SAN JOSE, Camarines Sur – Navy-Standard Insurance unleashed its full might as it topped the Stage Six Team Time Trial to pull away from the pack in the overall team race of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2017 that started at the Camsur Watersports Complex in Pili to the San Jose City Hall here yesterday.
Executing their plan to perfection, the Navymen posted the fastest time in one hour, eight minutes and 16 seconds to reign supreme in the 46.6-km lap to continue to widen their already huge lead with a total time of 72:48:47.
A Cris Joven-led Kinetix Lab-Army checked in at second in the stage while Go for Gold, Bike Extrme and Ilocos Sur followed suit at third, fourth and fifth spots with clockings of 1:11:25, 1:11:51, :1:12:07 and 1:13:04, respectively.
Go for Gold, which is skippered by Ronnel Hualda and coached by his wife Eds, is at No. 2 overall with an aggregate clocking of 73:09:42, or a little over 20 minutes off the pace.
Kinetix Lab-Army is at No. 3 with 73:21:41.
Navy captain Lloyd Lucien Reynante said he was satisfied with the overall performance of the team.
“We had a great ride because the team was just determined to win,” said the 38-year-old Reynante in Filipino.
Flagged last at the starting arc, Navy was all symmetry as Reynante took turns with red LBC jersey wearer Rudy Roque, Ronald Lomotos, Daniel Ven Carino, Jan Paul Morales, Joel Calderon, Jay Lampawog and Archie Cardana in battling the strong winds in the relatively flat lap.
When it was over, Navy breezed past the finish line and acknowledged the appreciative crowd headed by City Mayor Antonio Chavez.
The 14-stage race will take a breather today before resuming tomorrow with the 227-km Stage Seven unfurling at the CWC, circle through Quirino and Quezon before ending in Daet, Camarines Norte.
Focus now shifts back to the individual race.
Roque is on top with a time of 18 hours, 12 minutes and 48 seconds while Lomotos, Carino and Morales are in second, third and fourth places with clockings of 18:13:47, 18:14:43 and 18:15:51, respectively.
Cris Joven of Kinetix Lab-Army is at No. 5 overall with a time of 18:15:51 after jumping from as far as 24th in Stage One, to No. 9 in Stage Three and now No. 4.
Rounding up the top 10 were Go for Gold’s Elmer Navarro (18:17:57), RC Cola-NCR’s Leonel Dimaano (18:18:01), Go for Gold’s Ismael Grospe, Jr. (18:19:02), Army’s Lord Anthony del Rosario (18:19:44) and Go for Gold’s Jonel Carcueva (18:20:33).
Ronda is staking R1 million to the champion courtesy of presentor LBC and in partnership with MVP Sports Foundation, Petron, Mitsubishi, Versa.ph, Partas, Maynilad, Standard Insurance, CCN, Bike Xtreme, NLEX, PhilCycling and 3Q Sports Event Management.
