Sports Eye
“How The West Was Won”
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr
IT WAS sunny Sunday last November 29 and the Bugallon town fiesta celebration proceeded smoothly, from the street dancing event to the bicycle road race which were the main highlights of the festivity. The 170.8 kilometers cycling road saga which I directed was very successful because no accidents happened. My big thanks to God and to Mama Mary.
There were 52 contestants participated in by superstars in Philippine cycling led by three former Tour champions spearheaded by 2012 Le Tour de Filipinas winner Baler Ravina of Asingan, Tour of Luzon and Ronda Pilipinas king John Mark Galedo of Makati City and 2009 titlist Joel Calderon of Guimba, Nueva Ecija. Surprisingly, fresh from his partaking in the 2015 World Cycling Championship held last October in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A., a young fellow from our province named Dominic Perez of Sto. Tomas town outdistanced the pack , outsprinting his co-breakaway partner and former Asian Cycling Championship bronze medalist Rustom Lim in the last 350 meters to bag the P15,000 top prize.
The starting gun was fired by the sports-minded Bugallon chief executive Jumel Anthony Espino, accompanied by the town’s municipal administrator Amado Aquino. It was a controlled pace up to six kilometers until I officially flagged them off at Barangay Magtaking of the host town. The ‘ big guns’ quickly tried to breakaway several times after the ‘neutral zone’ but they were not successful. It was only at the Suasalito climb after Sual town when the main peloton slowly but surely started to dwindle with Lim topping the summit line worth P6,000 with Perez and three others at his back. When the main pack caught up with the five at the winding Sual national highway led by the three ex-champions, former national member and Ronda Pilipinas runner-up Ronald Oranza of Villasis spurted ahead to tow Lim for about 23 kilometers. But the chase group composed of 10 fortunately caught up with the duo along the Bolinao main road on their return to Bani town.
As I expected, several escape tries and counter-attacks were done again by the pack of 12 led by the three champions along the 28-kilometer Bani-Mabini stretch via barangay Banganoda in Agno but to no avail. Two more joined the main group when Ronilan Quita of Camiling, Tarlac and national member Mark Julius Bonzo of Sual and son of the late 1983 Marlboro Tour winner Romeo Bonzo caught up and rode with the pack all the way to the outskirt of Alaminos City.
Sensing that their co-elite riders were beginning to tire, Perez, 21, and Lim, 22, engineered their last breakaway attempt and never looked back all the way to the end with Perez at the helm to the delight of the large throng at the finish line. The two were mobbed and joined by an ecstatic crowd to the awarding ceremony. Ravina outsprinted the second group to land second worth P7,000 while Lim finished third bringing home P10,000. Galedo landed fourth for P5,000 and Calderon good for P4,000. The top three received trophies and the fourth to tenth finishers collected medal apiece. The four-and-a-half-hour account pedal-by-pedal road battle was aired live over Aksyon Radyo Pangasinan spearheaded by Violy Valdez Ferrer.
That’s “How The West Was Won” by an eastern Pangasinan man Perez. My big thanks to our governor Amado T. Espino, Jr., his two sons Mayor Jumel and Pangasinan Liga Federation President Amado “Pogi” Espino, III for supporting the event. Mabuhay po kayo mga leaders ng ating lalawigan and keep up the good work.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. JAMES 1: 17
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