Vintage Morales, Barnachea best younger riders in Ronda opener

SORSOGON CITY — Experience prevailed over youth as former two-time champions Jan Paul Morales and Santy Barnachea of Excellent Noodles came through with vintage performances at the start of the 11th LBC Ronda Pilipinas at the Rampeolas Boulevard here Friday.

Morales, 36, outclassed their younger rivals and topped the relatively flat 12.3-kilometer Individual Time Trial Stage One marred by occasional rains and powerful trail winds with a clocking of 16 minutes and two seconds.

Barnachea, 46, for his part, was fourth in 16:40 in a throwback effort reminiscent of his feats when he ruled the race’s inaugural stage in 2011 and repeated four years later.

The efforts of Morales, the 2016 and 2017 titlist, and Barnachea not only bared Excellent Noodles’ serious title intention but also reduced the powerhouse Navy Standard Insurance team to pretenders at least for now.

“We’ve prepared hard and trained for a year now to try win in this Ronda,” said Barnachea.

Navy’s 29-year-old newly installed team captain Ronald Oranza, the 2018 winner and one of the favorites to win this year, tried but failed to snatch the stage win after he was hampered by the strong winds caused by the rainy weather that has hit the Bicol region for two weeks now and ended up second in 16:16.

Go for Gold’s Ronnilan Quita, 27, likewise gave it all but wound up third in 16.16.

And it was because Morales did not hesitate to bare his true fangs.

“I’m determined to win,” said the former Navy Standard Insurance team captain.

The impressive opening stage efforts of the two grizzled veterans highlighted what had been a spectacular day for Excellent Noodles riders, who are bankrolled by Alex Billian, as their two more bets — Ryan Tugawin and Joshua Mari Bonifacio — ended up eighth and ninth with identical 16.51s.

Because of it, Excellent Noodles was flagged off last in the 59.4km Team Time Trial Stage Two at press time.

Completing the top 10 were Go for Gold’s Jonel Carcueva and Marc Lago, who clocked identical 16:48s, Team Nueva Ecija’s Rustom Lim (16:51) and Drey’s Arjay Peralta (16:54).

Navy’s George Oconer, the last Ronda winner two years ago, failed to live up to his top billing and sank to 19th in 17:18.

Morales already wore the LBC red jersey symbolizing the individual general classification leader in the TTT Stage Two and will wear it again in today’s 156.8km Sorsogon-Legazpi Stage Three.

This annual sports spectacle stakes a P3.5 million pot including P1 million to the champion courtesy of LBC Express, Inc., MVP Sports Foundation, Quad X, Smart, Twin Cycle Gear, Standard Insurance, Print2Go, Elves Bicycles, Elitewheels, Orome, Maynilad, PhilHydro, Garmin, Petron, Boy Kanin, Green Planet Bikeshop, Prolite, Fujiwara, Black Mamba Energy Drink, Lightwater, LBC Foundation, PhilCycling and the Games and Amusements Board.