Foreign bets dominate Le Tour opener

APARRI, Philippines — The visiting teams are off to a scorching start as CCN Cycling Team’s Ki Suk Lee grabbed the yellow jersey while Douglas Repacholi of Perth Cycling Team and Iranagh Ghader Mizbani of TPT claimed the second and third positions respectively in the 183-kilometer Opening Stage of the 4th Le Tour de Filipinas despite the strong downpour of rain throughout most of the course.

The 20-year-old South Korean Lee who rides for the Taiwanese side asserted himself midway in the race as he dominated three of the four sprints of the leg and outran the Australian Repaholi in the homestretch to clock in at 4:35:42 Saturday afternoon in this northernmost town of Luzon island.

“I am not good with uphill climbs so I started to attack in the flatlands,” said Lee who is currently ranked 107th in the Asian Circuit.

Heavy favorites Tabriz Petrochem, on the other hand, lived up to its billing as they reigned in the team category with Mizbani finishing just two seconds behind the leaders and teammates Hossein Askari, Saeid Safazadeh and Amir Kolahdoz Hagh occupying the fourth to sixth spots respectively.

Unable to take advantage of home turf

Local bets meanwhile were not able to utilize their “homecourt advantage” as no Filipino barged into the top 10 with Lloyd Reynante of Philippine Team Standard Insurance finished 14th and Ronnel Hualda behind at 15th.

It was a compact first few kilometers for the racers as the route snaked through the cliff-side roads of Pagudpud town in Ilocos Norte but a group of more than 10 riders broke away as they approached the uphill climb to Cagayan Province with Perth Cycling Team’s Tom Hamilton copping the King of the Mountain plum 27 kilometers into the race.

It was a wet and slippery affair in the next kilometers as torrential rains pounded the bikers from Km. 60 in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan all the way to Pamplona town in the same province.

Slow-starting Ravina unfazed

Reigning titlist Baler Ravina also had a bad day in this first leg as he only managed to finish in 22nd spot, after lagging just behind the lead pack for most of the race but he is not fazed in his hopes of a title defense with more than 400 kilometers left before the decision in Baguio City.

“This is just the start of the race, the foreigners just got away this time. It is still doable,” said the 31-year-old Pangasinan native known for his knack of acing the mountain stages in his past races.

The second leg of Le Tour will cover the 196-kilometer of mostly flatlands between Aparri and Cauayan City in Isabela on Sunday. – Rappler.com