Corpuz takes strong stance for overall lead

(UPDATE) LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — For the second time this Tour of Luzon, Mervin Corpuz of MPT Drivehub made the podium after placing second in Stage 6 Clark to Lingayen route on Tuesday.

Corpuz finished behind Malaysian cyclist Muhammad Zain Wahhi of the Malaysian Pro Cycling Team who logged 3:31:12 to top the 163.76-kilometer race distance, which started from Sacobia Bridge in Mabalacat, Pampanga, near Clark and ended at the Pangasinan Capitol Complex here.

With Corpuz crossing the finish line within three seconds of Wahhi, he got to log the same time as the Malaysian.

That rule for a bunch or mass finish (cyclists arriving at the finish line in droves) is the reason why a total of 12 cyclists including Wahhi and Corpuz submitted the same time in Stage 6.

Rench Michael Bondoc of 7Eleven Roadbike Philippines is the official third placer in Stage 6.

While Corpuz hasn't won a lap in this tiff yet, the pride of Umingan, Pangasinan, put himself in a position to give yellow jersey bearer (overall leader) Joo Dae Yeong of South Korea's Gapyeong Cycling Team a run for his own money.

After winning the opening stage (Paoay to Paoay route), Joo maintained his more than four-minute gap from the rest of the pack until Stage 5.

That changed when Corpuz sliced that lead significantly after Stage 6 as Joo's cushion went down from 4:30 at the end of Stage 5 to just 1:56 heading to the penultimate stage of 8-lap race.

From fifth after Stage 5, Corpuz now enters Stage 7 as second to Joo with the said time gap.

In Stage 6, Joo finished 16th as he was 2:42 behind the leader for a total of 17:41:34. Jeremy Lizardo of Standard Insurance Philippines is 2:22 behind Joo for third overall.

With two stages left including the final lap that is an uphill climb from Lingayen to Baguio, Corpuz is confident that he has a realistic shot of overtaking Joo for the overall championship.

"I can really take him on in a neck and neck battle," said Corpuz, who hails from Umingan, Pangasinan.

"I'm observing how he moves, and as I said, if a machine can overheat, then a human can, too [he can slip, too]."

Corpuz, 27, said he has really worked on his climbing game, and he looks to top the uphill climb to Baguio which could be the telling stage in this Tour of Luzon, which carries "The Great Revival" theme.

"My target is the hardest route which is the uphill climb to Baguio," said Corpuz.

"My climbing is 100 percent, I really worked on it. Only the strong survive in the Baguio climb. The sprint is just a bonus, the most important thing is the climb. My goal is the championship, God-willing."

Over at the stage team classification, Victoria Sports Pro Cycling Team finished first with a time of 14:10:18 while 7Eleven (+6) is second and Go for Gold (+6) is third.

In the general team classification, Standard Insurance cyclists continue to lead with a combined time of 71:01:14 as MPT Drivehub (+32) is second and Go for Gold is third (+55).

The Tour continues with its penultimate stage — an individual time trial — on Wednesday from Lingayen to Labrador and then back to Lingayen.

Sweetening the pot

To give added motivation to the cyclists, Tour of Luzon's major sponsor has added more prize money for the winners of the race as it announced during the tournament's media and VIP night at The Hilton on Monday.

From the initial prize of P500,000, the individual general classification champ will now get to take home P1 million. Second placer will claim P500,000 from the initial P400,000 pot as third placer will get P350,000 from the initial P300,000.