The second half of MPTC Tour of Luzon is a climber’s delight

PAGUDPUD, Ilocos Norte — A battle royale.

That is how the last seven stages is going to be for the last 77 of the original 89 cyclists, all re-energized by the much-needed one-day breather, as they plunge back into action on Thursday in Stage 8 of the MPTC Tour of Luzon that starts in Pagudpud and ends in Paoay.

“It will be tough in the last stages, but we’ll work as a team,” said yellow jersey holder Nikita Shulchenko of LCW UAE during on Wednesday’s media briefer at the Villa Manuela’s Coco Bar and Grill facing the white sands of Saud beach.

The Russian conqueror has been unflappable at the top for four straight stages now and has even solidified his grip of it more following his magnificence in the Stage Seven Individual Time Trial on Tuesday in this beach town being called the “Boracay of the North.”

After seven stages that covered 816.1-kilometer (km) distance including nine ascents, Mr. Shulchenko had accumulated a total time of 19 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds, 1:38 minutes ahead of his closest pursuer in teammate Ibrahiem Alrefai in this event bankrolled by Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the Manuel V. Pangilinan Group of Companies and the Philippine Sports Commission.

“It will be a big responsibility for our team to hold onto the yellow jersey in the last seven stages,” said 19-year-old Syrian. “But we’re doing our best for our teammate (Mr. Shulchenko) and trying to protect our positions.”

But expect the rest of the field, headed by top local bet Mervin Corpuz of 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines, who was at No. 3 with 4:15 minutes off the pace, and defending champion Joo Dae Yeong of Gapyeong, who was at No. 16 or around six minutes behind, to make a last-gasp effort to snatch the lead.

“They’re now at an advantage and it will be hard to grab the yellow jersey from them. But I would do my best to have a good finish in the race,” said Mr. Corpuz, nephew of former Tour champion Santi Barnachea who is out to redeem himself from last year’s Baguio collapse that denied him of topping last year’s edition.

For Mr. Joo, wearer of the polka dot jersey reserved for the eagle of the mountain race leader, he looked like he was contented with what he had already achieved.

“I was lucky to wear the yellow jersey last year and this year I didn’t aim for it and just focused on another jersey,” said Mr. Joo referring to the polka dot uniform.

The team race will be equally exciting with Go for Gold, currently at the helm with a 77:13:38, hoping to stay atop the heap over closest pursuer Standard Insurance and 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines, who were second and third or 1:01 minutes and 2:48 minutes behind, respectively.

But the final stages are going to be far worse than the first ones as it will tackle more than 1,000-km distance including Thursday’s relatively flat 157.4-km Pagudpud-Paoay Stage 8 and four mountain passes including two of the race’s toughest — the Bessang Pass in Ilocos Sur in Stage 10 and the mythical Benguet Mountains in the culminating Lingayen-Baguio Stage 14.

The Bessang Pass ascent is a 30 km ramp with steep gradient while the Baguio climb has steeper gradient and longer distance at around 40-km stretch that ends in Camp John Hay.

Head Commissaire and Organizer Jun Lomibao calls the final stages a climber’s delight.

“It will be the climbers who will make the difference in the second half of the Tour,” he said.

Commissaire 2 Sunshine Vallejos Mendoza said that while the foreigners had already built a formidable lead, there is still hope for Filipino cyclists.

“The best strategy for the Filipinos is to be aggressive,” she said. — Joey Villar