RONALD Oranza of Navy-Standard Insurance has set his sights on a second title after he recently ruled the Ronda Pilipinas 2018 presented by LBC.
“We will try to win it again next year, we will give it our best to make it happen,” said Oranza, a 25-year-old native of Villasis, Pangasinan.
This early, Oranza has emerged the rider to watch out for after a dominant performance in the Stage 12 race, where he ended up with an aggregate time of 34 hours, 11 minutes and 23 seconds, blowing the competition, headed by 2016 and 2017 champion Jan Paul Morales, also of Navy, by a whopping 11 minutes.
It was a race to remember for Oranza, who seized a comfortable lead after topping the Vigan-Pagudpud Stage 2, to coast to the title.
Along the way, he won three stages and posted a total of nine podium finishes to crush the competition in the annual bike race presented by LBC and supported by MVP Sports Foundation, Filinvest, Philippine Rabbit, CCN, Petron, Versa.ph, 3Q Sports Event Management, Inc., Boy Kanin, Franzia, Standard Insurance, Bike Xtreme, SH+, Guerciotti, Prolite, Green Planet, Maynilad, NLEX Sports, Lightwater, LBC Foundation and PhilCycling.
For his performance, Oranza won over P1 million in cash purse plus P300,000 worth of Boy Kanin franchise and the beautifully-crafted trophy, designed by architect Quin Baterna.
He will also get an equal share of the P150,000 pocketed by the Navymen for ruling the team event.
Oranza, however, said he will resume training after a two-week respite as he is set to join several international races as well as local events like the PH National Games in Cebu next month and the Le Tour in May.
“We have a busy schedule this year because we will join international and local races,” said Oranza.
Meanwhile, Ronda executive project director Moe Chulani relayed the message of LBC Ronda big boss Dino Araneta that the country’s biggest cycling race will go to the Visayas and Mindanao with Stage 1 already scheduled in Davao next year.
“Yes, we will return to the Visayas and Mindanao next year and we’ll start in Davao City,” said Chulani during the awarding ceremony at The Tent in Filinvest, Alabang Sunday night.