Roque wins as race heads to Cebu

LPGMA-American Vinyl’s Rudy Roque ruled the third stage of the Ronda Pilipinas 2013 by finishing first in the 137.8-kilometer race from Pagadian to Iligan City.

Meanwhile, three-time champion Santy Barnachea of Philippine Navy held on to the overall lead as the race enters a pair of punishing mountain legs in Cebu starting Thursday.

Despite placing 66th yesterday,  Barnachea remained the leader in the overall individual classification as he accumulated a total time of nine hours, 54 minutes and 19 seconds.

Roque is now at third in the overall individual standings with a time of 9:57.13 while Tomas Martinez of Tarlac is at second with a time of 9:56.20.

Roque, who also  bagged the best young rider plum for the second straight stage, clocked three hours, 17 minutes and 51 seconds to win yesterday’s race.

Ronald Oranza of PLDT-Spyder crossed the finish line in 3:18.03 to finish second while Cebuano Warren Davadilia of Y101-Cebu, Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance’s Daniel Asto and Kenneth Solis of Hundred Islands Pangasinan placed second to fifth, respectively.

Roque’s victory pulled American Vinyl to the top spot in the overall team standings with a time of 9:55.41 followed by PLDT Spyder and Y101 FM Cebu (9:55.53).

After yesterday’s race, the Ronda traveled right away to Cagayan de Oro, where the entourage boarded a boat bound for Cebu City.

Stage 4 is a 134.2-km loop in Cebu City made challenging by three mid-level climbs on Jan. 17 after a two-day respite.  The fourth leg starts at Plaza Independencia en route to Toledo City and back.

The fifth leg will take riders from the Lapu-Lapu City Hall to Liloan, Danao, Carmen, Catmon, Sogod, Tabuelan, Tuburan, Asturias, Balamban and end in Busay for a total of 156.8 kilometers. /With reports from the Inquirer