Reyes, Barnachea reign in AboitizPower Tour

AboitizPower cyclists Kristian Reyes and Jason Comandante settled for a 1-2 finish in the premier Category 2 even as Michelle Barnachea topped the Female Open to highlight yesterday’s AboitizPower Tour of Subic run along the Maritan Highway in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

The 17-year old Reyes, a neophyte in a road race event, competed like a grizzled veteran as he showed patience and determination in trekking the challenging 3K climb starting at the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant before unveiling his nerves of steel on the downhill run to edge Comandante and Resty Aragon of Team Excellent Noodles in an electrifying sprint finish.

The three riders negotiated the 90-km race organized by Bike King headed by Raul Cuevas, and presented by AboitizPower, in two hours, 34 minutes, 29 seconds but Reyes was the clear winner with almost a bikelength advantage.

“I started cycling only last year and this is my first race. I knew I had to be more determined and had to work hard to get a winning chance,” said Reyes, who hails from Biñan, Laguna and is an incoming management freshman at FEU.

Last year’s champion Joey Delos Reyes failed to break free from the watchful eyes of his rivals and settled for 14th place overall in 2:37:24.

Meanwhile, 27-year-old Barnachea of Team Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance also needed a strong finish to edge Mari Maligaya of Sante Barley in the female class in this race also supported by SN Aboitiz Power Group, Sante Barley, WeatherPhilippines, Subic Holiday Villas, Gatorade, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and GU.

Both Barnachea and Maligaya clocked 3:04:34 while Irish Mae Wong of Corratec Philippines took the bronze in 3:17:15.

“I was just lucky. The race was quite a challenge because of the climbs, more so because I am more of a sprinter. I’m just lucky,” said Barnachea, who last competed in this event in 2011.

Last year’s queen Marella Vania Salamat this time decided to test her skills against male riders as she saw action in the Category 3 Intermediate class. She finished fourth with a respectable 2:34:12.

Ricky Pedrina of Tropang Boy Kanin submitted a time of 2:34:10 to rule the category in this event, which also drew the support of Multisport,

RaceDay, SwimBikeRun.ph and SPIN.ph as media partners. In the Category 4 Novice division, Jhay-R Sotto of City Heights Hotel took the gold in 2:45:14 while Rey Ramos of Tropang Boy Kanin (2:48:36) and Edson James Rosales of Franzia (2:48:38) collected the silver and bronze medals, respectively.