Baler, Aurora—Ryan Tugawin of Excellent Noodles barged into the Top 10 again after ruling Stage 7, while Ronald Oranza of Navy Standard Insurance survived the challenge of his closest rivals to keep his hold on the overall lead in the 11th LBC Ronda Pilipinas on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Oranza stayed unmoved in front of the individual general classification standings, collecting a total time of 23 hours, 18 minutes and 22 seconds when it was over.
On the other hand, Tugawin gained the advantage after he headed downhill in the last 55 kms towards Baler proper, with Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance rider El Joshua Carino as they took a 1-2 finish.
The 32-year-old Tugawin, who is from Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, crossed the finish line first, clocking a similar time with Carino at four hours, 31 minutes and 16 seconds at the close of the 174.5-km chase from Tarlac City to Baler, Aurora.
Marcelo Felipe of Team Nueva Ecija was third in 4:31:18.
For their efforts, Tugawin, Carino and Felipe earned a spot in the top 10. Felipe climbed to No. 5 from No. 11 in 23:28:09, Carino jumped to No. 6 from No. 12 in 23:29:28 and Tugawin leapfrogged to No. 8 from No. 13 in 23:31:29.
Oranza stuck with closest foes Jan Paul Morales of Excellent Noodles and Jonel Carcueva of Go for Gold that checked in at fourth in 4:32:18 to remain ahead of the pack.
Morales stayed in second in 23:19:04, while Carcueva third in 23:21:19.
