JERRY Aquino Jr. won a bunched sprint finish in Stage Three to take the overall lead in the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 10th anniversary race on Tuesday in Naga City.
The 27-year-old Scratch It rider was joined on the podium by Go for Gold skipper Ronnel Hualda and Bicycology-Army’s Dominic Perez, clocking two hours, 47 minutes and 12 seconds along with the main pack in the 119-kilometer ride from Legazpi.
Aquino notched his first-ever stage victory, taking the lead in a stage rage for the first time.
“It was always my dream to wear the leader’s jersey so it was really a dream come true,” said Aquino.
Aquino, whose father Jerry Sr. was a veteran of the fabled Marlboro Tour, will wear the red jersey in Wednesday’s grueling 206-km Stage Four from Daet, Camarines Norte to Lucena, the longest race in the 10-stage event presented by LBC and backed by the MVP Sports Foundation.
Aquino gained a 10-second time bonus to take the lead with a total time of 9:43:39 from Mark Julius Bordeos of Bicycology-Army (9:43:46).
Standard’s George Oconer stayed in third with a time of 9:43:52, followed by Rustom Lim (9:43:52), Mark Galedo (9:43:59), Aidan James Mendoza (9:44:05), Marcelo Felipe (9:44:08), Mervin Corpuz (9:44:08), Alvin Benosa of Celeste Cycles Phl Dev Pro Team (9:44:09) and Jester Neli Mendoza of Bicycology (9:44:13).
7Eleven held on to the top spot in the team standings with a 36:08:59 aggregate, while Navy-Standard was in second at 36:11:30, followed by Bicycology at 36:11:39.
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