Joseph Javiniar ended Victoria Sports Pro Cycling Team’s Ean Cajucom stage streak win in two laps by taking Stage 5 of the MPTC Tour of Luzon in Clark on Monday.
Pulling away from the eight-cyclist lead pack in the final five kilometers of the 160.6-kilometer distance race, Javiniar of Excellent Noodles clocked 3:29:20 to win the stage.
From Clark, to the hills and valleys of Tarlac, to New Clark City, then back down to Clark, the reigning National Criterium champion maintained control as he joined the eight-man pack from the very start of the route.
He then bombed away full-speed in the final three kilometers to break away.
Finishing 42 seconds later were Jonel Carcueva of MPT DriveHub and Marc Ryan Lago of Go for Gold.
Earlier, Victoria Sports’ Ean Cajucom claimed back-to-back victories in Stages 3 and 4 with identical last-second sprinting strategies.
But South Korean Dae Yeong Joo of GC Crown, whose four-minute, 30-second lead all the way back from Stage 1, maintained hold of the individual lead over second-running Ronald Oranza of Standard Insurance.
