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Joey Villar - The Philippine Star
April 29, 2025 | 12:00am
Excellent Noodles rider Joseph Javiniar pedals to solo victory in the 160-km Clark-to-Clark Stage 5 of the MPTC Tour of Luzon.
Jesse Bustos
CLARK, Pampanga, Philippines — From attending tables to winning cycling races.
That’s how Excellent Noodles skipper Joseph Javiniar transitioned six years after picking up the bike and, yesterday, claiming his first stage triumph in the MPTC Tour of Luzon: Great Revival here.
The 24-year-old Javiniar pulled off an amazing solo finish in Acacia Drive in Filinvest Mimosa, topping the 160.6-kilometer Clark-to-Clark Stage Five in three hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds.
Jonel Carcueva of MPT Drivehub and Marc Ryan Lago of Go for Gold took second and third, respectively, after they both checked in 42 seconds behind.
It was the first Tour lap triumph and second major feat for Javiniar after ruling the National Championship criterium race in Tagaytay early this year.
He used to be a waiter in his hometown in Pagsanjan, Laguna before finally deciding to go full time in cycling.
“I worked as a waiter in Pagsanjan before I focused on cycling,” said Javiniar, whose ambition was to become a policeman but wasn’t able to pursue it.
He now wants to carve a name in cycling. “All of us in cycling are dreaming to become champions, and I’m one of them,” he said.
It was a great show of force for Javiniar, who was part of the early 10-man breakaway group that was trimmed down to eight approaching the Sacobia bridge in Pampanga – or the first 7km mark.
When he saw an opportunity, he broke loose in the final 5km stretch inside Clark and was met by loud cheers from adoring fans, including a proud Excellent Noodles team owner Alex Billan, at the finish.
But for the fifth straight stage, there were no changes in the overall general classification race as South Korean Joo Dae Young of Gapyeong Cycling Team intelligently kept pace with his pursuers including the closest in Standard Insurance’s Ronald Oranza and finished in the 59-man peloton that checked in with identical times of 3:30:28.
After five grueling stages, the 29-year-old two-time Korean national champion, who seized the lead via his spectacular Stage One conquest in Paoay, Ilocos Norte Thursday, remained untouchable at the helm of the overall individual race with an aggregate time of 14:07:40.
He will continue to wear the yellow jersey in today’s 174.5km Stage Six where they will be flagged off here and finish in front of the provincial capital in Lingayen, Pangasinan, a cycling hotbed that produced Tour champs in the past.
Still four and a half minutes behind with a clocking of 14:12:10 was Oranza followed by Go for Gold’s Aidan James Mendoza (14:12:16), Exodus Army’s Dominic Perez (14:12:23), MPTD’s Mervin Corpuz (14:12:24), Standard’s George Oconer (14:12:26) and MPTD’s Rustom Lim (14:12:34).
