Marcelo Felipe of 7Eleven Cliqq-Air21 by Roadbike Philippines edged El Joshua Carino of Navy-Standard Insurance to rule Stage Two even as Matrix Powertag Japan's Francisco Mancebo Perez kept the solo general classification lead in the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2019 that went around the scenic whole of Guimaras yesterday.
Felipe, who will turn 29 Sunday, outsprinted Carino in a mad dash to the finish as the two clocked identical times of two hours, 40 minutes and 19 seconds to claim the latter's very first Ronda stage victory.
Go for Gold's Jonel Carcueva checked in at third to complete the Filipinos' domination of the stage although Mancebo, a Tour de France veteran who made his presence felt with a dominating Stage One triumph the day before, and his Matrix squad successfully protected the symbolic LBC red leader's jersey.
The 42-year-old Mancebo intelligently stayed with his closest pursuers Ronald Oranza, the reigning Ronda king, and Jan Paul Morales, a two-time winner here, of Navy-Standard Insurance and Dominic Perez of 7Eleven in the peloton to stay on top with an aggregate clocking of 7:47:298.
Oranza was at No. 2 (3:52 behind), Perez at No. 3 (4:01) and Morales at No. 4 with (4:45).
Rounding up the top 10 were Matrix's Junya Sano (4:53), Korail Team Korea's Joo Daeyeong (4:58), 7Eleven's Irish Valenzuela (5:20), Army Bicycology's Mark Julius Bordeos (5:20), and 7Eleven's Rustom Lim (5:28).
Felipe's stage triumph catapulted him straight to the top 10 and 6:26 off the pace.
The stage triumph was made extra special by the fact that all three podium finishers were Filipinos.
"It makes me happy that three Filipinos finished in the top three," said Felipe in Filipino.
Like in the individual race, there was no changes in the team event as Matrix kept its stranglehold of the lead with a total clocking of 23:34:13, followed by 7Eleven (2:47 behind) and Navy-Standard Insurance (3:31).
The race, will resume Sunday with the 179.4-kilometer Iloilo-Roxas Stage Three.