Ronda down to 2-man derby

BAGUIO CITY—Mark Galedo is a strong climber with superb time-trial skills. But so is Irish Valenzuela.

The Ronda Pilipinas crown became a toss-up between red-jersey holder Galedo and Valenzuela after both riders set up a climactic duel in the individual time trial (ITT) today following solid performances in yesterday’s Stage 12 won by Joel Calderon here.

Valenzuela, the king of the mountain leader, made a bold breakaway early to arrive at the payoff line shortly after Calderon and shave a couple of valuable minutes off Galedo, the overall leader for the past four stages.

Calderon won his sprint duel with Valenzuela in the final 200 meters, crossing the line in two hours, 56 minutes and 10 seconds to pocket the P50,000 lap winner’s purse at the end of the 96.7-kilometer uphill ride from Lingayen, Pangasinan—the toughest course in the 15-stage race.

Valenzuela, the LPGMA-American Vinyl skipper who stood 2:50 behind Galedo at sixth overall overnight, reduced the gap to 51 seconds going into today’s 27.4 km race-against-the-clock from Camp 2 Twin Peaks in Tuba, Benguet, to Lake Drive in Burnham Park.

Just like Valenzuela, who comes from Tabaco City, Albay, Galedo of Caloocan City is another climber at home in the ITT.

“It’s a different race (ITT). You have to be in good condition and should ride fast for long stretches to succeed,” said Galedo, who checked in third in the stage, 1:57 off Calderon.

Between the two leading riders, Galedo has the edge, having pocketed a bronze medal in the 50.7 km ITT event aside from a silver in the massed-start road race of last year’s Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.

Lloyd Reynante of Philippine Navy climbed to third overall, 2:16 back, after finishing fifth in the lap while Oscar Rindole of V-Mobile slipped to fourth, 3:13 off the pace, their title hopes and the P1-million prize now in tatters.

Also giving up on their title aspirations were Cris Joven of LPGMA-American Vinyl (fifth, 3:28 behind), Eastern Pangasinan’s Harvey Sicam (5:34), Le Tour champion Baler Ravina (5:40), Calderon (7:21), Army’s John Mier (8:34) and V-Mobile’s Rey Martin (8:38).

But the biggest casualty was Santy Barnachea, last year’s champion, who struggled to finish 53rd for the day, 16:18 after Calderon. The three-time Tour winner plummeted to 18th overall from eighth, 18:26 back.

Valenzuela, last year’s king of the mountain, sneaked away with Calderon in Rosario, La Union, and sped past a five-man lead pack headed by LPGMA-American Vinyl’s Rudy Roque and Edmundo Nicolas, 25 km to the finish.

Stage Individual Classification: 1. Calderon, Joel (VMB) 2:56:10, 2. Valenzuela, Irish (AMV) same time, 3. Galedo, Mark (RBP) 1:57, 4. Mier, John (PAR) 2:26, 5. Reynante, Lloyd (PNS) 2:30, 6. Ravina, Baler (RBP) 3:11, 7. Lim, Rustom (AMV) 3:19, 8. Joven, Cris (AMV) 3:29, 9. Rindole, Oscar (VMB) 3:42, 10. Hualda, Ronnel (AMV) 5:56.

Overall Individual Classification: 1. Galedo, Mark (RBP) 45:23:53, 2. Valenzuela, Irish (AMV) 0:51, 3. Reynante, Lloyd (PNS) 2:16, 4. Rindole, Oscar (VMB) 3:13, 5. Joven, Cris (AMV) 3:28, 6. Sicam, Harvey (EPN) 5:34, 7. Ravina, Baler (RBP) 5:40, 8. Calderon, Joel (VMB) 7:21, 9. Mier, John (PAR) 8:34, 10. Martin, Rey (VMB) 8:38, 11. Gorantes, Ronald (MML) 10:48, 12. Martinez, Tomas (OTL) 12:21, 13. Ramos, Merculio (OTL) 12:58, 14. Nonato, Dexter (MDN) 13:38, 15. Oconer, George (RPT) 13:41, 16. Oranza, Ronald (NLI) 15:03, 17. Benosa, Alvin (PAR) 15:15, 18. Barnachea, Santy (PNS) 18:26, 19. Roque, Rudy (AMV) 18:38, 20. Navarro, Reynaldo (WCP) 20:17.