NAGA City—Australian Sean Whitfield let his young legs do the heavy work when it mattered most to win by a wheelin Stage Two of the Eight Le Tour de Filipinas that pedaled through unfamiliar territory in Albay and Camarines Sur on Sunday.
Whitfield booked his first stage victory in an International Cycling Union (UCI) race in the 177.35-kilometer stage of the event presented by Air21, clocking four hours, 19 minutes and 21 seconds—the same time registered by 25 other riders, including general classification (GC) leader Daniel Whitehouse of Great Britain.
LX Cycling Team’s Sanghong Park (Korea) finished second in the stage, followed by Spain’s Fernando Grualba (Kuwait Cartucho.Es) at third.
A year younger than Whitehouse at 21, Whitfield positioned himself well at the tip of the bunch as it passed the red kite that denotes the final kilometer to give Australian Club Oliver’s Real Food Racing its first stage victory since its Le Tour de Filipinas debut last year.
“Sprinting is a little bit my specialty,” said Whitfield, who also flashed potential climbing skills over the hills connecting Albay and Camarines Sur that offers a picturesque view of the Lagonoy Gulf. “I and my teammates made our attack in the final 10 kms but entering the final 300 meters, I went for the win and held on.”
Stage Two marked the first time in several decades that a Philippine cycling race passed through the seaside roads from Tiwi in Albay to Camarines Norte’s first municipality coming from the south, Sagnay.
“We raced already here, but that was a long time ago,” said Le Tour de Filipinas Race Manager Paquito Rivas, the 1997 Tour champion and the sole owner of the title Eagle of the Mountain. “But it was different then, the roads were not paved, but they still posed the same challenge.”
Like Stage One, Sunday’s race that started from the Sorsogon Bay Walk in Rompeolas offered another technical challenge for the 69 cyclists. The first 100 kms were on the flat roads of the towns of Castilla and Dagara and the cities of Legaspi and Tabaco. Unfortunately for the foreign riders who are in the country for the first time, Mayon Volcano was again heavily covered by rain clouds.
Kinan Cycling Team’s Jai Crawford (Australia) initiated a three-man breakaway and was solo the leader for more than 80 kms. He was first in the KOM but was a poor rider in the descent and was swallowed by the rampaging peloton in the final 30 kms.
And that’s where the teamwork—and sprinting—came to play.
Whitehouse made sure he would keep the yellow jersey for Monday’s 177.35-km Stage Three to Daet, Camarines Norte, and embedded himself with the lead to cross the finish with the same clocking as Whitfield.
Stage Two, Whitehouse said, was a tactical race and that his team, Terengganu Cycling Team of Malaysia, failed to put its strategy to work.
“We tried to control the race at the start to make a good breakaway, but Kinan made life hard for us,” Whitehouse said. “When we hit the coast [Tiwi and Sagnay] and the roads started to go up and down—the hardest part of race—the rain fell and the wind blew hard, breaking us apart.”
Whitehouse maintained his 1:57 GC lead over countryman Benjamin Hill of Ataque Team Gusto and 1:58 over Japanese Ryu Suzuki (Bridgestone) in the top 10 halfway through the race supported by Petron and UPS as principal sponsors and Philippine Airlines as official airline partner.
“Thankfully we kept the yellow jersey. It’s the main objective, and two more days? I’d like to take it one day at a time,” said Whitehouse, who was born in Manchester but has lived in Christchurch, New Zealand, since he was five.
Stage Two saw a mild change in the composition of the top 10 in the GC with Fernando Grualba (Spain, Kuwait Cartucho.Es) jumping from ninth to fourth (2:00 behind), Jai Crawford (Australia, Kinan) staying at fifth (2:00), Eiichi Hirai (Japan, Ukyo) improving from seventh to sixth (2:04), Nathan Earle (Australia, Ukyo) rising from 10th to seventh (2:04), Salvador Guardiola (Spain, Ukyo) dropping from fourth to eighth (2:04), 2015 champion Thomas Lebas (France, Kinan) being relegated from sixth to ninth (2:04) and Edgar Nohales Nieto (Spain, 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines) from eighth to 10th (2:04).
The Filipino riders fared poorly in Day Two. Mark Galedo, the winner in 2014, crossed the finish in Stage Two at 33rd place, 2:13 after Whitfield, to drop two spots down to 15th position with an 11:38 deficit to the leader.
Ruston Lim (7 Eleven Roadbike) was two ranks further at 17th in the GC while his teammate, Arjay Peralta was at 22nd spot. The Philippine National Team members could not get their rhythm and were further down the GC—Mervin Corpuz (38), George Oconer (39), Boots Ryan Cayubit (48), Jerry Aquino Jr. (62nd) and John Renee Mier (66th).
Mark Julius Bonzo, riding for Laos-based team CCN, was in 63rd place.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza