Local rider wins a stage, but Russian ace is new overall leader
PALAYAN CITY, NUEVA ECIJA—Filipino riders made their moves in Stage 3 of the MPTC Tour of Luzon, with Go for Gold Philippines’ Dave Montemayor crossing the line first in a sprint to the finish in this city on Labor Day.
That, however, wasn’t enough to see a local bet wear the symbolic yellow jersey in this derby on wheels, with Russian Nikita Shulchenko taking the overall lead from LCW UAE Cycle teammate Ibrahiem Alrefai.
Shulchenko was part of a nine-man group that fought to a bunch finish won by Montemayor, eventually placing fourth in the 140.1-kilometer lap that began in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.
A total time of six hours, 59 minutes and 38 seconds placed Shulchenko ahead of Alrefai, who encountered an accident while in the peloton, by 49 seconds and over Montemayor by 2:04, with Excellent Noodles’ Sumiso Basalan (+2:09) and 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines’ Mervin Corpuz (+2:15) rounding out the top five.
He placed second in the Calatagan-Tagaytay opening lap after allowing Alrefai to finish first as the duo pulled away in the final phase of the stage.
At least, Montemayor had a piece of the spotlight after the biggest win of his career.
“From the last 300 meters, I just gave it a try,” the 24-year-old Montemayor said in Filipino as he crossed the finish line in 3:23:09.
Montemayor took up the sport recreationally in his hometown of Meycauyan, Bulacan, before becoming a competitive rider in 2019 and earning a reputation for his expertise in mountain biking.
He eventually delved into road racing three years later, and last year’s Tour of Luzon’s eight-stage revival saw him place 18th overall.
Friday would see Montemayor produce a win he described as “unexpected,” after joining an initial breakaway group of 12 riders before that was reduced to nine right before the KOM stage that ended in the town of Laur.
The lead pack had Shulchenko, Corpuz, Marc Ryan Lago, Basalan, 7-Eleven’s French pedalist Antoine Huby and his teammate Ronnilan Quita.
“It was a difficult ride, good thing we were able to maintain our gap,” said Montemayor, describing how the gap between the lead pack and the peloton was reduced from over a minute to about 40 seconds at one point in the race.
“We just went with the flow, but there was no strategy between [the lead pack] or any plan for me to win the race,” he said.
Lago placed second, followed by Basalan for a place on the podium at third.
