LPGMA-Am Vinyl riders shine in Tour de Jakarta

MANILA, Philippines - LPGMA-American Vinyl swept the individual and team honors of the 2012 Tour de Jakarta as Cris Joven ruled the 165-km criterium race in the streets of the Indonesian capital recently.

Joven clocked three hours, 31 minutes, 15 seconds as he beat a tough field of 96 veteran riders, including Indonesia’s Hari Fitrianto, the 2011 Southeast Asian Games road race gold medalist, who came in two seconds behind.

Patria Rastra of continental squad Colossi Miche checked in third, 12 seconds behind Joven in the Union Cycliste Internationale-sanctioned race.

Joven’s victory and the strong performances of teammates Rustom Lim, Irish Valenzuela and Ronnel Hualda installed the cycling club co-owned by LPGMA partylist representative Arnel Ty and cycling figure Eric Sy on top of the team general classification podium.

``We push ourselves to the limit in every race that we participate in, both local and foreign,’’ said Ty of his squad, which captured the team title in the four-day Le Tour de Filipinas, another UCI-organized bikathon, three months ago.

LPGMA-American Vinyl, a team committed to the program of developing athletes and tapping potentials in the provinces, reigned supreme in the one-day race over continental squads Colossi Miche, Uzbekistan Suren and Terengganu Cycling Team.

According to Ty, Joven was a product of LPGMA’s five-year sports program geared toward the discovery of talents nationwide. The rider from Iriga City was discovered as a promising 18-year-old back in 2009 and has been molded by LPGMA as one of the top cyclists in the country.

Lim finished sixth, 15 seconds back. Valenzuela, who placed second overall in the 15-stage Ronda that ended early last month, was 15th (1:25 behind) while Hualda arrived 18th (1:56) along with a large wave of riders.

Promising all-rounders Rudy Roque and Edmundo Nicolas completed the LPGMA-American Vinyl core coached by two-time Tour champion Rene Dolosa.

LPGMA-American Vinyl riders also bested other cyclists from Korea, Iran, Chinese Taipei and Japan during the 15-round, out-and-back race of 11 kilometers per loop.

“My riders possess the skill and talent to compete with the top cyclists in Asia,’’ said Dolosa. who steered the club to several team championships in the local Tour.

According to Dolosa, LPGMA-American Vinyl has a number of upcoming races overseas after organizers sent invites for them to compete in other multi-stage races in Brunei, Bali, East Java and Iran.

“Foreign races help Filipino riders build confidence and measure themselves against other veteran riders racing in the Asian Tour of the UCI,’’ said Dolosa.