Crawford seizes Le Tour overall crown

Le Tour Overall champion Jai Crawford. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

LUCENA CITY–Australian Jai Crawford stealthily slipped away from the top contenders early in the fourth and final stage Tuesday to capture the overall individual title of the 8th Le Tour de Filipinas presented by Air21.

Crawford, who rides for Kinan Cycling Team, pulled away from his fierce rivals just 10 kilometers in the race and was never challenged from there for his third career UCI 2.2 category race victory.

After hurdling the final king of the mountain challenge in Atimonan late in the stage, Crawford sprinted with the five-man lead pack on the tricky downhill at the famed ”Tatlong Eme” all the way to the finish to seal Philippine cycling’s most revered prize.

The 33-year-old climb ace wiped out the two-minute advantage of yellow jersey holder Daniel Whitehouse after crossing the line just three seconds after stage winner Sanghong Park of LX Cycling Team.

Park completed the 207.35-kilometer ride from Daet, Camarines Norte in five hours and 13 seconds along with second-placer Matts Boys of Kuwait Cartucho.Es and Mario Vogt of Attaque Team Gusto, who wound up third for the day.

Despite losing the overall general classification trophy, Whitehouse still managed to claim the best young rider award after wearing the yellow shirt for three straight days.

Mark Galedo of 7Eleven-Road Bike Philippines won the best Filipino rider accolade, Park was named sprint king and Vogt was crowned king of the mountain.

Team Ukyo won team GC after the four-day race.