Montemayor ends foreign dominance

It was the Filipino riders’ turn to flex their firepower on the road after Dave Montemayor of Go for Gold Philippines ruled Stage 3 of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) Tour of Luzon 2026 on Friday to end a two-day foreign invasion.

“I just got lucky, I guess,” the Meycauayan, Bulacan native said after topping the relatively flat run in the 145.97 race that rolled out from New Clark City in Tarlac and finished in front of the Palayan City Hall in Nueva Ecija.

Montemayor checked in with a time of three hours, 23 minutes and nine seconds in a bunch crossing, which included his teammate Marc Ryan Lago for a 1-2 finish.

“It was a difficult race because from Clark to Nueva Ecija, we tried to stay in front. Good thing we maintained our distance,” the former Army rider said.

Sumiso Basalan of Excellent Noodles landed in third with the same clocking as Montemayor and Lago.

Meanwhile, Russian Nikita Shulchenko of LCW UAE Cycling Team snatched the yellow jersey from teammate and Stage 1 winner Yousef Ibraheim Alrefai with an aggregate time of six hours, 59 minutes and 38 minutes.

Shulchenko, who finished fourth in Stage 3 with the same time as Montemayor, led second-running Alrefai by 49 seconds. Montemayor lagged two minutes and four seconds behind in far third.

Alrefai suffered a crash on the final climb in Laur town, about 20 kilometers from the finish.

“I was in the breakaway with Nikita and the support group car of 7-Eleven was in front. It was really hard to stop because it was too near,” said the 19-year-old Syrian, who sustained minor scratches on his left arm.

“Chasing after a crash was hard mentally and physically. Today wasn’t my day but I’m happy for Nikita,” Alrefai added.

The 24-year-old Montemayor was part of the early 12-man breakaway pack along with Lago, Basalan and Shulchenko. The group was trimmed to just nine after three cyclists faded, including the Team Pangasinan tandem of El Joshua Carno and Daniel Farinas.

Montemayor stayed with the lead pack before crossing the line first.

“This is my biggest win in road biking,” said Montemayor, who is originally a mountain bike specialist.

Finishing fifth to seventh in the individual classification were Seom Cha of Stage 2 team time trial winner Seoul Cycling Team, Antoine Huby of 7Eeleven and Dave Cangayao of Standard Insurance, who all crossed the line alongside Montemayor.

On the other hand, Go for Gold regained the lead in the team general classification with an overall time of 29:07:00.

Eleven seconds back was 7Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines while Standard Insurance was 45 seconds behind in third. Excellent Noodles, after taking pole in Stage 2, slipped to fourth, three minutes and 11 seconds behind Go for Gold.