Crucial Ronda Baguio stages under way; Galedo, Barnachea dispute lead

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—This year’s Ronda Pilipinas champion will be known starting today when local cycling’s most prestigious race moves up to high-altitude Baguio City for the first of two successive difficult stages in  the 21-day, 15-stage bikathon.

After breezing through two weeks of riding on mostly flat roads and brief spells of moderately torturous climbs in the Tour, it’s time for the toughest riders to seize their moment of glory and the P1 million individual top prize.

Overall leader Mark Galedo and defending champion Santy Barnachea will try to assert themselves in today’s Stage 12 along with a host of challengers made up of Lloyd Reynante, Cris Joven, Oscar Rindole, Irish Valenzuela, Baler Ravina, green horns Harvey Sicam and Rey Asuncion.

The short but progressively ascending 96.7-kilometer race up the City of Pines via Aspiras highway (formerly Marcos highway) from this municipality is expected to cause a major shakeup in the standings.

The frontrunners then go through another decisive test in tomorrow’s Stage 13, an uphill individual time trial from Tuba, Benguet, to Baguio covering 27.4 kilometers via Kennon.

Whoever takes the red jersey of leadership after the two stages is expected to breeze through the remaining two easy laps.

“We’ve already learned our lesson when the red jersey was taken from us. We will not allow those mistakes to happen again,” said Galedo, who holds a 16-second lead over Eastern Pangasinan’s Sicam and a 1:24 advantage over  V-Mobile’s Rindole.

Saturday’s Stage 14 from San Fernando, La Union, to Tarlac City is largely flat while the final stage, a circuit on Roxas Boulevard in Manila, is a mere victory ride.