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[av_heading heading=’Morales rules Guimaras stage, gets near Ronda Pilipinas title’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Friday, March 3, 2017
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MANILA – Navy-Standard Insurance’s Jan Paul Morales moved closer to back-to-back Ronda Pilipinas titles after ruling the Individual Time Trial (ITT) Stage 12 on Thursday in the island province of Guimaras.
The 31-year-old Morales, who is aiming to become the first-ever to win the prestigious racing event twice in a row, finished the 40-kilometer (km) race on top with 1:05:42.
With the victory, Morales widened his lead in the overall championship race with an aggregate time of 38:31:38, nine minutes ahead of teammate Rudy Roque, who has 38:40:55.
“If I can hold on to the lead after the ITT in Guimaras, I think I’ll win it this year,” said the Calumpang, Marikina native. “I knew I’ll do [well] in the last two stages because I trained here for a month late last year.”
Trailing behind Morales in Stage 12 is teammate Jay Lampawog with 1:09:13, followed by Kinetix Lab-Army’s Marvin Tapic (1:09:13) and Mark Julius Bordeos (1:10:04), and Go for Gold’s Jonel Carcueva (1:10:17).
Despite falling short of a possible overall title, Roque said he is grateful to place second behind Morales and promise to help his teammate clinch the title, which comes with a P1 million cash prize.
“I always dream of becoming a champion of a race as big as this, but finishing second will be enough for me,” said Roque, whose best finish was a ninth-place effort in the inaugural stage six years ago.
After Guimaras, the race continues to the last two stages, with the 209-km Iloilo-Antique-Iloilo Stage 13 this morning and the Iloilo final stage criterium on Saturday./PN
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