Cajucom of Victoria Sports leads the way.
Victoria Sports cyclist Cajucom rules MPTC Tour of Luzon Stage 3
SAN Juan, La Union — Ean Cajucom of Victoria Sports Pro Cycling edged Ilah Ahmad Awang of Malaysia and Poul Aquino of Dreyna Orion Cement to clinch top honors in Stage 3 of the MPTC Tour of Luzon; Great Revival in front of the San Juan Municipal Hall here Saturday.
The 22-year-old Cajucom, who emerged from the peloton and caught the breakaway riders in the final five kilometers, clocked two hours, 51 minutes and 42 seconds from Vigan to La Union, topping the 135-kilometer stage and earning the right to wear the purple jersey.
“Wala akong idea kung sino nasa paligid ko. Nag-sprint na lang ako sa last 500 (meters),” said Cajucom, who is from Fortune, Marikina City.
“Nag-start ako ng cycling kasi yun papa ko (Romeo ), at kuya ko (John Mark) parehong cyclists din,” added Cajucom.
Awang and Aquino recorded identical times with Cajucom but settled for second and third placeS, respectively, due to inferior tiebreak points.
Ronald Oranza of Standard Insurance Philippines and Dominic Perez of Exodus Army Cycling Team placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Completing the top 10 were, Sao Hsuan Lu of Bryton Racing Team from Taipei, Mervin Corpuz of MPT Drivehub Cycling Team, Roseidi Ariff Danial Noor of Malaysia Pro Cycling, Ryan Tugawin of Excellent Noodles, Jhon Carcueva of Crest Forwarder 1 Team Visayas.
Overshadowed by Cajucom’s Stage 3 triumph was Joo Dae Young of the Gapyeong Cycling Team of South Korea, who maintained the overall lead, despite not making it to the podium in Stage 3.
Joo, the opening stage winner in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, stayed with his closest challengers almost throughout the challenging race that took the cyclists to this popular surfing capital.
Overall, Joo remains more than four minutes ahead of Ronald Oranza of Standard Insurance Philippines in the eight-stage summer bikathon presented by Duckworld PH in cooperation with Cignal.
Aidan James Mendoza of Go For Gold remains in third place , 4:40 behind Joo, followed by Dominic Perez at fourth (4:44), George Oconer at fifth (4:46), Mervin Corpuz (4:50), Rustom Lim (4:54) and Malaysian Faiz Fakhri Omar (5:27).
“We hope to maintain our position for as long as we can,’’ said the two-time Korean champion.
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 fourth stage is a 162.97km ride to Agoo to Clark, 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 prestigious competition is also endorsed by the POC, Philippine Sports Commission, Games and Amusements Board, BCDA and MVP Sports Foundation
