SO YOUNG, SO GOOD: Victoria Sports’ star sprinter strikes anew, rules Stage 4

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — It’s probably starting to dawn on Ean Cajucom of Victoria Sports Pro Cycling Team that forgetting about becoming an astronaut is the right thing to do.

The Marikina sprinter posted back-to-back stage wins on Sunday after reigning supreme in Stage 4 of the Tour of Luzon that got going in Agoo, La Union.

Cajucom arrived at the finish line at Filinvest Mimosa here tagging along the pack that was made up of the bulk of the 108-strong contingent in three hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds.

Second place went to Mervin Corpuz of MPT Drive Hub and third was Aidan James Mendoza of Go For Gold.

Wanting to be an astronaut when he was a kid, Cajucom admitted that taking up cycling is beginning to pay off.

“Yes, I think I made the right decision to become a full-time cyclist instead of trying to become an astronaut,” said the 22-year-old Cajucom, who boasts of high-grade European training and topnotch nutritional guidance from the squad’s contacts in Spain.

A bunch of eight riders, including Jan Paul Morales of Standard Insurance-Navy and Rustom Lim of MPT Drive Hub, then made their move after reaching Urdaneta in Pangasinan but the main peloton got caught up again somewhere in the historic town of Capas, Tarlac.

This paved the way for a mad rush to the finish line where a throng of cycling enthusiasts sheltered underneath the area’s leafy surroundings awaited their arrival.

Still, Cajucom’s latest conquest didn’t change the landscape of the overall general classification as Korean Joo Daeyoung of Gapyeong Cycling Team, who ruled Stage 1 in Paoay in Ilocos Norte last Thursday, continues to wear the yellow jersey.

Joo (10:37.12) leads over Ronald Oranza of Standard Insurance-Navy (+4:30), Mendoza (+4:36), Dominic Perez of Exodus Army (+4:43) and Corpuz (+4:44). Cajucom (+5:31) is at 12th spot.

Powerhouse Standard Insurance (42:49.24) stays on top in the team general classification followed by MPT Drive Hub (+0:00.19), Exodus Army (+0:00.54), Go For Gold (+0:00.55) and Malaysia Pro Cycling (+0:01.37).

Stage 5 will be a 152.92-kilometer job from Clark to Clark with the provinces of Pampanga and Tarlac becoming venues for the cyclists’ road worthiness as they all compete for the individual prize of P500,000 and the top team purse of P1 million.

Being presented by MPTC with Duckworld Ph as organizer of the race’s reincarnation after a six-year absence owing to Covid, this year’s Tour drew the participation of 119 riders from 17 teams, including four overseas entries.

Stage 6 will be 163.76-kilometer ride from here to Lingayen in Pangasinan and Stage 7 will be a 15.2-kilometer individual time trial from Lingayen to the neighboring fishing town of Labrador also in Pangasinan.

The grand finale — where the coveted King of the Mountain plum will be contested — will be from Lingayen to Baguio City on Thursday covering 177.54 kilometers.

The route will bring the race to the towns of Bugallon, San Clemente, Mangatarem, San Carlos, Villasis, Urdaneta and Binanlonan in Pangasinan and a part of La Union before the punishing push up to the City of Pines.