Baserga wins stage 1 to wrest tour of Cebu lead

Albert Basergo of Cebu Province wrested the yellow jersey from Baler Ravina by winning Stage 1 of the Omega Pain Killer Tour of Cebu in two hours, 54 minutes and 40.70 seconds.

His teammate Nilo Barbalose came in second with a clocking of 2:54:50.17 followed by Nino Surban of Danao City with 2:56:33.60.

With his victory, Basergo is now the tour’s overall leader with 3:00.24.53. His teammate Barbalose is not far behind with 3:00:31.31 clocking while Danao’s Niño Surban hugs third place with a time of 3:02:21.79.

The 1-2 finish puts Cebu Province on top of team standing after two races with eight hours, 51 minutes and 40.21 seconds. Danao City is second with 8:55.27.07 while Nueva Viscaya stands third with 8:55:50.31.

ITT winner Baler Ravina broke away from the main pack in Danao City but saw his chances for lap honors fade after his bike developed a mechanical problem.

Basergo caught up with Ravina in Lugo, part of Sogod, and the two rode together for a few kilometers.

A 16-man group finally caught up with Ravina and Basergo. Ravina then tried another breakaway but he was forced to stop his bike. Ravina was seen fixing the derailleur of his bike a couple of kilometers from Bogo.

Manila’s Nilo Estayo and Edgardo Bullecer, who saw Ravina beside the road, stopped to help with Bullecer offering to swap bikes with Ravina later. Estayo and Ravina later got back on the road but Basergo and Barbalose were already heading towards the finish line.

Basergo and Barbalose, however, didn’t know where the finish line was so the riders ended up contesting a five-meter sprint that Basergo won.

“Ako gyung paninguhaon nga ako na gyud ning tuiga. Naa man sila Nilo para musuporta nako,” Basergo said who wound up second overall in the 2003 edition of the tour.

The 28 year-old Basergo, who won Stage 2 of the 2003 Tour of Cebu, hopes to duplicate his lap victory when the riders tackle the 105.9-kilometer Stage 2 that starts from Daanbantayan and ends in Toledo City.

Despite losing the yellow jersey and overall leadership of the tour, Ravina will be wearing the polka dot jersey in Stage 2 after claiming the “King of the Mountain” title.