Diamsay rules Stage 8; Calderon hangs on

VIGAN, Ilocos Sur, Philippines - Tarlac’s Sherwin Diamsay won lap honors with a breakaway run midway through Stage Eight even as Nueva Ecija’s Joel Calderon kept his 14-second lead over George Oconer intact with a gutsy run in 2011 LBC Ronda Pilipinas that took off in La Union and ended in this World Heritage City.

Diamsay, 31, topped the 129.63-km race from San Fernando, La Union in two hours, 54 minutes, six seconds to collect his sixth stage win in five years and take the top P50,000 lap purse plus a gold medal courtesy of LBC Hari ng Padala.

“I broke loose from the big group halfway through the stage and I wasn’t really challenged after that,” said Diamsay, who raised his hands in triumph 50 meters before the finish line near the provincial capitol, in Filipino.

While Calderon, Oconer and third running Irish Valenzuela of 7-Eleven stuck to each other to keep their positions, Warren Davadilla barged into the Top 10 as he bucked a jammed break to turn in a runner-up finish behind Diamsay.

Davadilla, a two-time Tour champion, clocked 2:54:08, the same time by eventual third placer Tomas Martinez also of Tarlac, to emerge the biggest gainer, jumping from No. 13 to No. 10.

“I allowed him to win because I was having problems with my rear wheel and break,” said Davadilla, who won the San Fernando, Pampanga-to-Tarlac City Stage Seven Sunday, referring to Diamsay.

Davadilla, however, hurt his right leg while trying to jump to the stage fronting the famous heritage sites to receive his check worth P25,000.

“I tried to jump my way to the stage, that’s the reason I got hurt. I’m thankful though that it was just cramps,” said Davadilla, seeking to join Antonio Arzala (1955, 1956 and 1959) into the elite group of three-time Tour winners.

After eight grueling laps, the 30-year-old Calderon, the 2009 Tour titlist, remains on top for the sixth straight stage after seizing the lead in Stage Three with a 25:25:13 clocking.

Oconer remained in second with 25:25:27 and Valenzuela in third in 25:26:49.

With a 25:32:57 clocking, Davadilla displaced 7-Eleven captain Lloyd Lucien Reynante, Cebu’s Jay Bop Pagnanawon and NCR’s Frederick Feliciano, who slid to Nos. 11, 12 and 13 in 25:33:07, 25:33:18 and 25:33:40, respectively.

Valenzuela, who had a leg win and a pair of runner-up finishes, also paces both the Magnolia Purewater King of the Mountain and Air Asia Sprint divisions while the 19-year-old Oconer is the Rudy Project Young Rider leader.

Rounding up the Top 10 are American Vinyl’s Rudy Roque (25:27:37), former two-time champion Santy Barnachea (22:28:27) of Eastern Pangasinan, former Tour winner Arnel Quirimit (25:30:55) of Central and Western Pangasinan, Bicol’s Alvin Benosa (25:31:27), Eastern Pangasinan’s Baler Ravina (25:32:34) and American Vinyl skipper Cris Joven (25:32:50).

American Vinyl, seeking to regain the team title it last snared in 2009 only to wind up second last year, continued to tow the field in the overall team category with an aggregate time of 76:26:54 ahead of 7-Eleven (76:32:23), Nueva Ecija (76:40:03), NCR Standard (76:47:25), Western and Central Pangasinan (76:49:59), Tarlac (76:50:18), Cebu (76:52:37), Bicolandia (76:56:49), Eastern Pangasinan (77:01:32) and hometown team Ilocos Sur (77:15:41).

“It’s still hard to tell, I really couldn’t say what will happen in the Baguio stages but I know everything will be clear after it,” said Calderon, referring to the 181.4km Vigan-Baguio Stage Nine via Naguilian Road on Thursday and the 46.4km Agoo, La Union-Baguio Stage 10 via Aspiras Highway, formerly Marcos Highway, on Friday.

The LBC Ronda takes a rest today.

“We’ll see who’s the strongest after the Baguio stages,” Valenzuela, the Tour of Camsur champion early this year who’s also a strong mountain climber having emerged the 2006 King of the Mountain and the 2008 Manila-Baguio winner, for his part, said.

“The overall individual and team champions will be decided after Baguio,” said the 24-year-old Albay native.

The 12-leg, 20-day event is staking a total cash pot of P7 million with the individual and team champions receiving P1 million apiece courtesy of main sponsor LBC Hari ng Padala and backers Rudy Project, Air Asia.com, Magnolia Purewater, Versa two-way radios and Starlite Ferries, Inc. with The Philippine STAR, C! and AKTV as media partners.