Post by allegra on May 27, 2007 11:07:50 GMT 8
WTF?
Calderon wins as top cyclists stage 'protest'
By Musong R. Castillo
Inquirer
Last updated 00:16am (Mla time) 05/27/2007
CLARK FIELD, Pampanga, Philippines—There was nothing earth-shaking expected to happen in yesterday’s penultimate stage of the 2007 Tanduay Padyak Pinoy—until the riders took it upon themselves to put some “drama” into it all.
Caltex skipper Joel Calderon won the lap from Baguio to this former American military base which was shortened by some 24 kilometers as none of the big guns wanted to ride the full route and instead pedaled leisurely in a huge peloton all the way.
Most of the big guns, who felt there won’t be a major change in the overall standings anyway, refused to follow the original route that would have taken the entourage to here via Marcos Highway and Agoo town in La Union.
Instead of going straight after reaching a junction in Pugo town, the group wanted to make a left turn straight to Rosario town and cut 10 kilometers off the original route.
Race officials acted swiftly and declared the first 24 kilometers “null and void.” They then ordered a restart from Pugo.
Calderon and four others broke away with less than 20 kilometers to the finish, and won what became a 171-km trip in 4 hours, 1 minute and 20.19 seconds.
Bernard Luzon came in second, nearly 30 seconds behind, while Dante Cagas checked in third, 38.1 seconds adrift.
Calderon, from Guimba, Nueva Ecija, remained in eighth spot but now just 8:13 behind from over 11 minutes before the lap.
The top 16 riders in the standings kept their overnight placing as the 90 survivors practically pedaled as one until that Calderon breakaway.
Calderon later said he didn’t know about the “protest” the riders carried out. “What I heard was that some of the riders just wanted to take the left turn (in Pugo) and save some distance,” he added in Filipino.
Some of the riders reportedly wanted the slight change in the route because there wouldn’t be a shakeup in the standings anyway, with Victor Espiritu practically crowned champion after finishing fourth in the punishing Baguio-to-Baguio stage on Friday.
Espiritu kept his 29-second lead over Baler Ravina and is expected to just go through the formalities today in the final lap—an 80-km criterium race around the Rajah Sulaiman Park along Roxas Boulevard in Manila.
An initial investigation conducted by race officials pointed to Luzon, Merculio Ramos and Lloyd Reynante as instigators of the move.
“We simply cannot be held hostage by their demands,” race director Paquito Rivas, himself a former champion, later said. “It would have been a bad precedent. We must follow what the race manual says.”
Rivas pointed out that he and his group did not receive any request for a change in the route during the flag-off briefing in Baguio.
Another official said the riders, most especially those atop the leaderboard, may have connived to reduce the distance, make the lap easier, and prevent a shakeup.
Officials said the riders found guilty would be barred from all Philippine National Cycling Association-sanctioned events and dropped from the RP team if they are members of the national squad.
Calderon wins as top cyclists stage 'protest'
By Musong R. Castillo
Inquirer
Last updated 00:16am (Mla time) 05/27/2007
CLARK FIELD, Pampanga, Philippines—There was nothing earth-shaking expected to happen in yesterday’s penultimate stage of the 2007 Tanduay Padyak Pinoy—until the riders took it upon themselves to put some “drama” into it all.
Caltex skipper Joel Calderon won the lap from Baguio to this former American military base which was shortened by some 24 kilometers as none of the big guns wanted to ride the full route and instead pedaled leisurely in a huge peloton all the way.
Most of the big guns, who felt there won’t be a major change in the overall standings anyway, refused to follow the original route that would have taken the entourage to here via Marcos Highway and Agoo town in La Union.
Instead of going straight after reaching a junction in Pugo town, the group wanted to make a left turn straight to Rosario town and cut 10 kilometers off the original route.
Race officials acted swiftly and declared the first 24 kilometers “null and void.” They then ordered a restart from Pugo.
Calderon and four others broke away with less than 20 kilometers to the finish, and won what became a 171-km trip in 4 hours, 1 minute and 20.19 seconds.
Bernard Luzon came in second, nearly 30 seconds behind, while Dante Cagas checked in third, 38.1 seconds adrift.
Calderon, from Guimba, Nueva Ecija, remained in eighth spot but now just 8:13 behind from over 11 minutes before the lap.
The top 16 riders in the standings kept their overnight placing as the 90 survivors practically pedaled as one until that Calderon breakaway.
Calderon later said he didn’t know about the “protest” the riders carried out. “What I heard was that some of the riders just wanted to take the left turn (in Pugo) and save some distance,” he added in Filipino.
Some of the riders reportedly wanted the slight change in the route because there wouldn’t be a shakeup in the standings anyway, with Victor Espiritu practically crowned champion after finishing fourth in the punishing Baguio-to-Baguio stage on Friday.
Espiritu kept his 29-second lead over Baler Ravina and is expected to just go through the formalities today in the final lap—an 80-km criterium race around the Rajah Sulaiman Park along Roxas Boulevard in Manila.
An initial investigation conducted by race officials pointed to Luzon, Merculio Ramos and Lloyd Reynante as instigators of the move.
“We simply cannot be held hostage by their demands,” race director Paquito Rivas, himself a former champion, later said. “It would have been a bad precedent. We must follow what the race manual says.”
Rivas pointed out that he and his group did not receive any request for a change in the route during the flag-off briefing in Baguio.
Another official said the riders, most especially those atop the leaderboard, may have connived to reduce the distance, make the lap easier, and prevent a shakeup.
Officials said the riders found guilty would be barred from all Philippine National Cycling Association-sanctioned events and dropped from the RP team if they are members of the national squad.