VINO 4ever Sko rider Oleg Zemlyakov overcame a mechanical trouble in the last 30 kilometers and did just enough in the final stretch of the decisive Stage 4 to crown himself the 2016 Le Tour de Filipinas individual general classification champion under a bright Sunday sunshine in Legazpi City.
Zemlyakov, 22, strategically kept himself with the peloton in the majority of the out-and-back 160.20-kilometer journey circling around the majestic Mayon Volcano, but he was made to sweat when he suffered a busted sprocket on the rear wheel and a malfunctioning break in Guinobatan town.
Good thing for Zemlyakov, their team officials, led by manager Sergey Danniker, quickly fixed those problems and he was able to rejoin the main group, which finished 11 seconds behind stage winner Australian TimothyGuy of Attaque Team Gusto, who checked in at three hours, 52 minutes and 50 seconds before a sizable Bicolano crowd at the Legazpi City Hall.
“[I’m the] champion!” proclaimed Zemlyakov as he threw his arms upward, basking in the glow of his first Tour victory in the four-day race presented by Air21 and organized by Ube Media Inc., headed by President Donna Lina.
Zemlyakov, who is bound to join Astana Pro Team, handled by 2012 London Olympics road-race champion and Kazakh icon Alexander Vinokourov next year, accumulated a total clocking of 17 hours, 36 minutes and 23 seconds, 19 ticks ahead of teammate Yevgeniy Gidich.
Mongolian Batmunkh Maral Erdene of Malaysia-based Terengganu Cycling Team completed the podium finishers as he supplanted Australian Jesse James Ewart of 7-Eleven/Sava RBP for the third spot, coming in one second faster with a 17:36:22 clocking.
Homegrown Marcelo Felipe, also of 7-Eleven/Sava RBP, emerged as the best Filipino finisher at fifth with an aggregated time of 17:37:45. PH national team member Rustom Lim also made it to the top 10, finishing ninth overall with a total clocking of 17:38:27.
Making it to the top 10 were Bridgestone’s Ryu Suzuki (sixth, 17:37:48), Team Ukyo’s Salvador Guardiola Tora (seventh, 17;37:48), Kinan Cycling Team’s Kenji Itami (eighth, 17:37:48) and Terengganu’s Suryadi Dadi (10th, 17:38:30).
While the local riders struggled to stamp their class in the only International Cycling Union (UCI) race in the country that has Petron, MVP Sports Foundation and Smart as principal sponsors, the foreign protagonists shone starting from the abbreviated Antipolo-Lucena opening stage all the way to the winding roads of Daet, Camarines Norte, until Legazpi City.
Foremost among them were the promising riders of Vino 4ever Sko, which also claimed the team general classification crown with a combined clocking of 52 hours, 53 minutes and two seconds. 7-Eleven/Sava RBP (52:58:18) and Terengganu (52:59:00) finished second and third, respectively.
Gidich, 19, delivered another title to Vino 4ever Sko as the Best Young Rider, while Team Kopiko Cebu Philippines’s Ronnel Hualda gave the local contingent some measure of pride as the King of the Mountain (Polka Dot Jersey) winner.
Most of the limelight, however, belonged to Zemlyakov, a climbing specialist who dominated the demanding Lucena-Daet trek in Stage 2 on the way to securing the coveted individual title that he failed to secure last year, when he finished fifth overall behind Frenchman Thomas Lebas of Japan-based Bridgestone Anchor.
Lebas, 30, finished 10 minutes and 25 seconds off Zemlyakov, enough for a distant 25th spot in the race, which has Cargohaus, NMM, UFL, Philippine Airlines, Collab Printing Solutions, Autonation, Orangefix and Phenom as major sponsors.
Danniker believes the dominant form displayed by Zemlyakov and his Vino 4ever Sko teammates should serve them in good stead as they brace for the five-day Tour of Taiwan that hits the road starting on March 6.
“This is a big win as we go to the big race in Taiwan,” said Danniker, pleased with how his wards thrived in hot and humid conditions in contrast to Kazakhstan’s usually subzero temperatures.
“It’s difficult to win because it’s very hot. In my country, it’s winter and [it’s] minus-20 degrees. But here its almost 30 [degrees Celsius]. It’s very difficult to compete and very tiring,” Danniker said.
Zemlyakov’s impressive showing in Stage 2, where he managed to build a considerable 10-minute gap from the majority of his rivals, enabled the Kazakhs to keep themselves in cruise control in the last two stages.
“Control the riders. Control the team gap. Keep the time in control,” were Vino 4ever Sko’s efficient game plans according to Danniker.
Image credits: NONIE REYES