Anisimov books second lap win through Stage Five photo finish
TUGUEGARAO 鈥 Call this Russian Ivan the great.
In a reprise of his Stage Four magnificence, Ivan Anisimov of LCW UAE claimed his second lap victory via photo finish in Sunday鈥檚 Stage Five of the MPTC Tour of Luzon.
It was like d茅j脿 vu from Saturday as the 23-year-old Moscow native rode like the wind and outsprinted 64 other rivals in a frantic dash to the line to register his second lap triumph after topping the Palayan-Bayombong Stage Four.
Like everyone else in that mass 64-man finish, Mr. Anisimov clocked two hours, 47 minutes and 26 seconds in the 130.6-kilometer (km) stage that unfurled in Santiago, Isabela and ended in the premier Cagayan Valley city.
Mr. Anisimov said he was shocked he won again.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 understand how I won Sunday, but it鈥檚 amazing for me,鈥 he said.
As for the scorching heat, which reached as high as 43掳C, Mr. Anisimov came in ready for everything.
鈥淚t was good, I had many ice and water,鈥 he said.
Excellent Noodles skipper Ryan Tugawin checked in at second while Seoul鈥檚 Lee Jung Hoon third.
Mr. Tugawin, for his part, said he kept his calm despite being elbowed by 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines鈥 Antoine Huby in that mad scramble approaching the balloon arc at the finish.
鈥淚 was just focused on trying to win the race,鈥 said the meek 36-year-old Mr. Tugawin, who was part of the 13-man breakaway group from the start only to get caught up by the peloton in Enrile town or around 20 km to the finish.
That pack also included another veteran in El Joshua Cari帽o of Pangasinan, who was hoping to win his eighth Stage Five lap triumph but fell short in the end.
鈥淯nknown to many, I already own seven Stage Seven wins and I was hoping for No. 8 today (Sunday),鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I was hoping I could win this one but it just wasn鈥檛 meant to be.鈥
After five grueling laps, LCW UAE鈥檚 Nikita Shulchenko remained unshakable at the helm with an aggregate clocking of 13:46:45, 4 seconds ahead of Syrian teammate Ibrahiem Alrefai and 2.04 minutes up over Go for Gold鈥檚 Dave Montemayor.
Mr. Shulchenko will wear the yellow jersey for the fourth straight stage in Monday鈥檚 relatively flat 228.8-km Stage Six starting at Tuguegarao and ending at Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte in what will be the longest lap in this 14-stage race presented by the Metro Pacific Tollways and backed by the Manuel V. Pangilinan group of companies and the Philippine Sports Commission.
Defending champion Joo Dae Yeong of Gapyeong remained stranded at 24th, 3.30 minutes off the pace.
Mr. Montemayor鈥檚 Go for Gold squad also kept its stranglehold of the overall team lead with a time of 56:15:28, 11 seconds faster than 7-Eleven and 50 ticks ahead of Standard Insurance. 鈥 Joey Villar
