March 11, 2010 (Philippines) – David Veilleux (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies recently finished second overall at his first race of the season – the Tour of Luzon in the Philippines. The 8-stage race concluded on Sunday and Veilleux sent us a recap of stages 5-8 – click here to read his report on the first four stages.

Following a good start, my team and I have begun the second part of the Tour with the goal of keeping the yellow jersey for the general classification, which was at the time worn by my teammate Ryan Anderson (Can). Four of our team riders were placed well in the overall standings giving us an advantage.

Stage 5 – On stage 5, I found myself in a good breakaway with two of my teammates: Reid Mumford and Cheyne Hoag. The stage ended with a fairly steep ascent of approximately 2km. After 70km in the break with a temperature of 34 ° C, I was not able to follow the head of the race in the end. I therefore finished in 13th position, 1:54 from the winner, but with our overall lead, I moved to the second rank of the general classification, 6s behind Mumford.

Stage 6 – The next day, the stage 6 route included a few ascents, but the finish was on the flat. We decided to control the race to save us from having to follow many attacks. My teammates did a good job and the race ended without changes in the general classification.

Stage 7a – This was the Queen stage of the Tour. We had to make an out and back on a hilly regional road over a total distance of 154 km. Yet again, my teammates did an excellent job in taking the front of the race during the stage. This allowed Mumford and I to get ready to attack in the last 10km that included two ascents, with the second ending at the finish line. On the first one, I was not able to keep the same pace as the EMG rider, Dennis Von Nikalk, third in the general classification by 15s. However, Mumford and I were able to come back on him with the help of Ryan Anderson (Can).

After several attacks, I arrived with 500m to go with a trio composed of Mumford, Von Nikalk and I. Once again, the EMG rider was capable of dropping us towards the end. I finished third, but with the differences at the finish, I seized the overall by 16s over Dennis Von Nikalk.

Stage 7b – During the next stage, we had to complete 10 laps of a 10.5km circuit with a climb of 1km each time. After many attacks and repeated ascents, the race was played out on the last climb because the finish line was at the summit. As soon as the road started tilting up, Von Nikalk attacked. I wasn’t able to follow his aggressive acceleration, but once I settled into my own climbing pace, the gap between him and I remained constant all the way up to the finish. I completed the race at 16.2 seconds behind him, thus falling to second overall, 11.2 seconds down.

Stage 8 – To finish the tour, we raced a criterium of 60km in the streets of Manila. With 15, 10 and 5 bonus seconds granted to the first three riders crossing the finish line, it was still possible for me to take the yellow jersey. I waited until the last laps of the race to try and break away, but it was in vain. Whenever I went, Von Nikalk was still on my wheel. I also tried getting away in the sprint, but I wasn’t able to get a gap. I finished in 2nd position and I finally finished 2nd overall, 6.2 seconds behind the winner.

Despite the fact that I was so close to victory on the general classification, I am very satisfied with my race overall. This was very good training and I am pleased to see that I’m already in good physical shape. I returned home happy and already look forward to my next race, the Tour of Uruguay, at the end of March.

Results (brief)

Stage 5
1. Thomas Martinez (Phi) SMART 3:06:11
2. Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA) EMG South Africa 0:08
3. Arnel Quirimit (Phi) Liquigaz 0:38

13. David Veilleux (Can) Kelly Benefits Strategies 1:54

Stage 6
1. Irish Valenzuela (Phi) 3:39:03
2. Joel Calderon (Phi) SMART
3. Baler Ravina (Phi) Liquigaz 1:08

4. Ryan Anderson (Can) Kelly Benefits Strategies 1:30
15. David Veilleux (Can) Kelly Benefits Strategies 2:08

Stage 7
1. James Perry (RSA) EMG South Africa 4:05:04
2. Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA) 0:08
3. David Veilleux (Can) Kelly Benefits Strategies 0:13

Stage 8
1. Sherwin Carrera (Phi) 2:38:09
2. Irish Valenzuela (Phi) 0:01
3. Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA) 0:02

Final GC
1. Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA) 19:19:04
2. David Veilleux (Can) Kelly Benefits Strategies 0:08
3. James Perry (RSA) EMG South Africa 3:20