Galedo dismisses last of rivals for P1M crown

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Road Bike’s Mark Galedo passed the second of two dreaded ascents to his dream P1 million LBC Ronda title as he fended off another ferocious, determined attempt by American Vinyl-LPGMA’s Irish Valenzuela with a second place finish in the shortened Stage 13 or individual time trial here yesterday.

A day after winding up second in the Lingayen-Baguio Stage 12, Valenzuela bucked a rear wheel puncture to top the lap, which started down in Tuba, Benguet and ended here, but was shortened from the original distance of 27.4 kilometers to just 21.5 km after a landslide occured on the eve of the race.

The 25-year-old Tabaco, Albay native, who was the second to the last of the 75 remaining cyclists who were flagged off a minute after the other, checked in at 44 minutes, 51 seconds to snare his second lap victory and second straight podium finish after ending up second to Nueva Ecija’s Joel Calderon in the Lingayen-Baguio Stage 12 the day before.

Galedo, who seized the red jersey in the Lucena-Antipolo Stage Nine, however, wasn’t about to let his lead slip away and, just like he did the day before, mustered all his reserves to finish second in the lap in 45.05 that kept him atop the overall individual leaderboard with a total time of 46:08.52 with just two laps to go.

“I’m just glad I have some energy left for this stage, if not I wouldn’t have kept my lead,” said the 26-year-old Galedo, who topped the seven-stage Liquigaz-LPGMA Tour three years ago, in Filipino.

Though he failed again to overtake Galedo on top, Valenzuela, whose biggest victory in his young career was the multi-stage Tour of Camsur a year back, succeeded in creeping closer to the top and will now be just 33 seconds off the pace with a total clocking of 46:09.25 instead of 51 seconds the day before.

And he did that despite discovering that a tiny pin the size of a thumb tax punctured his rear tire.

“Coach discovered it just one minute before my turn came and we had really no time to remove it otherwise it would cost us time,” said Valenzuela referring to American Vinyl-LPGMA coach Renato Dolosa as he was embraced and kissed by his father Virgilio or Kiko to his peers at the finish line.

“I just prayed to God to help me make it through, if it’s His will, I will obey,” he added.

It was another bid by Valenzuela that was nipped in the bud by Galedo, who also survived a failed try by the former in the mountain passes of Baguio City.

And Galedo was close to relinquishing the red or leader’s jersey as Valenzuela further strengthened his reputation as one of the best, if not the best, mountain climbers in the country today.

Valenzuela, in fact, clinched his second straight King of the Mountain award in Ronda and his third since winning one five years ago when he was still a Tour rookie. It also included the long 2008 Manila-to-Baguio race.

“It’s special to me, this King of the Mountain award because I started my Tour career winning this same award,” said Valenzuela.

Navy A-Standard’s Lloyd Lucien Reynante submitted the third fastest time in Stage 13 with 46.53 but passed out seconds after he crossed the finish line in front of the crowded Lake Drive at the heart of Burnham Park of this cool, windy mountain-top city.

The local medical team though was quick to respond as he was given first aid, lifted to an ambulance and was transported to the nearest hospital, allowing Reynante to get back in time for the customary post-race awarding ceremonies.

“I gave it all out there that’s why I got really dehydrated,” said the 33-year-old Reynante, who has his six-year-old son Ivan on his lap while he was being interviewed by the media.

 The effort kept Reynante at No. 3 overall in  46:12.58 but his deficit of more than four minutes rendered the last two laps – the 134.4km San Fernando, La Union Stage 14 and the 90km Manila Stage 15 – a two-way battle between Galedo and Valenzuela in one of the closest races in the history of the fabled race.

“After the last two stages, I can feel that I have an 80-percent chance of winning this year,” said Galedo.

“But I can’t afford to be over-confident because anything can happen and I’m leading by just seconds.”

“I must take a closer look at him (Valenzuela) in the last two stages,” he added.

“Until the race isn’t over, I still have a chance to win this as long as I don’t give up and keep on praying,” Valenzuela said.

The rest--Nueva Ecija’s Oscar Rindole, American Vinyl-LPGMA’s Cris Joven, Road Bike’s Baler Ravina, Nueva Ecija’s Joel Calderon, East Pangasinan’s Harvey Sicam, Army-RC Cola’s John Rene Mier and Nueva Ecija’s Rey Martin--are less than six minutes behind and above and are just fighting it out for placings.

In the team category, Nueva Ecija continued to cling to the overall lead with a total cumulative time of 137:44.13 but reigning champ American Vinyl-LPGMA has cut its deficit from a little over five minutes to just less than three minutes with a clocking of 137:47.05 thanks to strong efforts by Valenzuela, Joven and youthful Rustom Lim.

“There’s still hope,” said American Vinyl-LPGMA coach Renato Dolosa, whose team is being sponsored by Arnel Ty and Eric Sy.

Mier, a 19-year-old sensation from Lahug, Cebu City, kept building on his lead in the Young Riders category and is now 5.29 minutes ahead of closest pursuer and former teammate, last year third placer and best young rider George Oconer of Phl Under-23.