TUGUEGARAO CITY — Russian Ivan Anisimov of LCW UAE Cycle earned two stages win in a row after ruling the Tour of Luzon Stage 5 from Santiago City, Isabela to Tuguegarao, Cagayan on Sunday.
In a 65-cyclist bunch finish featuring a mostly flat, 126.7-km race distance, Anisimov clocked 2:47:26 from KM post 322, Ramon Town, Isabela to Tuguegarao City Hall.
The 23-old cyclist shared that he made his move in the final 200 meters near the Enrile Town Hall.
“In the last 500 meters, I followed a sprinter from the Seoul team and in the last 200 meters I started my attack and I won today,” said Anisimov.
“It’s amazing for me. I’m happy and thank you very much. I’m happy. Two stages win is very good for the team.”
Anisimov was hardly bothered by the wound on his left elbow he sustained from crashing in the last 25 km of Stage 4 on Saturday.
As long as he’s got good legs, he’s ready to go even cycling under 36 degree Celsius with a 42 heat index in Tuguegarao.
“It’s very hot today but for me it’s kind of good because in the first three stages, I didn’t have good legs but yesterday and today I did,” said Anisimov.
“It’s amazing I don’t know how we do it but Ibrahim is strong and Nikita is strong, a nice sprinter. So 14 (a 14-stage race) is good.”
Anisimov’s LCW Cycle continued its individual dominance nearing the halfway mark of the 14-stage race with a total of three stages won.
Syrian Yousef Ibrahiem Alrefai won the other stage which was the first one on April 29.
Alrefai finished eighth in stage five with identical time as Anisimov owing to the 3-second protocol where cyclists are awarded the same time as those ahead of them as long as they’re within a 3-second finish.
The "chain of identical time" breaks if one rider finishes beyond three seconds of the cyclist ahead of him.
Anisimov’s compatriot and another teammate Nikita Sulchenko retained the overall lead and the yellow jersey in the individual classification with a time same as Anisimov in Stage 5.
Through four individual stages, Sulchenko totaled the fastest time of 13:46:45. Alrefai is 49 seconds behind while the closest Filipino cyclist pursuer Emmanuel Montemayor runs third being 2:04 behind Sulchenko.
Meanwhile, local bet Ryan Tugawin of Excellent Noodles finished second to Anisimov in Stage 5 while Lee Jung Hoon of Seoul Cycling Team completed the top three.
Local teams have dominated the team general classification so far with Go for Gold leading the pack with a total of 56:15:28.
7-Eleven is 11 seconds behind while Standard Insurance Philippines concedes 50 seconds for third place.
