Morales claims Ronda Pilipinas Stage 4

Finish line of Stage 4 of Ronda Pilipinas

Jan Paul Morales continues his ascent towards history in the Ronda Pilipinas, as the two-time champion from Navy-Standard Insurance topped Tuguegarao-Isabela Stage 4 of the tour earlier today.

Morales beat out twelve other riders, led by current overall leader and teammate Ronald Oranza, George Oconer of Go for Gold and Ronnel Hualda of Go for Gold Developmental, in a mad dash to the finish, clocking in at three hours and 7.42 minutes.

With the stage victory, he moves up to second overall with an aggregate time of 13:38.22, five minutes and a second behind Oranza's 13:33:21.

Even if Morales' bid for a three-peat would be denied, the Villasis, Pangasinan native would not mind not winning, for as long as the winner is a teammate of his from Navy-Standard Insurance, he shares.

Completing the leaderboard after four Ronda Pilipinas stages are the following cyclists:

3rd. Jay Lampawog (Go for Gold Developmental) 13:40:16
4th. Cris Joven (Army-Bicycology) 13:40:57
5th. Ronald Lomotos (Navy-Standard Insurance) 13:40:57
6th. Irish Valenzuela (CCN Superteam) 13:41.22
7th. Hualda 13:41:34
8th. Jhon Mark Camingao (Navy-Standard Insurance) 13:42:50
9th. Rudy Roque (Navy-Standard Insurance) 13:42:44
10th. Leonel Dimaano (Team Franzia) 13:43:11

Ertswhile runner-up Archie Cardana struggled today, which eased him out of the top ten altogether.

Valenzuela was also in the winning pack today, which allowed the former Ronda champion to make the ascent into the top ten for the first time in the 2018 edition of the tour.

Navy-Standard Insurance's dominance today reflected in the team classification, as it raised its lead to 17 minutes, with its overall time of 54:26:06. Go for Gold Developmental and Army-Bicycology are second and third with 54:44:01 and 54:55:26, respectively.

The tour takes a one-day break tomorrow before resuming on March 8 with the 179.4 Stage Five from the Municipal Hall of Echague, Isabela to the City Hall of San Jose, Nueva Ecjia.

The 2018 edition of Ronda Pilipinas is presented by LBC and supported by MVP Sports Foundation, Filinvest, CCN, Petron, Versa.ph, 3Q Sports Event Management, Inc., Boy Kanin, Franzia, Standard Insurance, Bike Xtreme, SH+, Guerciotti, Prolite, Green Planet, Maynilad, NLEX Cycling, Lightwater, LBC Foundation and PhilCycling.