Oranza solidifies Ronda lead at halfway point

Ronda reaches halfway point.

Ronald Oranza solidifies his hold on the symbolic red jersey, finishing in second in the sixth stage of the 2018 Ronda Pilipinas presented by LBC that concluded at the Provincial Capitol of Tarlac earlier today.

George Oconer of Go for Gold claimed the stage victory, clocking in at 2:37:04. He was "just happy" to claim the victory, which keeps him in eighth overall with an aggregate clocking of 20:31:22. He also becomes the second cyclist not from Navy-Standard Insurance to win a stage in this year's Ronda.

Oranza matched that time, keeping himself comfortably atop the overall classification at 20:17:12, with the tour reaching its halfway point. He did, however, hurt his knee and left thumb, as he figured in a crash in Camiling, Tarlac. The Navy-Standard Insurance cyclist was bumped by Go for Gold Developmental's Roel Quitoy, who then got hit by a marshal riding a motorcycle. He hopes that the injury would get better in the coming stages.

Defending champion Jan Paul Morales finished nine seconds off the pace, as he checked in alongside the peloton. He remains in second place with an aggregate time of 20:22:20, while tacking on additional points to strengthen his hold on the sprint lead, allowing him to wear the symbolic blue Petron jersey.

The rest of the top ten in the overall classification are as follows:

3rd. Ronald Lomotos (Navy-Standard Insurance): 20:26:09
4th. Jay Lampawog (Go for Gold Developmental): 20:28:25
5th. Cris Joven (Army-Bicycology): 20:28:48
6th. Ronnel Hualda (Go for Gold Developmental): 20:29:47
7th. John Mark Camingao (Navy-Standard Insurance): 20:29:53
9th. El Joshua Carino (Navy-Standard Insurance): 20:32:17
10th. Irish Valenzuela (CCN Superteam): 20:32:23

Valenzuela lost time due to a crash involving a big group of participants in the final stretch, suffering a bruised collarbone and a sprained left wrist.

Also suffering injuries in that crash were Marvin Tapic and Merculio Ramos, but both cyclists are good to continue.

With half of the Top 10 in the overall classification coming from Navy-Standard Insurance, they are atop the team classification rankings, toting an aggregate time of 81:23:35, almost a half an hour ahead of Go for Gold Developmental, which clocks in at 81:53:13. Army-Bicycology is in third with 82:10:37.

All eyes now center on the individual time trial tomorrow, starting at the Provincial Capitol and concludes at the Monasterio de Tarlac, located on top of a mountain in San Jose, Tarlac.

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 Sports, Lightwater, LBC Foundation and PhilCycling, staking a whopping P1 million to the champion.