Rider from Down Under zooms to the top

CAUAYAN CITY, ISABELA , Philippines   â€“ A young rider from Down Under rose to the top of Stage Two of the Le Tour de Filipinas on a hot and humid day when local riders made a go at lap honors.

Luke Parker, a 20-year-old velodrome sprint specialist representing City of Perth (COP) team, showed he also has the chops to duke it out in longer distance road races as he stormed to the top honors in the lap that started in Aparri, Cagayan and ended here under punishing heat.

A veteran of the Junior World Championships in track cycling, Parker pedaled furiously in the last 750 meters to nose out 50 other riders who figured in a mad dash to the finish. 

The rider from Melbourne checked in one-and-half bike length ahead of his closest rival, Jan Paul Morales of Team Philippines-Philippine Marine Standard Insurance, who nonetheless produced the best performance among Filipinos so far.

“This is my first big win in road races,” said Parker as he exchanged high fives with teammates and received congratulatory gesture from local fans who trooped to the Gov. F. Dy Blvd in front of Isabela State U to witness the end of the 196-km stage.

Parker and Morales, as well as the riders in the big bunch that crossed the finish line, posted the same time of 5:07:54.

Also part of this group were Jerry Aquino of 7-Eleven presented by Roadbike Philippines at sixth and Rustom Lim of LBC-MVPSF at 10th, as well as yellow jersey holder Lee Ki Suk of CCN Continental Team, who came home ninth.

Lee, a Korean riding for Brunei-based CCN, kept the individual general classification leadership with his aggregate of 9:43:17 halfway through the event presented by Air21 in partnership with San Miguel Corp. and Smart.

He maintained a 13-second margin over Parker’s teammate, Douglas Repacholi, and 15-second headstart against two-time Asian Tour champion Ghader Mizbani of multi-titled Tabriz Petrochemical as the remaining 63 cyclists tackle today’s Stage Three, a 104-km ride to  Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya.

It was not a perfect ride to the top for Parker.

He had to stop momentarily along the heavily rough Santiago to Tuguegarao Road – some 80 kms to the finish – as team mechanic attended to his punctured back wheel.  The terrible lunar-like conditions of the road linking the agricultural provinces of Cagayan and Isabela, currently under rehab, slowed down the riders somehow, in addition to the temperature that reached the mid to high 30s.

“It was a very good race, very long but very hot,” said Parker.

His strategy was to sit back and just make his move when the opportune time came.

“We really saved our energy and made sure I was confident sitting at the back.  At the end, with teammate Doug (Repacholi) really looked after me and put me in perfect position,” he said.

Parker was with the main peloton that caught up with the three-man lead group at the 190th kilometer mark entering this city known as the Agro-Industrial Capital of Cagayan Valley. After letting the others initially take the pace, Parker turned to his sprinting skills as they neared the finish.

Morales’ second place finish vaulted him into the 21st overall with 9:52:00.