Oranza tries to tighten grip on cycling lead

Ronald Oranza

SILANG, CAVITE—Ronald Oranza of Navy-Standard Insurance hopes to keep his lead as Ronda Pilipinas 2018 presented by LBC resumes Thursday with a challenging 207.2-kilometer Stage Nine that starts at Silang Municipal Hall and ends at Tagaytay Convention Center.

After a three-day break, Oranza and the rest of the pack should come in fresh as they tackle the stage that will feature four climbs from Kaybiang Tunnel to the steep passes of Leynes in Talisay, Batangas.

And Oranza, who has a seven-minute lead over fellow Navyman and reigning back-to-back titlist Jan Paul Morales with an aggregate clocking of 21 hours and 1.56 minutes, knows he needs to be cautious.

“I need to be extra careful because anything can happen in the next few stages,” said Oranza in Filipino.

Morales, who is currently at No. 2 with a total time of 21:08:51, said he would do his best to help Oranza win.

“If I can’t win it this year, I want the winner to be a Navyman so I don’t mind if Oranza wins it,” said Morales.

Jay Lampawog of Go for Gold Developmental team is at No. 3 with 21:19:31 while Army-Bicycology’s Cris Joven (21:20:02), Navy’s John Mark Camingao (21:20:24), Go for Gold’s George Oconer (21:20:51), Go for Gold Developmental team’s Ronnel Hualda (21:21:29), Navy’s Rudy Roque (21:21:42), CCN Superteam’s Irish Valenzuela (21:22:04) and Navy’s Junrey Navara (21:22:08) round up the top 10.

The Navymen have practically bagged the team title with an aggregate time of 82:19:52, or 32.32 minutes ahead of Go for Gold Developmental team with 82:52:24.