Mountainous stage thwarts Goh’s title bid

SINGAPORE — The OCBC Singapore Cycling Team’s bid to put a Singaporean rider on the podium on the UCI (International Cycling Union) Asia Tour will have to wait after Goh Choon Huat finished 16th in the final stage of Le Tour de Filipinas, and dropped to 11th in General Classification (GC).

The 23-year-old started yesterday with the yellow jersey on his back, with team-mate Eric Sheppard three minutes adrift in second place.

But with the 132.7km Stage 4 from Bayombong to Baguio City presenting a tough challenge with its hilly route and climbs of up to 3,000m, Goh’s lead looked hard to defend against teams with experienced climbers.

And so it proved, with CCN’s Laos rider Ariya Phounsavath reaching the finish line a clear minute ahead of Mark John Galedo of Team 7-Eleven from the Philippines. Iranian team Tabriz Shahrdari Ranking, known for their mountain climbing prowess, placed four of their five cyclists in the top ten, including third place for Alireza Asgharzadeh.

OCBC Singapore’s best rider was Sheppard who finished fourth, although the result was good enough for the Australian to claim second place on GC for the Republic’s only professional cycling outfit.

The overall win went to Filipino Galedo, the individual time trial gold medallist at last December’s South-east Asian Games, who had started the day in third place.

Commenting on the result, team principal of the OCBC Singapore Pro Team Daniel Loy said: “While the final result was disappointing as we had hoped to come away with the overall win, we’re buoyed by the team’s performance for the entire four days ... We’re proud of what Eric and Choon Huat have achieved in this tour ... we have cemented the fact we are a serious team and deserve to be respected.”

Speaking to TODAY, Goh said he had hoped to pull off a surprise win, adding: “I will have to continue striving hard and hope the win will come soon.”

The team’s next assignment is the Melaka Governor’s Cup on Sunday where Goh, Sheppard, Low Ji Wen, Ho Jun Rong and Jang Chanjae will hope to better last year’s result when Loh Sea Keong and Thomas Rabou finished second and third in the one day circuit race. PHILIP GOH