Ica Maximo bags women's crown in Tour Ni Frank

CEBU, Philippines - Decorated Cebuana junior cyclist Ica Maximo may be much younger than Louie Villacin, but her experience in road racing paved the way for her to claim not only the stage 2 victory but also the overall crown in the women's open of the 2016 Tour Ni Frank in Danao City yesterday.

The 31-year-old Villacin, who ruled Stage 1 from JY to Tops last Saturday, was earlier tipped to win the ladies open but Maximo was not about to concede and gave Villacin a good race.

Maximo, only 16, led the charge in the first half of the 65-kilometer action from Danao to Lugo and back until she got caught up with Villacin in the climb part, showing that she is really a climber.

However, Maximo bounced back and eventually overtook Villacin at the downhill part going back to Danao.

Since then, the two protagonists figured in a neck-to-neck race, with Maximo outsmarting Villacin for the top spot in a lung-busting sprint finish.

Villacin and Maximo were actually tied in the overall standings, but Maximo got the yellow jersey per race ruling that the rider with the better finish in the last stage wins the crown.

Panibon Reignhardt settled for another third place finish to go away with the third overall honors in the general classification.

In the under-23 category, Jonel Carcueva bagged the overall title over Lord Rado and  Sherwin Erasmo, while Romeo Camingao came up with a 1-2 finish in the 40-above class.

In the 39-below age group, Resty Aragon's first place finish in the last stage over Amon Espinosa paved his way to claim the overall supremacy.

Cash prizes and beuatifully designed trophies were handed to the top performers of the event organized by Francisco "Frank" Gatdula in association with Cebu Cycling.— (FREEMAN)