King of the road

BAGUIO CITY, Benguet — Not even the Eagle of the Mountain can stop a rampaging Russian bear in Nikita Shulchenko.

The all-around LCW UAE ace rider didn’t flinch when 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines climbing specialist Frenchman Antoine Huby attacked in the last 16 kilometers approaching the imposing lion’s head landmark here.

Huby completed a sweep of the three mountain-ending stages and conquered Stage 14 of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) Tour of Luzon 2026 on Wednesday.

But it was Shulchenko who won it all, wearing the yellow jersey from Stage 3 to the final stop.

Shulchenko came in second to Huby for a third time, but it was enough for him to secure the biggest prize of all as he claimed the individual general classification championship in the grueling 14-stage tour that travelled through 13 provinces with a total distance of 1,825.10 kilometers 

Crossing the finish line two minutes and 12 seconds behind Huby at the John Hay Hotels, where no less than Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino was present to wave the checkered flag, Shulchenko had sufficient time spare in his total GC clocking of 41 hours, 11 minutes and 10 seconds.

The 26-year-old Shulchenko beat Huby by one minute and 34 seconds for the yellow jersey in an exciting rush to the summit of the country’s summer capital in the race that rolled out in Lingayen provincial capitol in Pangasinan.

“It’s amazing for me, for the team. It’s a new experience and I’m very happy about this. Thank you guys and thank you to the fans. It’s so amazing,” said Shulchenko, whose victory served as an early present for his birthday on 31 May.

Shulchenko, who won the individual time trial in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte last week and had a total of five second place finishes, kept pace with Huby in the peloton in the Benguet ascent until breaking away in a four-rider lead pack along with Rustom Lim of MPTC Drive Hub and LCW UAE’s Yousef Ibrahiem Alrefai.

Huby then made his move as Shulchenko gave a gallant chase and left behind Lim and Alrefai for an exciting one-on-one climbing showdown.

“Yeah, it was very dangerous, but I have a gap,” Shulchenko said with a confident grin during the delayed post-race interview as he and Huby had to undergo random doping tests first.

Stage 1 winner 19-year-old Alrefai, who was named Best Young Rider, finished third in the individual GC, six minutes and 45 seconds behind his heralded teammate.