Fire and ice: Cool Cajucom snatches back-to-back Tour of Luzon legs as Go for Gold protests

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For the second straight stage in the 2025 Tour of Luzon, Victoria Sports' Ean Cajucom snakes past a hundred-man peloton to claim another razor-thin victory that Go for Gold is set to contest due to a possible last-second collision

NEW CLARK CITY, Philippines – Ice in his veins.

That was the pose, the mentality, and the personality of Victoria Sports Pro Cycling’s young phenom Ean Cajucom as he once again snuck past another solid eight-man lead pack to seize his second straight leg win at Stage 4 of the 2025 Tour of Luzon on Sunday, April 27.

The 22-year-old prospect from Marikina City conquered the 163.76-kilometer rally from Agoo, La Union through Tarlac to reach Filinvest Mimosa in New Clark City, Pampanga with a time of 3 hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds.

It was a mad dash yet again to the finish line, perhaps even too heated, as Go for Gold Philippines erupted in protest over Cajucom’s last-second maneuver: an alleged “cutting lane” move that caused Cajucom to slightly crash into eventual third-placer Aidan James Mendoza and seal their fates.

The team of commissaires, however, declared the result final and official, with Mervin Corpuz of MPT DriveHub completing the Stage 4 podium at second. Go for Gold, however, plans to file an official complaint whether or not the result is overturned.

“I’m glad that the weather and the plan of the team was nice. I’m thankful of my teammates who worked 100% in this stage, especially to the staff who have always taken care of us every day,” Cajucom said in Filipino.

“Group training helped us a lot and our coach who based it off sprinting,” continued the Stage 3 Vigan-Agoo leg winner, who was the designated sprinter in specific last-minute surge situations like the past two legs. “We were given a great training program and we just have to keep doing our best.”

After 99 cyclists shared the same finish time in Stage 3, 100 riders earned similar results this time in Clark as the peloton once again vaporized the 2-minute, 7-kilometer advantage of the lead pack as the path narrowed at Bamban, Tarlac to the busy town of Mabalacat, Pampanga.

This peloton merger proved advantageous once again for top individual general classification (GC) leader Dae Yeong Joo, who still holds a four-minute, 30-second overall lead after a very profitable Stage 1 in Paoay, Ilocos Norte that could turn to P500,000 if he keeps in step with the stage leaders.

Standard Insurance Philippines is still the gold standard meanwhile in the team GC, still with a 19-second lead over MPT DriveHub in the race to 1 million pesos.

Cyclists’ teams will get a respite from constant traveling as Stage 5 features a 152.92-kilometer tour of Pampanga, starting with around 80 km of hilly terrain before ending back in New Clark City. – Rappler.com