MANGATAREM, Pangasinan — Another uphill climb, another win for the French.
Antoine Huby of 7ELEVEN Roadbike Philippines conquered a 7.4-kilometer uphill climb for another solo finish at the MPTC Tour of Luzon Stage 12 Monday noon, mirroring his Stage 10 “Besang Pass” conquest last Saturday.
Posting a time of 3:17:37, Huby tanked the 141.4 km distance race that had the Eagle of the North as its neutral start and Lumboy Bridge in Agoo, La Union, as the actual start.
Featuring a scenic hill view, the Daang Kalikasan, Mangatarem View Deck here in Pangasinan, served as the finish line.
“Yeah, I told the team before the race I would win in the hard stage. Now I did it in stage 10; now I make it again in stage 12. Yeah, I'm so happy," said Huby.
Winning Stage 10 was a must for Huby, who isn't competitive in individual time trials (ITT) or sprints like Stage 11 on Tuesday in Lingayen.
“Tomorrow it's an ITT stage and I tell you it's really hard for me. I don't know; I'll do my best, but I don't know for the moment. We’ll see tomorrow. It's two stages; I go really full out, and I'm also tired. My legs were really spent today," said Huby.
"I just go with my hands until the finish line because my legs say you need to stop, but I just continue for my teammates. It was really hard before I came there. And I need to perform there for me, for the team and just myself.”
With a dominant showing, Huby created a 1:20 separation from second-place and yellow-jersey holder Nikita Sulchenko of LCW UAE Cycle, who clocked 3:18:57.
Local bet Erickson Delos Santos of D'Reyna Orion Cement completed the Stage 12 podium finishers with a time of 3:19:18 — 1:41 behind the leader.
Huby slashed Sulchenko's individual general classification lead entering the final two stages of the race.
Placing third and trailing Sulchenko by 3:54, Huby is now 2:30 behind, rising to second place and giving himself a shot at snatching the yellow jersey from the Russian leader who totaled 36:16:21.
With two stages to go, including the Lingayen to Baguio climb finisher on Wednesday, Huby could make a play for that coveted yellow jersey.
Meanwhile, occupying second place for most of the past 12 stages, Stage 1 winner Syrian Yousef Ibrahiem Alrefai of LCW UAE Cycle dropped to third place as he's now 4:29 behind the leader.
In the Stage 12 team classification, 7ELEVEN emerged as the fastest team with a combined time of 13:20:13, tightening its hold on the top spot in the overall team general classification with an aggregate of 144:25:51.
LCW UAE Cycle finished second in Stage 12 (+2:18) and Go for Gold Philippines placed third (+2:40).
In the general team classification, Go for Gold is running second, 5:00 behind 7ELEVEN and Standard Insurance Philippines is a distant third, 17:35 behind the leader.