Ronel Quitoy wins his first ever stage, beating overall leader Jan Paul Morales in #RondaPilipinas 10th Stage here in Tagaytay pic.twitter.com/3Rud2OHmMN
— Marc Anthony Reyes (@marcreyesINQ) February 20, 2017
TAGAYTAY CITY — Roel Quitoy of Team Mindanao stole the spotlight from overall leader Jan Paul Morales of Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance after topping the 10th Stage Monday in the LBC Ronda Pilipinas here.
A tough climber riding on borrowed bike, the 25-year-old Quitoy struck a deal with Morales while navigating the long uphill road in Barangay Sampaloc just before this city’s iconic Rotonda.
Morales agreed to give him his first ever Stage win for as long as he paced him up the climb. Morales finished just two bikes’ length away from Quitoy but even padded his lead in overall standings.
“He deserved it. He is a strong climber,” said Morales in Filipino at the finish line. “I felt for him because he just borrowed his bike. His old steel bike broke down.”
The Red Jersey wearer is now four minutes and 26 seconds ahead of second running Rudy Roque also of Navy. But more importantly, Morales pulled away from Cris Joven of Kinetix Lab Army who is now at third place with a 8:15 deficit.
Quitoy, who hails from Zamboanga City, tried to go at it alone after Laurel, Batangas but found company in 31-year-old Morales before the ascent.
Quitoy finished the 130-kilometer stage in 3:25:29. Ronnilan Quita of Navy was third in the stage 1:21 behind followed by Navy men Jay Lampawog (1:21) and Roque (1:21), Marvin Tapic of Kinetix Lab-Army (2:17), Joven (2:20), Navy’s Lloyd Lucien Reynante (2:20) and Joel Calderon (2:20) and Ilocos Sur’s Jheffson Sotto (2:20).