Baguio City—Ronald Lomotos of the Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance enjoyed his last ride before formally taking the overall crown in the 10th and final stage of the 11th LBC Ronda Pilipinas, which started and ended at the Burnham Park here.
Greeted by a big crowd of young fans and teenage cycling enthusiasts, Lomotos was 35 seconds behind stage winner, Excellent Noodles’ bet Ryan Tugawin, who started taking charge in the eighth lap.
But it was enough for the 27-year-old Lomotos to bag his first-ever Ronda title following a previous best finish of third in the 2020 edition.
Lomotos soaked up in the sights and sounds of the numerous shops and restaurants that clutter Session Road around 16 times to place 35th in the final stage, a criterium race, to finish with a total time of 35 hours, 31minutes and 38 seconds.
“Hindi ko na pinuwersa dahil criterium na lang ito. Ang game plan na lang dito ay i-secure ang title para sa team,” said Lomotos, who was joined by teammates Ronald Oranza, El Joshua Carino and rookie Jeremy Lizardo in claiming the team honors after they took second, third and fourth place overall in the general classification, respectively.
“Tulong ko na ito sa pamilya ko at para sa team na rin ito,” added Lomotos after he claimed the P1-million top purse, while the Navymen bagged the team prize of P200,000.
In all, the Navymen went on to collect a total of P1.710 million in cash in the overall team and individual classifications.
Oranza, who held the red jersey thrice after taking Stage 6, 7 and 8, before slowing down in Stage 9, was second overall, trailing Lomotos by 21 seconds, while Carino is far behind by 18:54.
After losing the red jersey in Stage 9, Oranza redeemed himself by grabbing the King of the Mountain accolade, with Carino and Lomotos trailing in second and third. Lizardo added another gold medal by being acclaimed as the event’s top under-23 rider and no. 1 rookie.
Excellent Noodles, a new entry coached by Santy Barnachea, landed second in the team classification, with three riders finishing in the overall top 10, namely Joshua Mari Bonifacio in fifth, Jan Paul Morales in seventh and Joshua Pascual taking eighth place.
One of Excellent Noodles’ top riders in Mervin Corpuz was cut from the list and penalized after he was reportedly caught getting assistance by being towed by a team vehicle in Stage 8.
Go For Gold, led by Jonel Carcueva’s sixth-place ranking, settled for third place in the team classification, while Team Nueva Ecija and Ilocos were in fourth and fifth places, respectively.
The 32-year-old Tugawin submitted a clocking of one hour, 17 minutes and 15 seconds when he arrived at the finish line together with Navyman George Oconer and Go For Gold’s Ronnilan Quita to claim the criterium plum.
Tugawin, who is from Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, earned his best finish at 11th spot overall since making it to 17th spot back in 2019.