RIDERS cross the countryfs longest bridge, the San Juanico. ANDREW TADALAN
CALBAYOG CITY, Samar—Sherwin Diamsay has never been to Samar, but the sprinter from One Tarlac maneuvered his bike on the tricky terrain like he has known the course for years.
Diamsay bolted out of the peloton early and won his sprint with Jay Tolentino of Mindanao under a slight drizzle to conquer yesterday’s Stage 6 of the Ronda Pilipinas that ended at the Cardinal Rosales Plaza in this seaside city.
“I took the lead right from the start and attacked in the last 10 kilometers,” said Diamsay, 32, after clocking three hours, 58 minutes and 22 seconds. “We simply wanted to climb up the team standings.”
With Joseph Millanes and opening lap winner Tomas Martinez backing up Diamsay, One Tarlac moved up to second, just seven seconds behind V-Mobile from 4:46 at the start of the day, in the race for the P1-million team champion’s purse.
Baler Ravina managed to cling to the red jersey of overall leadership for the fourth straight stage after floating along with the lead group in the largely flat yet winding 170-kilometer trip from Tacloban City.
“I always stay close whenever there’s a breakaway. I cannot allow them to leave me behind,” said Ravina, who finished eighth in the lap, 1:02 behind Diamsay.
Diamsay took off just a few kilometers after the iconic San Juanico Bridge, the long-spanned bridge linking Leyte and Samar.
Stage Individual Classification
1. Diamsay, Sherwin (OTL) 3:58:22, 2. Tolentino, Jay (MDN) same time, 3. Davadilla, Warren (MML) 0:24, 4. Millanes, Joseph (OTL) 0:27, 5. Surban, Nino (YFM) same time, 6. Lapaza, Riemon (MDN) same time, 7. Reynante, Lloyd (PNS) 0:31, 8. Ravina, Baler (RBP) 1:02, 9. Martinez, Tomas (OTL) 1:24, 10. Bonzo, Mark (RPT) same time.
Overall Individual Classification
1. Ravina, Baler (RBP) 24:53:59, 2. Millanes, Joseph (OTL) 0:59, 3. Rindole, Oscar (VMB) 1:37, 4. Joven, Cris (AMV) 1:56, 5. Martin, Rey (VMB) 2:25, 6. Gorantes, Ronald 3:34, 7. Martinez, Tomas (OTL) 3:58, 8. Galedo, Mark (RBP) 4:00, 9. Nonato, Dexter (MDN) 4:08, 10. Navarro, Reynaldo (WCP) 4:13.