Navy-Standard riders seek to keep top 4 slots of Ronda
PILI, CAMARINES SUR — Rudy Roque and three fellow NavyStandard Insurance riders seek to keep their stranglehold of the top four spots even as Kinetix LabArmy’s Cris Joven tries crash the party when the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2017 resumes today with the 227-km. Stage Seven that starts at the Camsur Watersports Complex here and end in Daet, Camarines Norte.
Just two days after ruling the 46.6-km. Pili- San Jose Stage Six Team Time Trial, Navy sets its sights on the individual race as it hopes to device a plan to protect their group of the first four slots occupied by red LBC jersey wearer Roque, Ronald Lomotos, Daniel Ven Carino and defending titlist Jan Paul Morales.
Roque has clang onto the overall lead since Day One, and after six stages, he has an aggregate time of 18 hours, 12 minutes and 48 seconds while Lomotos, Carino and Morales are in second, third and fourth places with clockings of 18:13:47, 18:14:43 and 18:15:51, respectively.
Cris Joven of Kinetix LabArmy is at No. 5 overall with a time of 18: 15: 51 after jumping from as far as 24th in Stage One, to No. 9 in Stage Three and now No. 4.
Rounding up the top 10 were Go for Gold’s Elmer Navarro (18:17:57), RC Cola-NCR’s Leonel Dimaano (18:18:01), Go for Gold’s Ismael Grospe, Jr. ( 18: 19: 02), Army’s Lord Anthony del Rosario (18:19:44) and Go for Gold’s Jonel Carcueva (18:20:33).
And Navy coach Reinhard Gorrantes said no lead is safe in this kind of race. RIDERS of Navy-Standard Insurance taking a rest before the long stage seven of LBC Ronda.
“It is still too early to tell and we have no way to find out who will win this race,” said Gorrantes, himself a former Ronda campaigner before retiring a few years back, in Filipino. “That is why we have to protect it well and hope we can widen the gap as the race progesses.”
Gorrantes said today’s Stages Seven, which will unfurl here, circle to some parts of Quirino and Quezon provinces before heading to Daet covering a 227km. distance, Eight, a 183- km. lap that unfolds in Daet and concludes in Unisan, Batangas, the next day and Nine, a criterium race at Paseo in Sta. Rosa Laguna, on Feb. 19 will be critical to a rider’s campaign.
“The next three stages will be important, we’ll probably get the idea who will win it after it,” he said.
For the 31-year- old Morales, who is seeking to become the first back-to-back winner of the LBC Ronda, the 40- km. Individual Time Trial Stage 12 in Iloilo City on March 2 will be the decisive lap.
“The ITT in Iloilo will be a little difficult because it is long. There’s a chance you could lose somewhere around four minutes there,” said Morales, who is based in Calumpang, Marikina.
“If you want to win this year, you have to have a six-minute lead after the ITT,” he added.
Joven, 30, is also expected to make his move and challenge the powerhouse Navymen for the crown.
“I still have eight stages to catch up so I’m still optimistic about my chance,” said Joven, a proud son of Iriga, Camarines Sur, which less than an hour ride from here.
Ronda is staking P1 million to the champion courtesy of presentor LBC and in partnership with MVP Sports Foundation, Petron, Mitsubishi, Versa. ph, Partas, Maynilad, Standard Insurance, CCN, Bike Xtreme, NLEX, PhilCycling and 3Q Spor ts Event Management.