THIRD PINOY CHAMP

LINGAYEN—El Joshua Cariño of Mangaldan town has carved a legacy for his hometown and for Pangasinan by becoming the third Filipino to win the Le Tour de Filipinas, an international cycling event.

The 25-year-old Cariño ruled the 153.65-kilometer uphill Stage 4 from Lingayen to Baguio City via Kennon Road on May 23. The day before, Cariño topped Stage 3 and erected a 2-minute, 42-second lead going into the final lap.

Cariño posted a strong third-place finish to the City of Pines clocking 4:07:52, behind Stage 4 winner, Eritrean rider Metkel Eyob of Terengganu (Malaysia).

Eyob won the last stage in 4:05:52, but he fell short of wiping out Cariño’s overnight lead and lost in the overall ranking for the championship by 40 seconds.

Cariño is the third Filipino after Baler Ravina in 2012 and Mark Galedo in 2014 to claim victory in the Le Tour, which is sanctioned by the world governing body of cycling, Union Cycliste Internationale.

El Joshua and his brother, Daniel Ven, posted a historic 1-2 finish of siblings, followed by Merben Corpuz, a fellow Pangasinense from Umingan town, in third place.

Stage 3 started from Bambang in Nueva Vizcaya to Maramba Boulevard in Lingayen.

Erstwhile race leader, Ronald Oranza, another Pangasinense who hails from Villasis town, finished third in the final ranking. Oranza was earlier crowned as champion of Ronda Pilipinas, another prestigious bike race in the country.

About 80 riders under 16 squads, of which six are local teams, participated in this year’s Le Tour.  (PIO/ MGNO)

 

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