Famed bike lifts 7Eleven to third

VIGAN, Ilocos Sur — The son of the Marlboro Tour’s uncrowned champion hit the road on board an aging bike owned by a former national team standout during the team trial Stage 2 of the Tour of Luzon that flagged off Friday in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.

Gilbert Valdez, riding for 7Eleven Cliqq, got the green light to use the canary yellow-colored bike of Mark Galedo, helping the squad bag third place honors behind lap winner Standard Insurance and second-placer Go For Gold.

The leg winner covered the 68.5-kilometer distance in one hour 22 minutes and 31 seconds.

Standard Insurance and 7Eleven both submitted times of 1:24.39.

Galedo, who presides over 7Eleven’s campaign in this eight-stage race that will cover over 1,000 kilometers by the time the event concludes in Baguio City next week, said the bike Valdez rode on saw action in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.

Now 39, Galedo won the Tour three times apart from being Southeast Asian Games champion as well.

“That’s the same bike that I used in the Asian Games. Still gets the job done,” Galedo said as his youthful crew of pedal pushers cooled down at Plaza Salcedo, right in the center of the city that is hailed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The best team sprinted away with the top cash prize of P70,000 while the second and third placers collected P40,000 and P30,000, respectively, as it came 24 hours after Korean entry Daeyoung Joo of Gapyeong Cycling Team ruled the initial stage in the Paoay-to-Paoay loop.