Photo by: Tristan Tamayo/Inquirer.net
LUCENA CITY—Without the torturous mountaintop route that he desires, Jai Crawford of Kinan Cycling Team poured everything on the longest and final stage Tuesday to rule the 8th Le Tour de Filipinas presented by Air21.
Crawford went on an all-out attack in the first 10 kilometers and was never challenged from there for his third career UCI 2.2 category race victory.
“It’s not really a race for me because there’s no mountaintop finish,” said the 33-year-old former member of the Australian national cycling team. “I normally get a better result in the mountains, but I’m still happy for my team to start the year with a win.”
After giving his main rivals—including overall leader Daniel Whitehouse of Terrenganu Cycling Team—the slip, Crawford pedaled toward the lead on the way for a spectacular finish.
Crawford checked in fifth after the 207.35-kilometer ride from Daet, Camarines Norte, which was won by Sanghong Park of LX Cycling Team in five hours and 13 seconds.
Park shared the same clocking with second-placer Matts Boys of Kuwait Cartucho.Es and Mario Vogt of Attaque Team Gusto, who wound up third for the day.
Whitehouse, who held the overall yellow jersey for three days, arrived 2:28 after Crawford in the company of fierce contenders Benjamin Hill of Attaque Gusto, Stage 3 winner Fernando Grijalba of Kuwait Cartucho.Esn and Ryu Suzuki of Bridgestone Anchor Cycling Team.
Edgar Nohales Nieto of 7Eleven-Road Bike Philippines joined Crawford in the early breakaway. They hurdled the lone climb in Atimonan late in the stage along with four other riders in the lead group before sprinting down the famed “Tatlong Eme.”
Nieto dropped out of the speeding pack with six kilometers left and missed his chance to snatch the individual general classification title.
“I was in crisis in the last 10 kilometers. I gave my 100 percent in the race for my team and tried to survive but I was totally empty,” said Nieto, the Spanish rider who has been residing in Dagupan City for the past four years.
Crawford, who won two other UCI 2.2 races in the Tour of Siam (2007) and Tour de Jian last year in Indonesia, wiped out the two-minute advantage of Whitehouse after crossing the line just three seconds after the stage winner.
“I struggled to get where we wanted it,” said Whitehouse. “Ideally, it would have been nice if we have two minutes to chase the moment we climbed.”
Despite losing the overall GC, Whitehouse still managed to claim the best young rider award while Park was named sprint king after the four-day race backed by Petron, UPS, Philippine Airlines, Advanced Solutions, Cargohaus, CCN Sports Philippines, IWMI, NMM Customs Broker, Phenom Sportswear, UFL Philippines and WARM.
Mark Galedo of 7Eleven finished 14th overall but emerged best Filipino rider.
“After this race, I will go to the Tour de Tajiki in Japan,” said Crawford, who previously placed second overall in the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia. “Our team will focus mainly on Asia this year and hopefully we can go back here next year.”