Luzon takes sixth stage of tour
CABANATUAN, Philippines (Agencies): While the leading riders took it easier today on the shortest road Stage section of the Marlboro Centennial Tour at 123.6 kilometers, Bernard Luzon of Nueva Ecija came back from Tuesday's runner-up finish to win the sixth Stage of the Marlboro Centennial Tour 1998.
Luzon, leader in the under-22 division and second behind fifth stage winner Victor Espiritu the other day, broke away from a five-man lead pack in his hometown of San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, some 6 kms before the finish, and won with a time of two hours 54 minutes and four seconds for the uneventful run from Quezon City in Metro Manila.
Dominador Tacutacu of Central Luzon followed him home just three seconds behind with another unheralded Central Luzon rider, Gregorio Bergonio, landing third, 56 seconds off Luzon.
Overall leader and yellow jersey holder since the beginning of the Tour, Warren Davadilla and most of the Tour's high ranking riders arrived together with the 33-man sixth group, nearly two minutes behind Luzon, as they conserved their energy for today's seventh stage where the field will go through the mountainous Dalton Pass separating the provinces of Nueva Ecija from Nueva Vizcaya two times.
Davadilla thus kept his lead of 5:44 over Philippine teammate Arnel Quirimit and 5:56 over Malaysian Hoong Tsen Seong and rookie Santy Barnachea of Pangasinan.
The rest of the top 10 riders held on to their positions but Luzon, only 22 but already a four-year veteran, moved up to 11th from 14th, 22:44 behind Davadilla.
There was a similar standstill in the team overall standings although the Philippine national squad lost several seconds to Pangasinan with its margin now down to 17:18. Malaysia kept third place, still 28:42 behind.
The route was so easy that all 18 foreign riders finished without any trouble except for Malaysians Kumaresan Murugayan and Mohamad Keton, who crashed with 3 kms left while riding with the main bunch as they tried to avoid water-throwing fans on the road side.
The two suffered bruises on their arms and legs with Kumaresan finishing 59th for the day and Keton 62.
Overall standings: 1. Warren Davadilla (Phi) 24:36:17 2. Arnel Quirimit (Phi) 24:42:01 3. Hoong Tsen Seong (Mal) 24:42:13 4. Santy Barnachea (Phi) 24:42:13 5. Gonzalo Espiritu (Phi) 24:44:44 6. Carlo Guieb (Phi) 24:50:07 7. Placido Valdez (Phi) 24:53:24 8. Enrique Domingo (Phi) 24:54:22 9. Norberto Oconer (Phi) 24:55:59 10. Federico Cruz (Phi) 24:57:25