Third Stage Winner of Le Tour de Filipinas 9th Edition Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya to Lingayen Pangasinan is El Joshua Carino of Team Navy following him is his younger brother from team 711 Daniel Ven Carino.Photo by:NONIE REYES
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Under strength-sapping heat, two brothers riding for different teams stood tall in the 9th Le Tour de Filipinas’ longest lap, finishing 1-2 with El Joshua Cariño wresting the yellow jersey on Tuesday to wheel into position of becoming the event’s first Filipino champion in four years.
El Joshua of Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance got help from younger brother Daniel Ven of 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike PH to break away in the final 30 kilometers of the 185.2-km grind from Bambang in Nueva Vizcaya via Dalton Pass to here, timing four hours, 28 minutes, and 56 seconds.
The brothers thus assumed the first two positions in the overall race.
With a total clocking of 8:17:23 after two stages, El Joshua will take a four-second lead over Daniel Ven and a
1-minute and 41-second advantage over Ronald Oranza, the erstwhile leader, into the 154.65-km final lap from here to Baguio City via the dreaded Kennon Road.
“This is a dream come true for us because we made history,” said El Joshua, referring to their 1-2 finish, the first by siblings in the local tour.
Oranza was in an 11-man wave that checked in sixth for the lap together with Jung Ha-jeon, 1:44 behind, with the South Korean now a further seven seconds behind in the overall race like another Filipino, Jan Paul Morales.
Less than three minutes separate El Joshua from riders in the Top 12, an advantage that could easily be overcome on Kennon Road, known as the graveyard of so many riders’ dreams.
Mark Galedo, the last Filipino to rule this event, stayed in the hunt of duplicating his 2014 feat by being just 1:54 behind.