Joven takes Ronda Pilipinas Stage 3

Cris Joven tops Stage 3

Cris Joven claimed Stage 3 of the 2018 edition of Ronda Pilipinas earlier today, beating out Ronnilan Quita of Go for Gold Developmental and Leonel Dimaano of Team Franzia at the Provincial Capitol of Tuguegarao.

Joven bucked the heat and distance to take the win with a time of five hours and 39.45 minutes, as he joined a breakaway group early on in the stage, then hung on and finally outprinted Quinta and Dimaano in the final stretch.

His effort was rewarded in the overall classification, as he moved up to seventh overall with his aggregate time of 10:32:53, putting him a little over seven minutes behind the leader. This after he started out last after the opening stage.

Talking to the media in Filipino after the win, the 30-year-old Tabaco, Albay native says, "I kept telling myself I will take Stage Three and I don’t want to go to sleep tonight disappointed." He also dedicated the victory to his superiors in the Philippine Army, in Brigadier General Roy Devisa and Col. Joh Divinagracia, as well as the team's sponsor Bicycology, a bike shop owned by Filipino sports legend Eric Buhain.

Ronald Oranza still gets to wear the LBC red jersey with his 13th place finish in Stage Three, clocking in at 5:40:28 to put his overall time at 10:25:39. His Navy-Standard Insurance teammate Archie Cardana is in second place, five minutes adrift.

Defending champion Jan Paul Morales finished fifth in Stage Three, allowing him to move up to third overall with 10:31:01.

Completing the top ten are following cyclists:

4th. Dimaano: 10:32:21
5th. Jay Lampawog (Go for Gold Developmental): 10:32:34
6th. Quita: 10:32:52
8th. Ronald Lomotos (Navy-Standard Insurance) 10:33:15
9th. Juan Carlos Barrios (CCN Superteam) 10:33:29
10th. Junrey Navarra (Navy-Standard Insurance) 10:33:30

Ertswhile runner-up George Oconer wilted in the longest stage of the tour, faltering to 25th place.

On tap for the cyclists tomorrow in Ronda Pilipinas is Stage 4, a 135.2km race from the Cagayan Provincial Capitol in Tuguegarao to the Municipal Hall of Echague, Isabela.

The tour is presented by LBC and supported by the MVP Sports Foundation, Filinvest, CCN, Petron, Versa.ph, 3Q Sports Event Management, Inc., Boy Kanin, Franzia, and Standard Insurance. One million pesos goes to the champion.