The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
BACOLOD CITY—Boots Ryan Cayubit finished fifth in the third and final stage Friday to crown himself champion of the Visayas qualifying leg of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas that started and ended in the Provincial capitol here.
Cayubit, 23, hung tough with the peloton and finished with the same time as Stage 3 winner Mark Julius Bonzo of Team LBC-MVP Sports Foundation in three hours, seven minutes and 17 seconds.
It was enough to seal the title for Cayubit with a total clocking of 12:37.01, besting 7-Eleven teammate Marcelo Felipe and Team Cebu’s Rey Martin, who had aggregate clockings of 12:40.07 and 12:42.35 for second and third, respectively.
“My hardwork has finally paid off. I hope to sustain this in the championship round,” said Cayubit in Filipino.
It was a sterling performance by Cayubit, whose strong second place finish in the mountainous Bacolod-Bacolod Stage Two behind Felipe the day before practically clinched him the title.
Cayubit thus went home with a P50,000 purse and a spot in the championship round scheduled Feb. 22-27 from Paseo Greenfield City in Sta. Rosa, Laguna to mountaintop Baguio.
Bonzo, 25, shared some of the spotlight as he outsprinted everyone in a frantic finale to win himself his second leg victory in five Ronda appearances.
It was a proud performance for Bonzo, whose late father Romeo won the 1983 title in the fabled Marlboro Tour.
“This is a tribute to my father,” said Bonzo, who is already a member of the national team for a few years now.
The race though was not without some anxious moments as three riders including 7-Eleven’s Baler Ravina and national women’s team standout Avegail Rombaon and a motorcycle-riding race marshall figured in a crash two kilometers into the finish. Fortunately, all of them suffered only abrasions.
Rounding up the top 10 in the three-stage qualifier that started down in Dumaguete City were Army’s Irish Valenzuela (12:43.23), Ravina (12:43.27), Cris Joven (12:45.03), Leonel Dimaano (12:43.03), Junrey Navarra (12:50.35) and Alvin Benosa (12:54.38).
The race goes up North with the Luzon qualifier in Tarlac City on Monday and Antipolo the next day. Qualifiers will then moved on to the Championship round where they will battle Reimon Lapaza, the national team headed by Mark Galedo and a composite European team for the top purse worth P1 million.
Sebastian Santiago