BAGUIO CITY , Philippines – Mark Guevarra crowned himself the 2009 Liquigaz-LPGMA Tour of Luzon champion with a solid finish in another rain-hit Stage Six yesterday, foiling his rivals with a smart ride to complete his astonishing feat in local cycling’s biggest stage.
Guevarra, who snatched the yellow jersey from Lloyd Reynante with a memorable Stage Five victory Friday, stuck with his closest pursuers like a leech in the killer 195.6km Baguio-Baguio stage to preserve his lead and ensure the victory before a big weekend crowd that braved the rains at Lake Drive in Burnham Park.
The 23-year-old Road Bike/7-Eleven rider kept Reynante, Merculio Ramos and Hilson Mangahis in sight majority of the punishing race before joining the group of 1998 and 2006 winner Warren Davadilla, Joel Calderon and Oscar Rendole who finished sixth in the penultimate lap of the seven-stage tour.
They all clocked six hours, 52 minutes and 58 seconds or 6.25 minutes behind Batang Tagaytay skipper Baler Ravina, who ruled what he described as his favorite stage which featured back-breaking ascents to the 44km Marcos Highway, Naguillan and the 36km Kennon Road.
It was enough to seal the overall individual crown for Guevarra who had a final aggregate of 25:29.44 or 5.40 ahead of Ramos, the Stage Two winner who zoomed from No. 4 before this stage to finish second for the second time since ending up No. 2 in 2003 behind Arnel Quirimit.
Today’s closing team trial race, a 60-km race around the Macapagal Highway in Pasay City, will serve as Guevarra’s victory ride.
Mangahis, who finished second in Friday’s Cabanatuan-Baguio stage, dropped from No. 2 to No. 3, 6.12 off the pace while Ravina gained from No. 11 to No. 4 with his recent sterling Burlington-backed stage victory.
The rain-soaked Ravina raised his hands in triumph as he approached the finish line in a victory that somehow made up for his unsuccessful bids in the early stages where he initiated attacks only to fizzle out in the end.
This time, however, Ravina, who finished second to 2007 titlist Victor Espiritu in the Tour’s last staging two years ago, made sure he would make it all the way to the top.
“I’m very happy to win the Tour,” said Guevarra in Filipino. “But I wouldn’t have done it without the help of my teammates.”
Ravina, for his part, said he was also happy to finish strong.
“I’m happy I finally won. It’s a nice way to end my campaign,” said Ravina, who also nailed his second straight King of the Mountain title worth P20,000 plus another P5,000 for his stage win and a bonus of P20,000 from manager Tagaytay Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
Jayson Gavino, Quirimit and Tomas Martinez finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the sixth stage.
Reynante struggled to finish 23rd in the stage, 10.43 off the pace. He tumbled down from No. 3 to No. 9 overall or 9.56 off the pace.
Rounding up the top 10 are No. 5 Joseph Millanes, No. 6 Calderon, No. 7 Rendole, No. 8 Stage One winner Tomas Martinez and No. 10 Dante Cagas.
“I came into the Tour expecting to just help the team the best way I can,” said Guevarra, who finished 19th in his Tour debut in 2006 and 24th in 2007.
“I never really thought I would win, but I’m very glad I won,” he added.
Road Bike/7-Eleven, which sent four of its riders in the Top 10, remained on top in the team race with 102:21:11.817, way ahead of Batang Tagaytay and Tour sponsor Liquigaz, which are 38:48.593 and 55:07.320 minutes behind.
Meanwhile, Sherwin Diamsay clinched the Sprint King honors while Mark Julius Bonzo copped the Rookie of the Year title._