PEKAN, Malaysia—Rustom Lim and Ar-jay Peralta’s tremendous efforts may have gone for naught but not skipper Felipe Marcelo and the entire 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines team, as the Filipinos made noticeable strides in Stage Two of the 23rd Le Tour de Langkawi on Wednesday.
Langkawi first-timers Lim and Peralta jumped out of the peloton only 14 kilometers into the 183.80-km route from Dungun and towed four other riders to control the front of the race some 80 percent of the way, only to be swallowed by the peloton in the homestretch.
But the all-Filipino team ironically gained ground as Felipe strategically rode with the big guns and had Dominic Perez as company most of the way to reignite his bid in the general classification (GC) and Best Asian Rider classifications.
From 11th the other day, Felipe got his place back on the top 10 in the GC at No. 7 by completing the stage alongside Perez in the bunch finish won by Astana’s Italian rider Minali Riccardo in four hours, 10 minutes and 14 seconds.
“We raced according to plan,” said Felipe, the six-year 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines veteran whose strength in the climb was conserved for Stage Five on Thursday.
“It was more of a safe ride all the way and I was confident I could keep an eye on the GC guys because I had Dominic and Daniel [Ven Carino] with me all the way,” Felipe added.
Felipe was 1:27 behind Canada’s Adam De Vos (Rally Cycling) in the GC after the stage, again marred by a spill inside 4 kms to the finish. Lim and Peralta were part of the crash and missed out on a better finish in the GC.
“I praise Lim and Peralta for their effort—it was one long one. But for tomorrow [Thursday], it would be a different story,” 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines Sports Director Ric Rodriguez said.
The race goes up the mountains in Stage Five, a 169.40-km grind from Bentong to Cameron Highlands. Considered as Langkawi’s queen stage, the route features three sprints and two treacherous King of the Mountain summits—a Category 1 over 1,105 meters and a Hors Category over 1,430 meters.
“That’s where the action starts to get hotter,” said Rodriguez, who expects Felipe, a certified climber, to make another bold move as he targets two individual awards of the UCI 2.Hors Category event organized by Ciclista Sports with the full support of the Malaysia Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Felipe moved one notch up to third in the Best Asian Rider category, trailing Malaysia’s Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkiflie (Forca Amskins Racing) by 1:13 and Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Gidich (Astana) Lim by only one second.
7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines also made a significant stride in the race for the Best Asian Team category and tied powerhouse Astana, a WorldPro Tour team, in the lead. They stood 10 seconds ahead of Team Sapura Cycling.
The team also rose two rungs up in the team GC to No. 13, trailing Rally Cycling by 1:09.
The result may have been decided by a rampaging peloton in the final 25 km but for Lim and Peralta, the spotlight was on the two gritty Filipinos in another scorching day of racing.
Lim, Peralta and four other riders initiated an early breakaway and held on to the lead for as much as 5:20 in the 96-km mark.
The 2011 Asian juniors road champion, Lim also managed to win one of the three intermediate sprints and placed third in the sole KOM summit to start making a name for himself in the region’s top category race.
“I suddenly saw myself in front, so I stuck there and even went for the win,” said Lim, the team’s third climber after Felipe and Carino who was instructed by Rodriguez to be under complete rest for Thursday’s big climb.
Peralta had his day in the sun and like Lim, pedaled with all his strength until the peloton came charging in. “It was very tough and we tried to hold our own,” said the rider out of Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija.
Lim still rode like a ferocious tiger when the peloton closed in on the breakaway and maintained a 30-second lead for 2 kilometers before finally losing his bid.