Cayubit emerges champ in Ronda Visayas leg

BACOLOD CITY – Boots Ryan Cayubit stuck with his chief rivals in the all-flat final stage to emerge the Visayas qualifying leg champion of the Ronda Pilipinas 2015 presented by LBC here Friday.

Cayubit, who zoomed to the top after ending up second in the Bacolod-Bacolod Stage Two the day before, checked in at fifth in the 120-kilometer Bacolod-Cadiz-Bacolod Stage Three but with the same time as lap winner Mark Julius Bonzo in three hours, seven minutes and seven seconds.

That catapulted the 23-year-old Cayubit to his first race victory since he was discovered by 7-Eleven's Vic Paterno and Bong Sual in Ronda's first ever staging four years ago.

At the end of the race, Cayubit, a proud son of Caloocan, had an aggregate time of 12:37.01, over three minutes ahead of eventual second placer Marcelo Felipe in 12:40.07 and No. 3 Rey Martin of Team Cebu in 12:42.35.

For his victory, Cayubit pocketed P50,000 while booking a berth to the Championship round from Feb. 22 to 27 from Pase Greenfield City in Sta. Rosa, Laguna to the cool, breezy City of Pines, Baguio.

"I will relish the biggest victory since I took up cycling. It's a great feeling. Hope I could continue to race like this in the championship round," said Cayubit in Filipino.

Mark Julius Bonzo shared the limelight by outsprinting past everyone in mass finish to claim his second lap win in Ronda since winning himself one in a stage in the third edition in Vigan two years ago.

The 25-year-old Bonzo also made his father, the late 1983 Marlboro Tour king Romeo, proud.

"I will not be here without my father so this one's for him," said Bonzo, who is now part of the LBC and MVP Sports Foundation-sponsored national team.

Rounding up the top 10 in the three-stage qualifier that started down in Dumaguete City were Army's Irish Valenzuela (12:43.23), Baler Ravina (12:43.27), Cris Joven (12:45.03), Leonel Dimaano (12:43.03), Junrey Navarra (12:50.35) and Alvin Benosa (12:54.38).

A crash involving three riders and a motorcycle-riding race marshal in the last two-km stretch marred Stage Three.

Two of those involved were 7-Eleven's Ravina and Avegail Rombaon, a member of the Singapore Southeast Asian Games-bound national women's team who are here racing as a guest participant.

Luckily for them, they only suffered abrasions in their hands and legs.

"It hurts a lot but I think it's nothing serious," said Ravina, a veteran mountain-climber specialist who has topped races in the past.

The race goes up North with the Luzon qualifier in Tarlac City on Monday and Antipolo the next day.

Qualifiers will then moved on to the Championship round where they will battle Reimon Lapaza, the national team headed by Mark Galedo and a composite European team for the top purse worth P1 million.

The race is being presented by LBC and supported by major sponsors the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation, Petron and Mitsubishi and minor sponsors Cannondale, Standard Insurance, Tech1 Corp., Maynilad and NLEX and sanctioned by PhilCycling under Cavite Congressman Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino with TV5 and Sports Radio as media partners.

For updates, check Ronda Pilipinas' official Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/RondaPilipinas, and Twitter account, @rondapilipinas.