Calderon, Barnachea gain early lead

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur , Philippines  â€“Tour veterans Joel Calderon of Smart and Santy Barnachea of Navy-Standard made their moves early with the former topping the 139.5km Ipil-Pagadian Stage Two and the latter seizing the overall lead in the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2013 in this coastal city yesterday.

Calderon, the 2009 Padyak Pinoy Tour of Champions winner, outsprinted Roadbike Phl’s Ronald Gorantes and LPGMA-American Vinyl’s Irish Valenzuela in the final 500-m ascent to the finish line facing the city hall of the provincial capitol and Ilagan Bay.

The 33-year-old Calderon clocked three hours, 27 minutes, 53 seconds, beating Gorantes by four seconds and a cramping Valenzuela by six to record his first lap victory since topping the Lingayen-Baguio stage in last year’s edition of this 16-leg, 21-day, 2,200-kilometer tour.

“I just waited for my chance and when it came, I gave it all to overtake them (Gorantes and Valenzuela),” said Calderon, a native of Guimba, Nueva Ecija who thanked his Mayor Boyeto Dizon for his support, in Filipino.

It was a sorry setback for Gorantes, a Victoria, Negros Occidental native now based in San Mateo, Rizal, who hasn’t won a single lap since he ruled the Cagayan de Oro-Malaybalay Stage One of the inaugural edition of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas.

“I thought I had a chance on winning my second stage in the Ronda but I fell short of my bid,” said the 30-year-old Gorantes, an Air Force man and former 2011 Indonesia Southeast Asian Games silver medalist, in Filipino.

Valenzuela, who finished second to last year’s eventual winner Mark Galedo of Roadbike, got slowed down by cramps and settled for a podium finish in this event bankrolled by LBC Express, Inc. and backed by Total, the MVP Sports Foundation, Jinbei Auto, Smart, Icom iDAS, Standard Insurance, Maynilad and NLEX.

“I got cramps, that’s why I couldn’t really ride fast in the end,” said the 25-year-old son of Tabaco, Albay and former two-time LBC Ronda Pilipinas king of the mountain who sustained a left shoulder injury in training last December in Banaue.

Barnachea, meanwhile, stuck close to Calderon and company and finished just 21 seconds behind the lap winner after tagging along with fellow Navy-Standard Insurance standout Lloyd Lucien Reynante approaching the finish line.

The 36-year-old Barnachea, who had three Tour titles in 2002 and 2006 and in 2011 when he became the first millionaire winner of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas, thus surged from third overall to first with an aggregate time of 6:35.18, two minutes ahead of Team Tarlac’s Tomas Martinez (6:37.19).

“We’re only on the second stage, it’s still too early to tell and we haven’t even approached the tougher ascents,” said Barnachea in Filipino.

Gorantes also moved from No. 22 to third overall (6:38.18), ahead of Valenzuela (6:38.19) and Calderon (6:38.27).

George Oconer, newly recruited teammates of Barnachea and Reynante, leapt to No. 6 with a 6:38.34 clocking while Marcelo Felipe of Smart (6:38.37), Reynaldo Navarro of Hundred Islands Pangasinan (6:38.56), Lloyd Lucien Reynante of Navy-Standard (6:38.57) and Cris Joven of LPGMA-American Vinyl (6:38.59) rounded up the top 10.

The 27-year-old Galedo remained far behind at 16th overall (6:40.29), over five minutes off the pace.

Barnachea, Reynante and Oconer’s impressive finishes likewise towed Navy-Standard Insurance to the top in team competition with a total time of 19:50.47, easing out reigning team titlist Smart (19:53.08) aggregate and Roadbike Phl (19:55.25).