Joo unshaken at the top as Cajucom triumphs again
CLARK, Pampanga—Ean Cajucom became the first double-lap winner of the MPTC Tour of Luzon on Sunday, and the 22-year-old from Marikina City is targeting a third straight stage win just to make a dent on the overall lead being held by South Korean ace Joo Dae-yeong.
“My goal is not just to join these races, but to win them as well,” said Cajucom in Filipino after topping Stage 4 in three hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds from Agoo in La Union to here, as Joo floated with the main peloton throughout the 168.76-kilometer lap to stay firmly in command.
Cajucom again arrived with a big bunch of riders at the finish, beating Mervin Corpuz of MPT Drive Hub and Go For Gold’s Aidan James Mendoza to the line to accomplish what his team set out to do at the start of the day.
“It was really part of the team’s plan to get [to] this stage. I wouldn’t be able to win this without the help of my teammates,” said Cajucom, who will go with the entire Victoria Sports Cycling Team to Europe after this eight-stage summer classic to take part in several races.
While Cajucom basked in the limelight for the second consecutive stage, Joo gamely fought to keep the yellow jersey for the third straight day.
The overall leader from Gapyeong Cycling Team, Joo kept a four-minute and 30-second lead ahead of second-placer Ronald Oranza of Standard Insurance Philippines, while Mendoza is 4:36 behind at third and Dominic Perez of MPT Drivehub stands at fourth, 4:43 back.
Comfortably in pack
Rounding out the top 10 in the individual general classification race are Corpuz at fifth (4:44), George Oconer (4:46), Rustom Lim (4:54), Jan Paul Morales (5:21), Malaysian Mohammad Faiz Fakhri Omar (5:27) and Junreck Carcueva (5:28).
The eight-man breakaway featuring Camingao, Carino, Jonel Carcueva and Morales, who recovered from a crash near the finish in Stage 1 in Paoay, was eaten up by the main group in the final 3 km, where the yellow-jersey holder sat comfortably and hardly mounted an attack.
