Another climb to this mountain-top tourism resort coming from another direction with the riders racing against clock this time produced the same result — a one-two finish by champion riders Warren Davadilla and Rhyan Tanguilig.
Davadilla, the 1998 titlist, and Tanguilig, the reigning champ, repeated their rout of the field Friday by flashing to the finish first and second in the Individual Time Trial race from Tuy, Batangas yesterday, keeping their one-two position as the Golden Tour 50 @ 05 starts its northern journey in Stage 4 today.
Davadilla clocked 1:02.51 in the 35.5-kilometer ITT race which started under the hot summer sun in Batangas and ended under heavy rains here. Tanguilig negotiated the distance 29 seconds slower.
Sherwin Diamsay, who topped the Lucena-Tagaytay leg last year but was stripped of first place honors for a penalty committed at the finish, finished third behind Davadilla and Tanguilig with a time of 1:03.45.
The top four after Stage Two remained intact with Alvin Benosa, fourth placer in the Stage Three, staying at No. 3 and first stage winner Santi Barnachea – finishing eighth — keeping his hold of fourth spot.
Rookie March McQuin Aleomar made the most significant move in the chart as he barged to the Magic Five coming from No. 7
Though stretching his lead to two minutes and 25 seconds over Tanguilig, Davadilla said the reigning champion remains the man to watch as the tour swings to the north starting with the Malolos-Olongapo run today over a distance of 133.6 kilometers.
Tanguilig, meanwhile, said it’s still too early to tell who will end up the "anointed one" although he has doffed his hat off to Davadilla, who outclassed him in the two Tagaytay races.
"Saludo ako kay Warren. Ang lakas niya," said Tanguilig.
Both saying they felt stiff all over after a night’s rest, Davadilla and Tanguilig both opted to ride their team vehicles while their teammates rode their bikes on the way to the starting line in Tuy.
"Paggising ko ramdam ko pa rin ang sakit ng mga paa ko dahil sa cramps (which I suffered during the first stage). Kaya sumakay ako sa team vehicle at sa starting line na ako nag warm-up," said Davadilla.
The last to be flagged off, Davadilla, however, hardly showed signs of health problems during the race, submitting the best clockings in the 10km and the halfway marks.
Not even the driving rains in the last few kilometers of the race could slow down the Valenzuela national rider, once again flashing triumphantly to the finish here.
Davadilla said he’s frequently running the route as part of their training with the national team. The pint-sized cyclist is being groomed to vie for honors in massed start and criterium race in the SEA Games this December.
"Nagkakaroon ako ng extra-boost dahil minsan nakakatanaw ako ng flash ng ilaw sa harap. Iniisip ko escort ni Rhyan yon, ibig sabihin malapit ako sa kanya," said Davadilla.
The top 20 riders were flagged off in two-minute intervals.