CARERA SA STAGE 8: African rider inagaw ang yellow jersey

SUBIC , Philippines --Ibinuhos na ni Dennis Von Nickalk ng EMG ang kan­yang lakas sa huling dalawang kilometro upang angkinin ang overall lead sa Stage 8 na pinagharian naman ni Sherwin Carera ng Liquigaz kahapon sa 2010 LPGMA Tour of Luzon.

Tumersera ang 25-anyos na South African sa nasabing 105-kilometer criterium sa Cubi Point sa ilalim nina Carera (2:38.07) at Irish Valenzuela (16.51) ng Ame­rican Vinyl para hubaran ng yellow jersey si Canadian David Veilleux ng Kelly Benefits Strategies.

Magtatapos ang karera nga­yong araw sa Ayala Triangle.

Nagtala si Nickalk, hindi pa nananalo sa isang multi-stage race sa kanyang six-year career, ng 19 oras, 20 minuto at 39.3 se­gundo, halos 11.2 segundo ang agwat kay Veilleux.

“The road is flat and we’ll going to control it,” ani Nickalk sa paglalabanang 15-lap criterium sa Makati City na may distansyang 60 kilometro.

“It’s now between us. But I’m a lot faster than him (Veilleux). The only thing that could prevent me from winning the title is an unexpected crash,” dagdag ni Nickalk, nagtapos sa Stage 8 na may tiyempong 1:12.9.

Nakasabay naman ni Veilleux si EMG team captain Ja­mes Perry (1:28.93) kasunod si­na Baler Ravina ng Liquigaz (1:33.49) at Oscar Rendole (1:42.12) ng Smart sa Tour na suportado ng partylist group LPGMA, Geo Estate Beacon, Smart, American Vinyl, Burlington, Schick, Energizer at Liquigaz.

Nasapo naman ni Perry ang third overall (3:15.07) matapos si Kelly Benefits skipper Reid Mumford na nahulog sa ninth-place 5:40.93.

“It will be difficult for him (Veilleux) to get it from Dennis. But sometimes these criterium races are dangerous so we still have to be on guard,” sabi ni Perry.