TAGAYTAY CITY—An unknown rider from Mindanao stole the show in Stage 10 of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2017 that started and ended at the Tagaytay Convention Center here yesterday.
Roel Quitoy came through with best performance in his young cycling life as he topped the 10th stage.
Quitoy, who is just on his second year in this cycling race considered the biggest in the country today, showed impressive climbing skills as stuck with overall leader Jan Paul Morales from start to finish but took lap honors in three hours, 25 minutes and 29 seconds.
Morales, fresh of reigning supreme in the Stage 9 criterium in Sta. Rosa, Laguna the day before, came in second or just two seconds behind with a clocking of 33:30:50 and could have claimed his fifth stage victory had he not decided to just let the 25-year-old Zamboanga City native have a day in the sun.
The 31-year-old red LBC jersey wearer said the win was a reward for Quitoy for the hard work and fearlessness he showed during the race.
“He was the one who towed us when we made the move to catch up with the lead pack and he was also with me when we broke loose in the ascent in Sampaloc,” said Morales in Filipino.
Quitoy, whose father Romeo competed in the fabled Tour back in the old days, was a little bit emotional when he received his first ever paycheck worth P20,000.
“I dream of having a good life through cycling and I hope this is a start for me,” said Quitoy, who gave up mountain biking for road racing after figuring in a major accident that saw him hurting his left knee and being sidelined for three years.
Quitoy also attributed his success to his accidental bike change.
After his cheap aluminum bike worth P12,000 broke down in the Angeles-Subic Stage 3 more than two weeks ago, Quitoy almost quit but changed his mind when his manager Paul Tan lent him his lighter carbon bike amounting to over P100,000.
“I’m really thankful to Paul Tan for allowing me to use his bike. I’m also using a mountain bike gear in my old bike, unlike this new one,” he said.
Kinetix Lab-Army’s Ronnilan Quita checked in at third, while Navy’s Jay Lampawog finished at No. 4 with the two given the same time of 3:26:50.
Navy’s Rudy Roque, who held the overall lead in the first seven stages before Morales snatched it away from him in Stage 8 in Daet, Camarines Norte, was at No. 5 while Kinetix Lab-Army’s Marvin Tapic and Cris Joven, Navy’s Lloyd Lucien Reynante and Joel Calderon and Ilocos Sur’s Jheffson Sotto comprised the top 10 with 3:27:49.
After 10 stages, Morales remained unperturbed at No. 1 with an aggregate time of 33:26:24, or 4.26 minutes ahead of Roque, who has 33:30:50.
Joven has climbed from No. 5 to No. 3 with 33:34:39 but he was a whopping 8.15 minutes off the pace while Lampawog has made a significant leap from No. 10 to No. 4 with 33:37:48 that pushed Go for Gold’s Jonel Carcueva from No. 4 to No. 5 with 33:38:40.
Navy’s Daniel Ven Carino and Quita also barged into the top 10 for their strong stage efforts as the two are now in Nos. 9 and 10 with 33:42:51 and 33:45:29, respectively.
Go for Gold’s Bryant Sepnio (33:39:09), RC Cola-NCR’s Leonel Dimaano (33:39:28) and Ilocos Sur’s Ryan Serapio (33:41:39) were at Nos. 6, 7 and 8.
Thanks to Morales, Navy kept its stranglehold of the team race with a total clocking of 134:59:29, or a whopping 47.07-minute lead over closest pursuer Kinetix Lab-Army with 135:46:37.
Go for Gold is at No. 3 with 137:14:12.