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Thursday, April 22, 2004
Domingo snatches Tour lead
PANGASINAN’S Enrique Domingo successfully defended his turf after the Postmen skipper wrested the yellow jersey in the Air21 Tour Pilipinas 2004 after yesterday’s 247.6-kilometer Olongapo-Dagupan via Zambales race.
Although the 35-year-old Domingo believes grabbing the yellow jersey in the sixth of 17 stages was too early in the race, he was nevertheless happy he secured the top spot on the same day his flu-stricken and ill-fated provincemate, defending champion
Arnel Quirimit, made his strongest showing yet.
But by the time the race reached the narrow, salt farm-guarded roads of Dasol, Pangasinan’s first town by way of the 247-kilometer route, things changed.
Too early
“Ang aga pa masyado para kunin ang dilaw. Talagang mahirap kasi pag suot mo yun dahil lahat nakatutok sa iyo. Pero siyempre, masarap manalo sa harap ng kababayan mo,” said Domingo, a San Carlos native whose family now lives near the finish line here. (It’s too early to take the yellow jersey because everyone will be going after you. But it’s also good to win before your home crowd.)
Domingo finished the Olongapo-to-Dagupan stage in five hours, 52 minutes and 52 seconds. He was a minute and 14 seconds behind stage winner Oscar Fronda of Nail and More, who took loans just to be able to compete in this race also sponsored by Isuzu, Pharex multivitamins, Gatorade, Summit and Red Bull.
Bonus points
The veteran sprint specialist now has a total time of 30 hours, one minute and 33 seconds, 12 seconds better than Purefoods’s Eusebio Quiñones in the overall race.
Quiñones, who was tied with Domingo at seven seconds off pace before the start of the race, actually finished just three seconds behind his national squad teammate with a stage time of 5:52:55.
But Domingo’s bonuses in the sprint races came into play.
On the other hand, Quirimit, his back-to-back bid scuttled by a heavy bout with flu, came up with his best performance as he finished with a group of riders that wheeled into the finish in five hours, 52 minutes and 11 seconds.
After conceding the overall lead, Quirimit’s faith in himself was renewed by the sight of fans that lined the sun-toasted, open highways and greeted him with flattering posters.
Team standings
The 29-year-old Tanduay skipper is still at 38th overall, 37 minutes and 23 seconds behind the overall lead.
In the race for the P1 million team prize, the Postmen, despite finishing fourth in yesterday’s stage, still hold the lead with a total time of 90 hours, six minutes and 25 seconds, 23 minutes in front of Beer na Beer’s 90:30:07. JSV
(April 22, 2004 issue)
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