Cyclist Espiritu wins third stage

Cyclist Espiritu wins third stage

BATANGAS CITY, Philippines (Agencies): Philippine national
team captain Victor Espiritu outsprinted breakaway partner
Placido Valdez of Nueva Ecija to capture the third stage of the
Marlboro Centennial Tour of the Philippines.

The Philippines are proving very strong in the early stages
and in the general classification at the end of this stage the
lead and yellow jersey is retained for a third day by fellow
national team rider Warren Davadilla.

Espiritu, the 1996 champion and runner-up behind Wong Kam Po
of Hong Kong last year, hit the finish three seconds ahead of
Valdez, clocking 4 hours 6 minutes and 10 seconds for the 167.3-
kilometer race from Rizal Park in Manila to this southern Tagalog
city.

China's Tang Xuezhong unleashed a blazing drive down the
stretch to salvage third place at the head of the big 45-man
second group that checked in 40 seconds later and included
Davadilla and the rest of the top 13 riders in the general
classification.

The tiny Davadilla, who was in danger of losing the yellow
jersey earlier as he lagged behind in the third group that
trailed the second pack by five minutes, thus preserved his 4-
second lead over Gonzalo Espiritu of Pangasinan (Philippine
regional team) going into today's 226.2-km fourth stage that will
be highlighted by a long, hard climb through a mountain park in
the province of Quezon.

Arnel Quirimit of the Philippines kept third place overall,
4:53 behind, followed by Malaysian Hoong Tsen Seong, Norbeto
Oconer of Metro Manila, Santy Barnachea of Pangasinan, Nor
Effandy Rosli of Malaysia, Carlo Guieb of Northern Luzon, Domingo
Enrique of the Philippines and Makoto Iijima of Japan.

Espiritu, the top Filipino contender who was No. 4 among East
Asian riders in the recent Tour of Langkawi in Malaysia, still
trailed by 19:20 although he is now a full minute up on Wong.
Valdez moved up from 21st to 15th, 13:53 off Davadilla.

In the team general classification, the Philippines could only
gain 20 seconds of Malaysia, which now trails by 4:42. As in the
general classification, the teams held on to their respective
positions with Pangasinan in third, 5:39 behind.

Espiritu broke away after the sprint finish in front of the
house in Kawit, Cavite where Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared
independence on June 12, 1898 - the event whose centennial year
this Tour is helping celebrate.

Valdez, who came close to winning this event in 1994 and 1995,
quickly gave chase and caught up with Espiritu even as the rest
of the field squeezed through the narrow streets of Cavite.

Alternating in setting a torrid pace, the two opened as a 3-
minute lead in scenic Tagaytay City before the field, which broke
up into several groups from Kawit, slowly merged into a big pack
that reduced the margin of the breakaway partners at the finish.