Irish loses steam but stays at helm

SUBIC , Philippines – Irish Valenzuela recovered from a spill and gallantly rallied to finish few seconds behind lap winner Ronald Oranza of PLDT-Spyder as he kept the overall individual lead after Stage Seven of the Ronda Pilipinas 2013 that started in Tarlac City and ended here yesterday.

Moments after joining the early breakaway group in San Fernando, Pampanga, Valenzuela, 25, took a spill after running over a small hole but quickly got up and wheeled back into the lead pack. He even towed the group for the 100-km stretch and up to the Category 3 ascent in Bagac, Bataan but lost steam in his bid to snare the lap honors in the 180.5-km race.

That enabled four riders to get past him, including Oranza, who annexed his first ever stage triumph since joining Ronda last year.

Valenzuela eventually finished fifth in 4:22.01, enough to stay on top for the fourth straight day since wresting the overall lead from Navy-Standard’s Santy Barnachea in the Lapu Lapu-Busay Stage Five. He had an aggregate clocking of 25:39.07.

“I was just testing them but when I attacked early, I kept on with it as long as I could,” said Valenzuela in Filipino. “Along the way, I fell because I ran into a small hole but I didn’t let it bother me and just get myself back in the lead pack.”

Valenzuela’s solid finish likewise carried LPGMA-American Vinyl, owned by Arnel Ty and Eric Sy, to the overall team lead with a total time of 77:25.04.

“We just got lucky,” said Renato Dolosa, the 1992 and 1995 winner of the fabled Marlboro Tour whose team topped the inaugural Ronda staging two years ago before ending up second to VMobile-Smart last year.

PLDT-Spyder slipped to No. 2 with a 77:26.52 clocking while Navy-Standard moved from No. 4 to No. 3 with 77:29.07 in the event sponsored by LBC Express, Inc., the country’s leading courier firm, and backed by Total, the MVP Sports Foundation, Jinbei Auto, Smart, Icom iDAS, Standard Insurance, Maynilad and NLEX. 

Meanwhile, action is expected to heat up starting in today’s 183.4-km Olongapo-Alaminos Stage Eight and ending in the dreaded Bayombong-Baguio Stage 14, considered the toughest lap for its dangerous steep mountain passes.

Oranza, a 20-year-old rider from Villasis, Pangasinan, hounded Valenzuela majority of the way before outsprinting four others, including another LPGMA-American Vinyl bet Cris Joven and Roadbike Phl’s Ronald Gorantes in mad dash to the finish where they were greeted by a cheering crowd inside the SBMA grounds.

Oranza was actually given the same time of four hours, 21 minutes and 57 seconds as Joven and Gorantes but his finish netted him P50,000 purse and a 10-second time bonus.

“I just stayed with them and took my chance when I see an opening,” said Oranza, who wound up second to LPGMA-American Vinyl’s Rudy Roque in the Pagadian-Iligan Stage Three and third in a lap done in Cabanatuan in last year’s second edition of the annual event.

Oranza’s efforts coupled with PLDT-Spyder teammate El Joshua Carino’s slide after suffering a rear flat tire in Pampanga sent him drop from No. 3 to No. 2 in 25:40.46, 1.39 minutes off the pace.

The 19-year-old Carino, who came out of nowhere to grab the Lapu Lapu-Busay Stage Five, fell to No. 6 in 25:47.48, allowing Joven to jump from No. 5 to No. 3 in 25:43.37, and Gorantes to leap from No. 6 to No. 4 in 25:43.50.

Barnachea, the 2002 and 2006 Tour winner and inaugural 2011 Ronda champ, likewise clawed from No. 7 to No. 5 in 25:44.22, ahead of Carino, No. 7 Joel Calderon of VMobile-Smart (25:49.41), Y101 FM-Cebu’s Marvin Tapic (25:53.23), defending champion Mark Galedo (25:53.54) and Team Tarlac’s Tomas Martinez (25:55.41).

The 26-year-old Galedo, who denied Valenzuela by topping last year’s second edition, has slowly but surely fought his way back to the top 10, moving to No. 9 from No. 13.

“We’re taking it one step at a time,” said Galedo.