Thunder, Pistons up 2-0: Danish rider rules Stage 9; Schulchenko keeps lead

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur — It isn’t over until it’s over, as the saying goes.

Danish rider Daniel Guld made a spirited sprint to the finish line, attacking in the last 100 meters to beat Filipino bet Benidict Soriano for a dramatic Stage 9 victory in the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) Tour of Luzon 2026 on Friday.

The CCN Factory Racing star overtook Soriano on the uphill turn to the checkered flag in front of the Candon City Arena here for the club’s first podium win in the 14-stage bikefest.

Guld crossed the line in front of a seven-man bunch finish in three hours, 13 minutes and two seconds in the 137.6-kilometer race that started in Laoag City in Ilocos Norte.

“It was super hot today, it was hot in the breakaway,” Guld said of the condition of the race as temperatures hit 36 degrees Celsius.

He was with the seven-rider lead pack that built a near four-minute lead over the peloton. It was a grueling pace to maintain with the bunch that stayed competitive until the final climb to the finish line.

“Sometimes we didn’t want to take turns, so I had to push extra hard to make it to the finish line,” Guld said.

Soriano of Pangasinan Cycling Team actually looked poised to win the stage as he built a few meters of distance on the uphill climb.

But the Dane spoiled a potential third stage win for a Filipino rider by overtaking the local bet on his right side to the finish.

The 25-year-old Guld felt he could get the win approaching the final stretch, as small uphill climbs are one of his strengths.

“I like the small uphill like these; it’s something I’m used to. The small climbs like these on a hot day, I love that,” he said.

Soriano settled for second, missing the chance to claim the stage win after Excellent Noodles’ Ryan Tugawin conquered Stage 8 on Thursday. Soriano’s teammate Daniel Farinas completed the podium cast.

They finished with the same time as Guld alongside Ronnilan Quita of 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines, Sumiso Basalan of Excellent Noodles, Marc Lago of Go for Gold and Rrking Roque of MPTC Drivehub.

It was a frustrating run for Quita, who was in the lead until missing a right turn in the 700 meters to the finish with Basalan, Lago and Roque, costing him a trip to the podium.

“I got lost in the last one-kilometer. I didn’t notice the right turn, so I went straight,” Quita said.

“It was painful (squandering a chance to win) but it’s OK, I’ll still have a chance in the next stages,” he said.

For the seventh straight day, Nikita Schulchenko retained his hold of the yellow jersey with an aggregate time of 26:01:59 in the individual general classification.

He stayed a minute and 38 seconds ahead of teammate Yousef Ibrahiem Alrefai while 7-Eleven’s Mervin Corpuz and Quita were in third and fourth with the clocking of 4:15 and 4:19 back, respectively.

Go for Gold was unmovable on top of the team general classification with a total time of 103:15:35 for a minute and 40 seconds ahead of Standard Insurance.

Three minutes and four seconds behind in third place was 7-Eleven after nine stages.

Stage 10 on Saturday is a challenging 124.2-km race from Candon City Arena to the leg power-testing Hors climb at the Bessang Pass Natural Monument in the town of Cervantes.