DAET, Camarines Norte—Seasoned by sub-zero conditions on the frigid Russian terrain, Oleg Zemlyakov had his way despite the Philippines’ pre-summer heat.
Zemlyakov, riding for Kazakhstan’s Vino 4Ever SKO, broke away from the lead pack in the final 5 kilometers and soloed it home to rule the second stage of the 2016 Le Tour de Filipinas Friday.
“I attacked when I got the chance,” the 22-year-old from Petropavl, Kazakhstan, said through interpreter and team manager Sergey Danniker.
Zemlyakov seized that opportunity in Talisay town, some 7 km from the finish, as he successfully peeled off from a 12-man lead pack.
Zemlyakov, last year’s best young rider and fifth overall finisher, raised his arms in delight as he crossed the finish line in five hours, eight minutes and 48 seconds after the scorching 204 km ride from Lucena City.
Yevgeny Gidich, Zemlyakov’s teammate, placed second and Australian Jesse James Ewart of 7-Eleven Sava Road Bike Philippines third, both 16 seconds behind the stage winner.
“We train in Russia where the weather is extremely cold,” said Danniker. “It’s difficult here with the heat and I’m happy that we’re able to finish on top.”
Zemlyakov also topped the day’s lone King of the Mountain challenge, a 2-km test of steep hairpin turns in Atimonan, Quezon, early in the race.
The runnerup in the Tour of Romania last year, Zemlyakov accumulated 10 points in the KOM, tying teammate Zhandos Bizhigitov, who beat all comers in two mountain challenges in Stage 1.
Barring any accident along Saturday’s relatively flat 185.79-km Stage 3 to Legaspi City, Zemlyakov is expected to keep the yellow jersey, the Tour’s symbol of leadership, for another day.
“We’ll try to protect the lead until [the tour’s end] Sunday,” said Danniker.
Overall, Zemlyakov leads Gidich by 19 seconds and Ewart by 22 in the four-day bikathon presented by Air21 and organized by Ube Media Inc.
Batmunkh Maral-Erdene of Terengganu placed fourth in the stage, 23 seconds behind, while Tora Lampawog of Team Ukyo, Felipe Marcelo of 7-Eleven Sava Road Bike, Kenji Itami of Kinan Cycling, Ryu Suzuki arrived fifth to eighth, in that order, all 1:25 back.
Suryadi Dadi of Bridgestone Anchor Cycling Team and Rustom Lim of the Philippine national team lay ninth and 10th, both 2:07 off Zemlyakov’s pace.
The 691-km test of bike endurance ends Sunday after an out-and-back course on the fringes of Mayon Volcano in Legaspi City.
source: sports.inquirer.net
