - Reporter / @junavINQ
/ 02:50 AM February 05, 2015

BAGUIO CITY—On a route historically considered as the ultimate test of grit and endurance, French Thomas Lebas pulled off a masterful conquest of Kennon Road Wednesday to rule the 2015 Le Tour de Filipinas.

The 28-year-old climber from Marseille cut loose from his main rivals on the final ascent to join the pacesetting and hard-charging Iranians and nailed the championship by finishing third for the day at Baguio Convention Center.

With his unexpected show of mountain-climbing skills, Lebas, riding for the Japan-based Bridgestone Anchor Cycling team, easily wiped out the slim four-second lead of yellow-jersey holder Eric Sheppard and three-second edge of Mark Galedo of 7-Eleven/Road Bike Philippines after the final 101.7-kilometer stage from Lingayen, Pangasinan.

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“I didn’t launch an attack. I just followed the Iranians because they are strong climbers,” said Lebas after claiming his fourth Tour victory in a UCI-recognized international race.

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Iranian Mirsamad Pourseyedigolakhour of Tabriz Petrochemical captured stage honors in two hours, 54 minutes and one second. Hossein Askari of Iran-based Pishgaman Giant Team arrived two seconds later before Lebas checked in 42 seconds after the lap winner.

Galedo, last year’s champion, finished 12th in the stage, 2:36 behind Pourseyedigolakhour and settled for second overall.

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“We focused on the yellow jersey (Sheppard) and the other challengers. We didn’t notice him (Lebas),” said Galedo in Filipino. “When we tried to chase him, it was too late.”

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Sheppard, who held the overall lead for three days, crashed on a rough patch in the last three kilometers that cost him the race and tumbled to 10th overall in the end, 3:40 behind Lebas.

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“It was an amateur mistake and I paid the price,” said the high-profile rider from Taiwan’s Attaque Team Gusto.

Galedo wound up 1:57 behind the winner with Lebas’ teammate and French rider Damien Monier placing third overall, 2:19 back. Pourseyedigolakhour wound up fourth (2:34 behind), Kazakhstan’s Oleg Zemiakov was fifth over Askari.

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Iranians Amir Kolahdozhagh (3:27), Ahad Kazemi (3:35) and 2011 champion Rahim Emami (3:38) also surged in the overall standings and even finished ahead of Sheppard in the four-day bikathon presented by Air21 and co-presented by MVP Sports Foundation and Smart.

Tabriz ruled the team general classification after edging Bridgestone Anchor by one second, Pishgaman placed third, 1:10 behind.

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Overall Individual Classification: Lebas, Thomas (BGT) 13:40:49, 2. Galedo, Mark (T7E) 1:57 behind, 3. Monier, Damien (BGT) 2:19, 4. Pourseyedigolakhour, Mirsamad (TPT) 2:34, 5. Zemiakov, Oleg (KAZ) 2:40, 6. Aksari, Hossein (PKY) same time, 7. Kolahdozhagh, Amir (TPT) 3:27, 8. Kazemi, Ahad (TPT) 3:35, 9. Emami, Rahim (PKY) 3:38, 10. Sheppard, Eric (ATG) 3:40, 11. Ambrose, Scott (TNN) 3:58, 12. Navarra, Jun Rey (PHI) 4:08, 13. Mehrabani, Ramin (PKY) 4:32, 14. Yeung, Ronald (ATG) 4:33, 15. Suryadi, Dadi (PCT) 4:34

TAGS: Cycling, Le Tour de Filipinas, Philippines, Sports, thomas lebas

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