BAGUIO CITY – George Oconer of Standard Insurance-Navy stuck with the 10-man group like a leech and checked in first in Stage Eight to virtually clinch the title in the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 10th anniversary race at the Burnham Park here Monday.
Oconer, 28, was one of the six Standard riders who comprised the lead pack but it was Go for Gold’s Daniel Ven Carino who took the lap honor after they negotiated the grueling 170.6km Palayan-Baguio stage in four hours, 30 minutes and four seconds.
Marvin Tapic of Bicycology-Army ended up at second while Jonel Carcueva of Go for Gold wound up third in the event presented by LBC and backed by the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation.
For finishing with the group, Oconer practically secured the title with an aggregate time of 27:34:35 followed by Standard teammates Ronald Oranza (27:35:50), Ronald Lomotos (27:35:53), John Mark Camingao (27:36:28), Junrey Navarra (27:36:52) and El Joshua Carino (27:38:26).
The final two stages – the 176.4km Pugo, La Union-Vigan Stage Nine and the Vigan Stage 10 criterium – could turn into his own coronation ride since his teammates have vowed to support him in case there will be a threat.
“I’m thankful for my teammates for helping me, we treat each other as brothers,” said Oconer.
While the top six in the individual general classification remained unchanged, there were some changes in the seventh to 10th place after former leader Mark Julius Bordeos of Bicycology and Rustom Lim of 7Eleven Cliqq-Air21 by Roadbike Philippines were dislodged.
Carcueva moved from ninth to seventh in 27:39:59, Carino jumped from 12th to eighth in 27:40:21, Grospe leapt from 10th to ninth in 27:40:23 and Tapic barged into No. 10 from 20th in 27:42:55.
Standard had also claimed the team crown, its sixth straight, as days before while holding on to the CCN sprint (Jan Paul Morales) and Versa King of the Mountain (Carino).
The only category that didn’t go Standard’s way was the MVPSF Best Under-23 rider, which is being contested by Carino, Grospe and another Go for Gold bet Jericho Jay Lucero.
This event, which stakes P1 million the individual champion, is being backed by Palayan, Nueva Ecija, Versa, 8A Performance, Print2Go, Petron, Green Planet, Bike Xtreme, Standard Insurance, Spyder, CCN, Lightwater, Prolite, Guerciotti, Black Mamba, Boy Kanin, Vitamin Boost, NLEX-SCTEX, Maynilad, 3Q Sports Event Management Inc., LBC Foundation and PhilCycling.
