Standard Insurance, led by veteran Ronald Oranza, stamps its class to rule the Stage 2 Team Time Trial in the 2025 Tour of Luzon: Great Revival in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Standard bets rule Tour of Luzon Stage 2
VIGAN, Ilocos Sur — Standard Insurance Philippines crowned itself as the champion in the 68.5-kilometer Stage 2 Team Time Trial of the MPTC Tour of Luzon: Great Revival here Friday.
Veteran Ronald Oranza, George Oconer, Junrey Navarra, and Jeremy Lizardo powered Standard Insurance to victory, clocking one hour, 22 minutes and 31 seconds in the race which started in the charming town of Paoay and ended in front of the provincial capitol of historic city of Vigan.
“We’re really focused on winning the team general classification,”said Standard Insurance coach Reinhard Gorantes after winning the stage and the P70,000 cash prize.
“Medyo matagal pa ang laban pero mas pinagtutuunan namin na mapataas pa ang oras sa team while konti-konti tinatapyas ang individual,” added Gorantes.
Standard Insurance also achieved the feat despite Dave Eeron Cangayao, the team’s under-23 rider, encountering mechanical problems.
Go for Gold Philippines, bannered by Jerico Jay Lucero finished in second place, while 7-Eleven Cliqq Road Bike Philippines, led by former Tour champion Placido Valdez’s son Gilbert, wound up third. Both teams clocked 1:24:39.
MPT Drivehub settled for fourth despite incurring a penalty for violating the “feeding in a non-feeding zone” rule.
The team was originally in second place before dropping to fourth.
Excellent Noodles took fifth place with a time of 2:25.
Completing the top 10 were Exodus Army (sixth, 2:36), Malaysia Pro (seventh, 2:48), D-Reyna Orion Cement (eighth, 3:21), Victoria Sports (ninth, 3:28), and Bryton Racing (tenth, 4:42).
Two-time Korea national champion Dae Young-Joo will don the symbolic yellow jersey as he leads the massed start of Stage 3, which will begin in Vigan and finish in San Juan, La Union, covering a total distance of 130 kilometers.
The return of the nation’s historic cycling marathon is organized in partnership with Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Go21, Dongfeng, Victory Liner, DOOH, PSSLAI, Unilab, Huawei, Toyota and supported by Microtel by Wyndham, Gatorade, Drivehub and Homestretch.
The third stage is a 130.33km ride to San Juan, La Union followed by Stage 4 from Agoo to Clark (162.97), the 166.65km Clark-Clark race via New Clark City in Stage 5 and the Clark-Lingayen 168.19km Stage 6.
Stage 7 is a 15.14km individual time trial from Labrador, Pangasinan to Lingayen while Stage 8 is the queen stage covering 172.53kms from Lingayen to the Scout Hill finish inside Camp John Hay in Baguio City where the champion will be determined.
The individual general classification champion will earn P500,000 while the team champion brings home P1 million in the race also presented by Cignal and backed by Pilipinas Live, Meralco, Maynilad, Metro Pacific Health, Megaworld, Landco, PLDT and Smart.
The race is also endorsed by the POC, Philippine Sports Commission, Games and Amusements Board, BCDA and MVP Sports Foundation.
