VIGAN CITY – George Oconer crowned himself LBC Ronda Pilipinas king while his Standard-Insurance team formalized its supremacy as the 10thanniversary race drew to a close in front of the provincial capitol Wednesday here.
Oconer, 28, contented himself at the back end of the peloton that checked in first in the Stage 10 criterium that was ruled by teammate Jan Paul Morales in 51 minutes and 20 seconds to claim his very first title.
He raised his two arms in triumph as he rode for the traditional victory lap amidst wild applause from highly-appreciative crowd at the finish line where he was also congratulated by Ronda chairman Moe Chulani and Standard Insurance Group chairman Ernesto “Judes” Echauz.
Oconer also thanked God, his teammates and coaches who protected him almost all race long, the organizers and his family, including father Norberto, a two-time Olympian.
After 10 stages and 11 days covering a total of 14 provinces starting in Sorsogon, Oconer emerged the champion with an aggregate time of 32:42:12 over 68 survivors out of the 88 originally entered.
It was a performance to remember for Oconer, thus he was hailed as the best Filipino cyclist today apart from pocketing the P1 million top prize.
“My first race was in Ronda in 2011, that is why finally winning it here is a special moment for me,” said Oconer.
Oconer’s triumph underscored Standard’s Ronda dominance as five other members – Ronald Oranza, Ronald Lomotos, John Mark Camingao, Junrey Navarra and El Joshua Carino made it in the top 10 – thus winning the team title in runaway fashion.
Rounding up the top 10 in the individual race were Go for Gold’s Jonel Carcueva, Daniel Ven Carino and Ismael Grospe, Jr., and Marvin Tapic of Bicycology-Army.
Apart from that, Standard also registered five stage wins, three of which was provided for by Morales, a two-time winner here who also secured the CCN Sprint plum in this race presented by LBC and backed by the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation.
Navarra also emerged the Versa King of the Mountain in this event supported 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.
