LEGAZPI City—A bright afternoon sun greeted a wet and tired Jan Paul Morales, who took it easy in stage 3, and still kept the red jersey for another day on Saturday in the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2022.
Morales allowed eight other riders, including his teammates at Excellent Noodles, to fight it out for the stage honors in the 163-kilometer journey from Sorsogon City to Legazpi City.
When things finally settled down, Morales and his teammates found themselves at the top of the general classification standings.
He could have gone for a stage win, but cramps on both legs slowed down after a short and sudden drizzle fell in the last 15 kilometers of a long chase going into the capital city of Albay.
When Morales fell behind, Go for Gold bet Aidan Mendoza took center stage, towing an eight-man bunched finish to earn first-place honors in 4 hours and 20 seconds.
When Morales coasted to a 17th place position at the Provincial Capitol finish line, Excellent Noodles bets Mervin Corpuz and Ryan Tugawin took charge and left the former Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance ride behind for second and third respectively with similar clocking with eight others.
“Pinulikat ako. Pero hindi naman nabago ang time,” said the 36-year old Morales, who widened his advantage from 32 seconds to a 40-second lead over his closest pursuer, Tugawin, for the overall individual honors.
Morales, who left the Navymen after taking the individual and team crown in 2020, took charge right from the start, towing some 14 others into the lead pack as they headed westward and left Sorsogon City.
Mendoza, a 23-year old aspirant from San Manuel, Pangasinan, and Tugawin joined the big chase to keep up with Morales, and stayed with him as they turned left from Maharlika Highway in Pilar and to the south coastal roads of Donsol.
With his teammates in Go For Gold backing him up, and staying behind in the second group to slow down rivals, Mendoza eventually claim his first stage win in his second season with Ronda.
“Binuwelo ako sa unahan ng mga teammates. Lahat sila,” said Mendoza, whose teammates dedicate the achievement to the birthday of their team owner Jeremy Go.
The 24-year old Corpuz tried to go for a breakaway with Armyman Marvin Tapic, after he won the King of the Mountain honors after completing the kilometer-long uphill climb with 87.4 kilometers to go.
“We just take it one day at a time. We don’t try to do defense, we just keep attacking,” said Corpuz in Tagalog.
But Corpuz, Tugawin then got support from his teammates at Excellent Noodles, with Morales and skipper Santy Barnachea staying behind in the main peloton to keep other rivals at bay.
Corpuz and Tugawin then tried to catch up and overtake Mendoza. But fatigue caught up with them as they entered Legazpi City.
“Na-groggy na kami. Malalakas iyung mga bata. Kaya, maintain na lang kami ng oras namin,” added Tugawin.
Morales now has an overall clocking of 5:31.59 in the general classifications standings, with Tugawin taking second spot from Barnachea with his 40 second deficit at no. 2. Barnachea is behind by 44 seconds, while Corpuz and Mar Francis Sudario climbed up to fourth and fifth.
Mendoza, who was ranked 16th at the end of the time trials, improved to 10th overall.
Stage 4 today will be a longer 179.4 kilometer battle of endurance from Legazpi City, Albay to Daet, Camarines Norte.
Meanwhile, organizers will take care of the medical expenses of Nueva Ecija rider Xyrus de la Cruz, who crashed into the back of a passenger jeepney, which strayed into the race route during the afternoon team trials on Friday in Sorsogon.
“Ok at safe na yung bata. Walang may gusto sa nangyari. At ongoing na ang investigation to assess the accident. The rider and his family have been briefed already on the help and support Ronda Pilipinas with the assistance of standard insurance and Sorsogon LGU,” said LBC Ronda Pilipinas project director Bernadette Guerrero in a statement.