Thursday, August 12, 2004 Rookie wears yellow By Jade S. Violeta Sun.Star Staff Reporter
AN upset marked the opening day of the Tour de Cebu 2004 after an unknown rookie rider from Pangasinan eclipsed the big names in Philippine cycling in yesterday’s Individual Time Trial Prologue at the Plaza Independencia.
Renato Sembrano taught his veteran rivals, including members of the dreaded Philippine Navy team, a lesson or two after he dominated the one-lap, three-kilometer initial grind.
The victory of Sembrano, who bested 50 rivals in the prologue, earned him the yellow jersey going into today’s Stage 1, a 101.7km race from Cebu City up north to Bogo.
Sembrano brushed aside the heavy traffic dotting the route as he finished the one-lap ITT in two minutes and 23.64 seconds to grab the early lead in the competition, which is organized by the Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines and the Philippine National Cycling Association.
Rizal bet Art dela Cruz came in at 12.57 seconds behind Sembrano to land at second with a clocking of 02:36.21.
Tabunok, Talisay City’s Allen Garcia secured third place, finishing 16.21 seconds behind Sembrano.
Bicol region’s Eusebio Quiñones settled for the fourth spot, trailing Sembrano by 17.53 seconds, while Philippine Navy’s John Ricafort rounded up the top five riders with a time of 02:42.95.
Ricafort’s Navy teammate, Reinhard Gorantes (02:47.40) landed sixth while Marjun Villarosa (02:48.77), Marcial Robosa (02:50.29), Jhun Omero (02:51.75) and Glenn Yap (02:52.00), joined him in the top 10.
The race’s bigger names were notably absent in yesterday’s competition, including ex-Tour de Cebu champion Bernardo Llentada, also a champion in the Marlboro Tour, and Calbarzon cycling king Santy Barnachea.
The riders’ first real test, however, lies in today’s northbound battle, which will traverse through Mandaue City, Consolacion, Lilo-an, Compostela, Danao City, Carmen, Catmon and Sogod.
The organizers in this year’s edition have decided to scrap the team event to set the racers’ focus on individual performance as the participants will try to earn points to qualify for next year’s Tour Pilipinas, officially known as the 2005 Golden Tour.
The Tour de Cebu 2004, a 502-kilometer grind divided into four stages in four days, is the kickoff leg of the 2005 Tour Pilipinas qualifying races to be followed by races in Tarlac, Davao, Isabela and Metro Manila.
The top 81 point-earners overall in the five legs will qualify for the Golden Tour, joining seeded riders and 2004 Tour Pilipinas top three finishers Rhyan Tanguilig, Enrique Domingo and Lloyd Reynante.
(August 12, 2004 issue) Write letter to the editor.Click here. Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here.
