War over; Tanguilig is Tour king

TARLAC — Rhyan Tanguilig made sure the last thing he would lose was the yellow jersey the morning the Tour entourage woke up shocked to discover their valuables were carted away by thieves in Baguio.

Taking the incident as a safety reminder, Tanguilig did the best defensive ride he could muster on the way down to this Central Luzon bustling city and went on to move only within 91.2 kilometers of Tour greatness.

That distance separates Tanguilig from the Air21 Tour Pilipinas 2004 individual championship which could well be easy picking now for the PLDT team skipper who enjoys a safe lead of four minutes and 51 seconds over closest rival Lloyd Reynante.

With that commanding advantage Tanguilig built in the mountains of Benguet and kept intact after the penultimate stage yesterday, everybody here agreed the war has been won and the criterium race in Manila today is a mere victory ride for the man of steel from Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya.

The STAR carrier Enrique Domingo, this Tour’s yellow jersey holder for six days, and his Postmen teammates easily put the icing on the team championship in the Baguio-Tarlac stage. They will earn P1 million for the feat.

For those who still hoped to steal the yellow jersey, they thought they were given ominous signs when some riders lost precious belongings to thieves in the Starwood Hotel in Baguio.

Former two-time champion Renato Dolosa was the biggest victim as he lost his treasured Giant bike worth around P300,000. Another former titlist, Victor Espiritu, lost his kilometer-reader equipment worth no less than P15,000 while rookie Michael Ramos lost a Nokia 3310 cell phone and P7,000 in cash.

Dolosa, who shed tears because of the incident, used the Colnago bike in the neutral service in the stage to Tarlac. The Italian-made bike, worth half a million, is owned by race director Arthur Cayabyab.

There was a theft incident in the race itself with Nilo Estayo, running 60th before flag-off, stealing stage honors from the big guns in a massed finish in front of the Ninoy Aquino Plaza here.

Only 12 riders failed to finish with the peloton. Tanguilig and the remaining threats to his hold of the yellow jersey were all there, seeing how the dust settled in their fight for the championship and the P200,000 top prize in this 21-day, 17-stage bikathon sponsored by Red Bull as the official energy drink, Summit, Pharex, Isuzu, Gatorade, Lactovitale and Leo Magaway’s Elixir Bikeshop.

"Wala nang duda," said the Airman Second Class believing he has soared to great heights.

"Bukas, stage win at sprint na lang ang paglalabanan. Tapos na ang karera at inaalay ko ito sa aking mga magulang," added the 25-year-old former computer technician, dedicating his would-be trophy to his parents Sofronio, 57, and Viloleta, 52.

"Bukas sunod agos lang ako," Tanguilig said on his planned ride in the Tour-closing criterium race set to start at 1 p.m. in front of the Quirino Grandstand.

Estimated time of finish is 3 p.m. with no less than President Arroyo set to award the Tour champion. Also gracing the ceremonies is Dato Seri Darshan Singh, the Malaysian president of the Asian Cycling Confederation, who was to fly in from Kuala Lumpur last night.

Also in the guest list are Secretaries Joey Lina (DILG), Larry Mendoza (DOTC) and Florante Soriquez (DPWH), Mayors Lito Atienza (Manila) and Sonny Belmonte (Quezon City), PSC chairman Eric Buhain, POC president Celso Dayrit, MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando, AFP chief Gen. Narciso Abaya, PNP chief Hermogenes Ebdane, WPD commander Gen. Pedro Bulaong and Gen. (ret.) Thompson Lantion.

Tanguilig dashed the last-ditch hopes of his chief rivals of stealing the yellow jersey as the Baguio-Baguio killer stage winner stayed glued to the pack in the dangerous downhill ride on Marcos Highway.

"Matapang ako sa lusong kanina. Nandoon ako sa harap kasama ang main group," said Tanguilig.

On the flatlands of Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac, no big gun made an attempt to attack, probably seeing the futility of it all.

"Nagpapasalamat pa rin ako sa lahat ng sumuporta sa akin lalo na kay (Philippine STAR president) Boss Miguel (Belmonte) at sila ang naging inspirasyon ko sa Tour na ito. Masaya na rin ako at na-dyaryo ako kahit palaos na," said Domingo, who again turned out the Tour’s Heartbreak Kid after losing the overall individual lead in Baguio.