Tour of Luzon: Kyeong Ho Min makes waves with stage 6 win in Pagudpud
South Korean Kyeong Ho Min of Seoul Cycling Team celebrates after winning stage 6 of the MPTC Tour of Luzon in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.–CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
PAGUDPUD, Ilocos Norte—Seoul Cycling Team’s Kyeong Ho Min ruled the long and winding sixth stage of the MPTC Tour of Luzon that ended here Monday with a solo breakaway during the final 30 kilometers.
Min took advantage of a fading lead pack that included general classification contenders Mervin Corpuz of 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines and Go for Gold Philippines’ Rench Michael Bondoc along with seven others and made his move during the King of the Mountain category in Sta. Praxedes to eventually rule the 230-kilometer lap.
He crossed the line located in front of the municipal hall and town plaza in five hours, 13 minutes and 12 seconds, breaking the trend of bunch finishes during the previous three days.
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The Seoul rider broke away from the lead pack that included Mervin Corpuz and Rench Michael Bondoc to unofficially win by more than a minute.
Corpuz and Bondoc were eventually caught by the peloton that has overall leader Nikita Shulchenko #TourOfLuzon2026 @inquirersports pic.twitter.com/a04ALaxvNW
— Jonas Terrado (@jonasterradoINQ) May 4, 2026
Russian rider Ivan Anisimov of LCW UAE Cycle placed second, followed by Standard Insurance’s Ronald Oranza, who went third with identical gaps of 1:17.
Bondoc wound up at 18th while Corpuz was 31st after they were eventually caught by the peloton led by Anisimov and LCW teammates Nikita Shulchenko, the overall leader, and second-running Ibrahiem Alrefai.
Alrefai broke the line in 15th with Shulchenko 16th, also 1:17 adrift of the stage victor.
That assured Shulchenko of retaining the symbolic yellow jersey with an accumulated time of 19:01:14, still 49 seconds ahead of Alrefai. Go for Gold’s Dave Montemayor remained third but lost nine seconds after placing 25th.
Montemayor now trails by 2:13, 7-Eleven’s French cyclist Antoine Huby moved to fourth at 2:16 while Corpuz lost two seconds but remained fifth 2:17 back.
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7-Eleven’s Ronnilan Quita also climbed to sixth but still 2:22 below the leader, Excellent Noodles’ British pedalist Tyler Hannay is now seventh from ninth by 2:51, Go for Gold’s Jericho Lucero climbed from 10th to eighth by 2:55, Bondoc is now ninth by 2:57 and Standard Insurance’s Jexxel Ehd Azur entered the top 10 with a deficit of 3:08.
Min, Corpuz and Bondoc led the nine-man breakaway upon the start of the actual race from Tuguegarao and they appeared early on that a significant change loomed in the overall standings. At one point, the gap between the lead group and the peloton was at about 10 minutes, which would have given Corpuz the yellow jersey had the huge gap been sustained through to the finish.
But the peloton led by Shulchenko and Anisimov began to chip away at the time difference, even as Corpuz was also slowing down, allowing Min to break loose all by himself.
