Shulchenko stays ahead despite local riders’ alliances

Ryan Tugawin celebrates at the finish. —TOUR OF LUZON PHOTO

PAOAY, Ilocos Norte—Alliances among local riders were formed, and despite being under siege all lap long, Russian ace Nikita Shulchenko kept a tight grip on the overall lead in the MPTC Tour of Luzon after another smart and spirited ride in Stage 8 won by Ryan Tugawin.

The pacesetter for the past seven stages now, Shulchenko wheeled in in 49th spot, included in a big bunch that arrived just 16 seconds behind Tugawin in the 157.4-kilometer ride from the coastal town of Pagudpud to the front of the historical San Agustin Church here.

Shulchenko’s effort assured no changes in the top three, as he still leads teammate and protector Ibrahiem Alrefai by 1:38 and 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines’ Mervin Corpuz by 4:15 after the trio arrived together in the same group.

“I told my fellow Filipino riders that we have to help each other so that one of us would take the stage,” Tugawin, who clocked three hours, 16 minutes and 58 seconds for the win, said in Filipino after baring an alliance that was hatched in order to unseat the foreign aces at the top.

“We Filipinos need to win (stages), not just the foreigners,” he said after becoming just the second local bet after Go for Gold’s Dave Montemayor in Stage 3, to rule a lap.

Tugawin edged out Malaysia’s Ariff Danial Noor Roseidi and Go for Gold Philippines’ Marvin Mandac for lap honors, as the 36-year-old skipper of Excellent Noodles was able to break a streak of victories by foreign riders.

Tugawin heeded former champion Mark Galedo’s suggestion a day before the derby on wheels took a break on Wednesday regarding a united effort among local riders.

Mandac was one of those in the alliance on Thursday and with his help, Tugawin was able to stand on top of the podium after coming up short in Stage 5 when Shulchenko’s LCW UAE Cycle teammate Ivan Anisimov edged him at the finish in Tuguegarao.

There was a change in the bottom part of the top five, with British rider Tyler Hannay of local side Excellent Noodles and MPT DriveHub’s Nash Lim climbing to fourth and fifth, 4:34 and 4:42 back of Shulchenko, respectively.

Lagging in 19th spot despite the lap win, Tugawin hasn’t lost hope in the country’s top riders.

“I think the Filipino can still do it,” Tugawin said when asked if his stage triumph could provide some spark among the likes of Corpuz and Lim in the chase to snatch the yellow jersey from Shulchenko.

“There’s still a lot of difficult stages, like the tough climbs in Cervantes (Stage 10), Mangatarem (Stage 12) and Baguio (Stage 14). There will be plenty of changes,” he added.

But first, the remaining 76 riders will go through Friday’s Stage 9, which is a relatively flat route from Laoag to Candon, Ilocos Sur, covering a distance of 142.6 kilometers.

It will serve as a warmup to 10th stage where the riders travel from Candon to Cervantes, which will feature a climb beyond categorization in the final few kilometers.