KUALA LUMPUR—Felipe Marcelo clinched bronze in the Best Asian Rider category anew, 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines booked its best finish as the continent’s third-best team and the all-Filipino squad left a solid and potent mark in the 2018 Le Tour de Langkawi that ended with a decisive Stage 8 last Sunday.
Marcelo summoned all his strength when he saw a slight opening in the second of three climbs to wrest a podium finish, and his teammates responded with the will of a wounded warrior to snatch a head-turning result in the final stage of the 23rdedition of the race that started in Langkawi island and finished in this bustling Malaysian capital.
“I gave it all I’ve got, and I am thankful for the support the team gave me,” said the 28-year-old Marcelo, who will have to wait two weeks, though, before he could bring home his second bronze medal to his native Llanera in Nueva Ecija.
“All the hard work—myself and the team—have paid off. And, as if by destiny, the ‘miracle’ again happened on the final stage of the race,” added Felipe as the team could only savor the mini-victory overnight.
The team had to fly to Bangkok at noon on Monday where they will see action in the Tour of Thailand starting on April 1. That meant they would have to skip Lent at home.
Marcelo finished in a big bunch of 48 riders with teammates Rustom Lim and Arjay Peralta in the 141.10-km finale with the same time as “Mr. Langkawi” Italian Andrea Guardini, who captured his 24th stage win in three hours, 10 minutes and 25 seconds.
Marcelo clocked a total 32:09:12 over the 1,347.40-km eight-stage race to finish behind two WorldTour riders, Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Gidich (1:25 behind) and Bakhtiyar Kozhatayevi (three seconds behind) in the category.
“There was no letting up in this stage [eighth]. It was the only chance I had and I didn’t want to let it go away,” added Marcelo, who was fourth in the Best Asian Category after last Saturday’s Stage 8.
But with the two Kazakhs finishing 1-2 in the category, Rodriguez said the bronze felt like silver.
“Astana is a powerful team, and Marcelo finishing third is a major accomplishment,” Rodriguez said.
Just like in 2017, Marcelo had to labor in the final stage and with Rodriguez and co-team principal Engr. Bong Sual drawing a final-day plan focused on snatching a podium in the Best Asian Rider category, all went well for the team that was reduced to five on the final day.
Of the 130 starters, 61 were Asians. And of the 22 teams that included WorldTour squads Astana and Domension Data, 7-Eleven Cliqq Road Bike Philippines climbed three rungs to land 12th overall and one notch to be No. 3 among eight Asian squads.
“That accomplishment [third-best Asian team] also glitters because of the high level of competition here,” Rodriguez added.
The Filipinos, fifth here last year, finished some 36 minutes behind winner Astana and No. 2 Thailand Continental Cycling Team.
Felipe was 22nd in the general classification, some two and a half minutes behind winner Artem Overchkin, the Russian riding for Terrenganu Cycling Team—also the first continental team to win the GC in 23 years of the tour.
Lim wound up at 38th place, while Peralta was 68th, Bonjoe Martin at 69th and Dominic Perez at 83rd. Nineteen-year-old Daniel Ven Carino did not finish last Saturday because of exhaustion.
“The final GC didn’t matter when the smoke of battle cleared because we have accomplished our goal—to make the podium and improve in the Best Asian Team category,” said Rodriguez, whose squad was No. 5 in 2017.
Pro continental team Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia, Astana and Dimension Data were 1-2-3 in the team GC of the Southeast Asian region’s highest-ever road race—a UCI 2.1 Hors Category.