TARLAC CITY – Rustom Lim of PSC-PhilCycling outsprinted teammate George Oconer, Jr. and Navy's Jan Paul Morales to the finish to rule Stage Four even as Navy's Santy Barnachea continued his stranglehold of the lead in the Ronda Pilipinas 2015 presented by LBC here Tuesday.
Lim, 21, stuck with the big guns most of the way before making his moves in the final 200 meters to reign supreme in the stage in four hours and 43.41 minutes for his first stage victory since his Olongapo triumph last year.
Lim raised his hand entering the finish line to the delight of the loud and appreciated crowd that greeted him in front of the Tarlac Provincial Capitol.
"It's a nice feeling winning a stage again," said Lim, a Guimba, Nueva Ecija native who was fourth in the Stage One criterium Sunday at Paseo Greenfield City in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, in Filipino.
Both members of the national team that competed in the Asian Cycling Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand last week, Morales checked in at second while Oconer finished third in the stage with identical times of 4:43.43.
It was Barnachea, however, who came out the toughest as he fended off threats by Oconer and Army's Cris Joven to close the gap as he managed to keep the symbolic red LBC jersey after he finished 39th in the stage in 4:44.01.
"I just tried to keep up with them as close as possible," said the 38-year-old Barnachea, the 2011 inaugural Ronda champion, referring to Oconer and Joven.
Despite Barnachea's tight watch, Oconer and Joven succeeded in chopping off some precious seconds off the former's lead.
Oconer, the Stage One winner in Paseo who finished fourth overall last year, is now just 7.37 minutes off the pace instead of a flat eight minutes entering the stage as he has an aggregate time of 14:28.38.
Joven, an Armyman, for his part, gained 10 seconds as he wound up at 13th to 19th in the stage in 4:43.51 for a total clocking of 14:29.20.
Joven tried to gain more as he broke loose from the Barnachea and the pack halfway through the race before losing steam in the end.
Mark Galedo, the 7-Eleven team captain now 15th overall with a time of 14:38.10, also made a daring attempt before he was checked by Barnachea's Navy teammate.
The 2012 Ronda king isn't giving up though.
"It's not yet over. We have four laps to go," said Galedo, 29.
After four grueling stages, Barnachea is still unperturbed at the helm with a total time of 14:21.01 with Oconer and Joven at Nos. 2 and 3 with aggregate clockings of 14:28.38 and 14:29.20, respectively.
Rounding up the top 10 in the overall standings were Navy's Ronald Oranza (14:29.31), Morales (14:30.34) and Mark Jhon Camingao (14:33.20), Cebu-VMobile's Rey Nelson Martin (14:36.05), Navy's Lloyd Lucien Reynante (14:36.06), Army's Irish Valenzuela (14:36.18) and Cebu-VMobile's Elmer Navarro (14:36.18).
Outside Barnachea, the other colored jersey wearers were Morales (sprint), 7-Eleven's Baler Ravina (KOM), Camingao (Under-23) and 7-Eleven's Jay Lampawog (juniors).
The race resumes with an all-flat 138.9 Stage Five that will start in Tarlac and end in Dagupan, Pangasinan.
The race is 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, NLEX and NLEX Cycling 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.