DAGUPAN, Pangasinan—A proud son of Pangasinan emerged from the ashes to rule Stage 1, even as Navy-Standard Insurance’s Santy Barnachea clung to the overall lead approaching Baguio in the Ronda Pilipinas 2015 presented by LBC that started in Tarlac and ended here.
Dominic Perez of 7-Eleven, a 20-year-old proud son Santo Tomas, which is a fifth-class municipality located 50 kilometers south from this bustling city, came out victorious in a frantic finish to secure the first stage victory of his life in three hours, four minutes and 42 seconds.
Perez beat PSC-PhilCycling’s Mark Julius Bonzo, another Pangasinan native, who hails from Sual, and Cebu-VMobile’s John Renee Mier, who took second and third, respectively, but finished with the same time as Perez and PSC-PhilCycling’s Jerry Aquino, Jr., Navy’s Lloyd Lucien Reynante and El Joshua Carino.
“This victory is for my family from Santo Tomas and the province of Pangasinan,” said Perez, who took up biking since he was child but only got to compete competitively in last year’s Ronda edition.
Interestingly, Perez said he is patterning his style after Navy’s Jan Paul Morales, who currently leads the overall sprint race.
“He’s my idol,” said Perez of Morales, a silver medal winner in the track event of the Asian Cycling Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand two weeks back.
For Barnachea, he fought his battle with rivals George Oconer, Jr. of PSC-PhilCycling and Cris Joven of Army, whom he beat barely in this 138.9-kilometer lap by gaining from the latter two.
After five stages, the ageless 38-year-old Umingan, Pangasinan native remained unflappable on top with an aggregate time of 17:29.03, 7.38 minutes ahead of the 23-year-old Oconer, who lost a second on this one.