DEFENDING champion George Oconer entered the top 10 in the general classification with victory in Stage Four of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas on Sunday in Daet, Camarines Norte.
Jan Paul Morales did well to keep the GC lead, while Oconer moved to ninth in the individual standings.
Oconer, the Navy rider who started the day in 13th spot, finished the 179.8-kilometer stage in four hours, 10 minutes and 12 seconds, crossing the finish line at the Provincial Capitol in Daet ahead of Excellent Noodles’ Mervin Corpuz and Drey’s Arjay Peralta took the other podium spots with times of 4:10:12 and 4:10:14.
Jan Paul Morales was with the group just behind the podium finishers, retaining the red jersey with a total time of ahead of teammates Corpuz (9:42:57) and Ryan Tugawin (9:43:15).
Navy skipper Ronald Oranza is at No. 4 (9:44:42) followed by Excellent Noodles captain and two-time Ronda king Santy Barnachea (9:44:52).
Go for Gold’s Jonel Carcueva, Jericho Jay Lucero and Aidan Mendoza were the next three with 9:45:03, 9:45:10 and 9:45:15.
Oconer has a total time of 9:45:18, with Excellent Noodles’ Mar Francis Sudario in No. 10 in 9:45:39.
Ronda Pilipinas team standings
George Oconer moves from 13th to ninth.
There were no changes in the overall team standings with Excellent Noodles at 26:37:41 followed by Go for Gold (26:40:03) and Navy Standard Insurance (26:40:47).
Navy Standard Insurance also lost climber Junrey Navarra, who was taken out of the race in the Sorsogon-Legazpi Stage Three Satrurday after complaining of breathing problems.
“He (Navarra) is still recovering from tuberculosis and we asked him if he still wants to ride. He said he will,” said Navy coach Reinhard Gorrantes. “But we have already planned for a contingency because we knew this could happen.”
The 212.5km Stage Five is set on Monday from Daet to Lucena City. The race offers P3.5 million cash pot including P1 million to the champion courtesy of LBC Express, Inc., MVP Sports Foundation, Quad X, Smart, Twin Cycle Gear, Standard Insurance, Print2Go, Elves Bicycles, Elitewheels, Orome, Maynilad, PhilHydro, Garmin, Petron, Boy Kanin, Green Planet Bikeshop, Prolite, Fujiwara, Black Mamba Energy Drink, Lightwater, LBC Foundation, PhilCycling and the Games and Amusements Board.
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