BAGUIO CITY—Jun Rey Navarra of the PSC-PhilCycling team topped the gruelling mountain stage Thursday but, barring any untoward incident, it appeared seasoned veteran Santy Barnachea of Philippine Navy will claim his second Ronda Pilipinas crown.
The 22-year-old from South Cotabato thundered home alone at Burnham Park to capture the dreaded Baguio lap serving as the sixth stage of the bikathon presented by LBC three years in a row.
A two-leg winner of the 2013 Tour of Borneo, Navarra took off all by himself from Agoo, La Union, at the foot of the long mountain climb to the summer capital and held on till the end to clock four hours, 16 minutes and 22 seconds.
His teammate and Stage 4 winner Rustom Lim finished second 1:57 behind while Boots Ryan Cayubit of 7-11 wound up third two full minutes behind the stage winner.
Today’s twin stages—a short 8.8-km individual time trial up Sto. Tomas Mountain in the morning and a 74.5km criterium in the afternoon around the city—will just be a formality as Barnachea kept his imposing lead of seven minutes and 32 seconds over second-running George Oconer.
“Siguro akin na ito, ibinigay ni Lord. (Maybe the title is mine, given by the Lord),” said Barnachea who arrived four minutes behind Navarra. The 2011 champion stands to win the P1-million jackpot barring a disastrous performance in the final stage.
Oconer, the 22-year-old from the PSC-PhilCycling team, gave up the fight after refusing to make a move in the long flat portion of the stage.
“Medyo mahirap na, sobrang layo na ng lamang. At saka malakas talaga si Kuya Santy, (It’s difficult. He’s taken a big lead. And Santy is a really strong rider),” said Oconer.
Barnachea later said that Oconer had told him he’s contented with a second-place finish, which still carries with it a whopping P500,000 cash prize.
“I know him, we are neighbors. He used to be my teammate,” said Barnachea in Filipino. “I called him and said ‘Let’s take the pace’ (in today’s lap).
The Navy-PSC pact for the day allowed Navarra—40 minutes away from red jersey race—to break away, while the rest of the leaders kept themselves within safe distance of each other.
Navy’s John Paul Morales remained third overall 9:18 off Barnachea, followed by Nieto, and two other Navy riders Ronald Oranza (11:30) and Lloyd Lucien Reynante (11:46). Army’s Irish Valenzuela was seventh (12:47), third stage winner Baler Ravina of 7-11 eightth (12:52), Army’s Cris Joven ninth (14:02) and Navy’s Jhon Mark Camingao 10th (19:10).
Aside from ruling the 2011 maiden edition of Ronda, he also scored wins in the 2002 Tour of Calabarzon and 2006 Padyak Pinoy.
Edgar Nieto of Spain was part of the chase group that went after Navarra and LIm but crashed just meters away from the finish line.
He still finished the race with minor injuries and jumped from 10th to fourth place in the general classification 11:14 away from Barnachea.
Navarra and Lim crossed the finish line with jerseys unzipped, and are expected to get a warning from race officials.