David foils veterans in Tour de Cagayan

MANILA, Philippines - Youthful Michael John David showed the way against the big guns by ruling the individual time trial third lap of the five-stage first tour de Cagayan that ended yesterday in Santiago City in Isabela.

The 21-year-old rider from Manila ended the victory run of the favorites in the first two stages as he pulled away a to cross the finish line alone as top contenders two-time Marlboro Tour champion Placido Valdez and Benito Lopez, son of veteran Tour of Luzon campaigner Benito Lopez, kept an eye on each other in the entire 109-kilometer run from Aritao in Nueva Vizcaya.

Valdez ruled the opening 155-kilometer lap that started from Pasig City to Tarlac City, while Lopez of Bulacan, took top honors of the second stage that ended in Aritao.

That victory in Aritao with the race traversing the treacherous mountains of Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya, also gifted Lopez the “Mountain King” title.

The event, sponsored by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) in cooperation with the Cycling Organizer’s Association of the Philippines (COAP), will proceed to Tuguegarao City today in another gruelling 155-kilometer trek with Valdez enjoying a slim advantage over son Gerald in the overall race for supremacy.

The younger Valdez had ended up second from the first to third laps.

The tour will hit the finish line tomorrow in Sta. Ana, Cagayan, where the 54,000-hectare Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport is located.

According to CEZA administrator and CEO secretary Jose Mari Ponce, proceeds of the event will be earmarked to help in raising funds for Lingkod CEZA’s Livelihood and Social Welfare Development Projects.