Kazakh riders take charge, finish 1-2
DAET, Camarines Norte – After making their presence felt in the only completed categories in Thursday’s halted opening stage, Kazakhstan’s Vino 4-Ever SKO went full throttle and got the job done with a 1-2 finish in Stage 2 of the seventh Le Tour de Filipinas that ended here yesterday.
Oleg Zemlyakov, fifth- placer in the overall individual general classification race and winner of the Best Young Rider last year, displayed his climbing skills on the “Tatlong Eme” (Old Zigzag Road) mountain pass in Atimonan, Quezon and kept his pace the rest of the way to win the 204.82 kilometer race from Lucena City.
The 22- year- old Zemlyakov pedaled solo past the finish line in 5: 08: 48 with teammate and compatriot Yevgeny Gidich checking in 16 seconds later. 7-Eleven-Sava Roadbike Philippines’ Australian import Jesse James Ewart, 21, came home at 5:09:04 for his first podium finish in an Asian race while teammate Marcelo Felipe put up the top time among Filipinos with a sixth-best time of 5:10:03.
“It was a very good race,” said Vino 4-Ever coach Sergey Danniker, speaking for Zemlyakov who scored his maiden stage triumph internationally. “This is our first race this year so we want to do well.”
Zemlyakov, who was part of the 31-man lead pack at the point of the stoppage in the opening Antipolo to Lucena leg , took the yellow jersey with 9: 12:17. He stood 19 seconds ahead of Gidich and 22 seconds adrift Ewart going to today’s 185.79K Stage Three to Legazpi City.
“I’m confident I can keep the yellow jersey,” said Zemlyakov, looking forward to the mostly flat pedal to the home of the famous Mayon Volcano.
Even if the opening Antipolo-Lucena leg was halted due to horrible traffic and rough road conditions in Tiaong, Quezon with 31 kilometers to go, the Kazakhs were already flexing their muscles. Vino’s Zhandos Bizhigitov topped the King of the Mountain and the intermediate sprint before the stoppage.
Picking up from where they left off, Zemlyakov and Co. rode with the break-away group in the early goings of the race that passed through five railroad crosses and three detours due to bridge repairs, one of which led to a 200-meter patch of unpaved road.
Ewart and Felipe joined the chase pack that closed in at Labo town proper some 15K to the finish but Zemlyakov turned the heat up and pedaled furiously to check in at the finish line ahead of Gidich before waving crowds near the Daet Public Market on Vinzons Avenue.
“Naubos kami kakahabol sa ahon. Marami silang taga Kazakhstan, at dalawa lang kami (We were drained from playing catch-up in the climbs. There were four Kazakhs in the lead and chase packs and there were two of us in the mix),’ said Felipe, also lamenting the low supply of water and sweets as 7-Eleven’s team car suffered a flat tire in the last 30 kilometers.
Felipe stood at sixth in the overall GC hunt, 1:25 off Zemlyakov.
“Kung kaya ko pang iaangat, aangat ko talaga. Naubos
lang ako ngayon. (I’ll try my best to gain ground today),”
he said. “Tingin ko magiging mahirap pa rin bukas kasi syempre marami pa ring magtatangkang umangat pa sa pwesto (It will be another tough race today as everyone will seek to climb up the standings).”
The UCI-sanctioned event is organized by Ube Media Inc. headed by its president Donna Lina with Petron, MVP Sports Foundation and Smart as principal sponsors.
Major sponsors are Cargohaus, NMM, UFL, Philippine Airlines, Collab Printing Solutions, Autonation, Orangefix and Phenom.