Junrey Navarra showed he can be as formidable on a flat and fast terrain.
The elite climber from Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance topped the inaugural race of the Larga Pilipinas over the weekend, beating multiple Tour champion Mark Galedo of 7Eleven Roadbike Philippines by a hairline in a thrilling criterium held in Marikina City.
Navarra crossed the line in 51 minutes and 7.85 seconds, just a blink of an eye faster than Galedo (51:7.86) after they repeatedly raced on a 1.6-kilometer course along with the best riders in the country.
“We didn’t race for five days, so I guess the rest helped a lot for me to get this one,” said Navarra in Filipino.
The 26-year-old competed with his teammates in the recent VTV Tour of Vietnam where Standard Insurance placed second overall in the general team classification and Navarra wound up second in the King of the Mountain contest.
Go For Gold’s Luis Krog checked in third, less than a second behind the winner followed by 7Eleven Roadbike’s Warren Bordeous (51:08.11).