Victor Espiritu wins 13th leg of Tour

Victor Espiritu wins 13th leg of Tour

MANILA (AP): Philippine cycling team skipper and former champion Victor Espiritu won yesterday's "killer" 13th leg of the Tour of the Philippines, while teammate Warren Davadilla battled back to the overall lead.

Davadilla, who had been dislodged by Arnel Quirimit on the previous leg, finished fourth in yesterday's leg.

Quirimit, apparently tired from Wednesday's effort to overtake Davadilla, was 17th for the day, 14 minutes, 46 seconds behind Espiritu and almost 12 minutes behind Davadilla. He dropped to third overall.

Espiritu won the tortuous 200-kilometer (124.37-mile) leg, in which riders go down to Baguio twice and then return on two different uphill routes, in 6 hours, 6 minutes, 6 seconds.

Unheralded Chung Man Wai of Hong Kong was second, 36 seconds behind Espiritu, who won the tour in 1996.

Davadilla's comeback gave him a comfortable 7:56 overall lead. He had trailed Quirimit by 3:39 after the previous leg.

Davadilla now has a new challenger in two-time champion Carlo Guieb, a mountain climbing specialist, who finished fifth yesterday and jumped to second overall. He was in third place after stage 12.

But Guieb said Davadilla's lead is almost insurmountable.

"I think the race is over" with only three of the 16 stages left, he said.

Friday's race is a 27-kilometer (16.87-mile) individual time trial through winding Kennon road in Baguio City, a mountain resort 1,400 meters (4,620 feet) above sea level.

In stage 14, experts say, the most that pursuers of Davadilla can do is cut his lead by about three minutes.

Philippine riders are trying to win back the championship, lost last year when the tour was opened to other Asians.

The race is one of the few cycling competitions designed specifically for Asian racers. It is considered one of Asia's toughest races, passing along steep mountain trails and areas troubled by Communist rebels.

Results

13th stage: 1. Victor Espiritu (Phi), 6hrs 6mins 6secs 2. Chung Man Wai (Hkg), 36secs behind 3. Placido Valdez (Phi), 2mins 45secs 4. Warren Davadilla (Phi), same time 5. Carlo Guieb (Phi), 5:30

Overall: 1. Warren Davadilla (Phi), 58hrs 16mins 28secs 2. Carlo Guieb (Phi), 7mins 56secs behind 3. Arnel Querimit (Phi), 8:22 4. Placido Valdez (Phi), 10:23 5. Victor Espiritu (Phi), 12:40