Tour turns topsy-turvy

MARIKINA CITY — How can you go wrong?

This was just one of the questions that nagged the top officials of the 2003 Tour Pilipinas yesterday after the sixth stage, supposed to be a long roller-coaster ride from Tagaytay City, ended up in so much chaos and confusion after a big group of riders got lost along the way.

What was drawn up as a revised route covering the 202 km stage turned out to be a maze when close to 30 riders were led to a wrong direction 55 kms into the race, and along the Calamba, Laguna, junction where a massive Labor Day rally was being held.

"Sobra traffic and we didn’t know there was a rally. Kaya ‘yung mga marshals, natabunan ng mga rallyists at hindi na napansin ng mga siklista. Nagkanya-kanya na. May kumanan, may dumeretso," said race director Art Cayabyab during a hastily-called press conference.

"Kakanan dapat sila lahat. Pero masyado nang magulo. Dinumog na sila ng mga tao. Uncontrollable na. So, nag-radio kami for the marshals to regroup all the riders. Then we orders a restart of few kilometers later," added the race director.

Tour officials, including race manager Paquito Rivas, huddled by the roadside. It took almost an hour before the race was resumed.

The cyclists were represented by two-time champion Renato Dolosa. It was during this huddle that they decided to order a restart and turn the stage into a mere race for the top five lap honors.

"Iniba namin ang route kagabi dahil iniiwasan namin ang traffic sa Los Baños. Hindi naman namin na-anticipate ang rally sa Calamba. Pero hindi na mauulit ito," Rivas vowed.

As a result, the overall standings after the fifth stage stays, with Merculio Ramos still on top with an aggregate time of 18 hours, 19 minutes and 51 seconds, followed closely by Placido Valdez (99 seconds behind), Warren Davadilla (3:31), Arnel Quirimit (4:17) and Bernard Luzon (6:13).

Along the Mabitac climb, Quirimit, along with six others, staged a breakaway and went on to finish the race in one group. Quirimit crossed the finish line first, making him the first three-lap winner this year. He was followed by Paolo Manapol, Reinhard Gorantes, Carlo Primera and Valdez.

Upon crossing the finish, however, the top five cyclists crashed into each other due to the short distance between the finish line and a steel railing leading to a curve.

Race officials did not furnish mediamen with the official time of the winning group, saying it was irrelevant since it didn’t have any effect on the overall standings. But for the record, they crossed the finish line shortly before 3 p.m., more than six hours after being flagged off in Tagaytay.

Davadilla, the winner of the two other laps contested so far, was so disappointed after the race, saying he was having a good race and that he could have snatched the overall lead from Ramos if not for the major foul-up.

"Kuha ko na dapat ang overall kung hindi dahil sa insidente," said Davadilla.

Then, he lambasted Quirimit, his fellow RP team member, and the rest of the breakaway riders for breaking a gentleman’s agreement they had after the restart.

"Mga labing-dalawa kami noon nagusap-usap na wala nang kakalas dahil lap honors na lang ang laban. Pero kumawala pa din sila. Para silang hindi mga tao kausap," said Davadilla.

Quirimit didn’t show up for the post-race interview and was holed out inside a burger restaurant for fear of reprisal from those he had left behind during the race.

"Inaabangan nila ako. Si (Gerard) Amar nga eh, parang hinahamon ako," said Quirimit, repeating the closed fist gesture that the Patrol 117 rider made to him after the race.

He added: "Si Amar masyado mainit ang ulo. Si Warren naman, kilala ko yan, gusto niya siya ang sikat."

Tour Notes: While some team sponsors are pampering their cyclists, there’s at least one that seems to be hampering theirs. Take the case of the Drug Busters riders, who couldn’t even get hold of an extra set of uniforms for failure to raise P5,600 as payment. Placido Valdez, the team captain, said the uniforms, different from those issued by the organizers, are being kept in one of the Tour vehicles. "Ilang araw na nandiyan ang uniforms. Ilalabas lang daw pag nagbayad na kami. Eh, hindi ko pa nga nakikita ang team manager namin," said Valdez after the fifth stage where he won P1,500 for being the first rider to come out of San Jose in Batangas. The town vice mayor put up the cash prize. "Eto, puwede na pangtubos. Kaso ang problema, baka yung sa akin lang," said Valdez. In contrast, riders racing for Pagcor Sports are enjoying all the comfort they could get with the team officials deciding to billet them in first-class hotels in Tagaytay, Olongapo and Laoag where Casino Filipino branches operate. "Walang problema basta sila ang magbayad," said race managers Paquito Rivas. Elpidio Untalan, a grizzled Tour veteran who failed to qualifying this year, was in the big crowd that welcomed the riders in Tagaytay City the other day. Untalan, Tour runner-up in 1986 and 1988, was with a group of friends when The STAR caught up with him near the public market. Now 46, Untalan is one of the riders who were involved in a couple of bloody spills, one of which almost claiming the life of Tarlac’s Loreto Mandi, along Marcos highway during the 1995 Tour. He is now with an insurance company connected with the LTO office in Muntinlupa City and hardly gets off his bike performing his duties.