Photo: Tour of Luzon

By Nate Castillo

SAN JUAN, La Union --- South Korean Dae Yong Joo ruled the sprint Stage 11 of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) Tour of Luzon 2026 that ended in front of the town hall here on Sunday.

Joo, who has worn the polka dot jersey (best climber) from Stage 4 to Stage 9 before losing it on the punishing Bessang Pass finish in Stage 10, rebounded with his first stage win after clocking in three hours, 19 minutes and 16 seconds.

The last edition’s overall individual champion took the lead in the 151.7-kilometer race that took off in front of the Candon City Arena in Ilocos Sur in the last 60 kilometers, sprinting his way ahead of the peloton and keeping his distance until the end.

A six-rider bunch that included 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines star Mervin Corpuz, Standard Insurance’s Ronald Oranza and Pangasinan’s Dominic Perez broke away from the peloton to chase Joo, who kept his pace to stave off his chasers.

“Many riders behind me tried to attack in the closing stage. They broke away from the main peloton but I tried hard to win the stage,” Joo said.

National Team Malaysia’s Sniy Syahmi Mohd Safiee finished second after crossing 11 seconds behind Joo while Perez ended in third, 12 seconds back from the stage winner.

Oranza was in fourth with the same time as Perez along with Go for Gold’s Aidan Mendoza, Corpuz and Excellent Noodles’ Jospeh Javiniar.

Corpuz bagged a hefty $600 (around P35,000) reward for claiming the Candon City Bypass Road Circuit King as the first rider out of the six-lap circuit of the stage.

Meanwhile, Nikita Shulchenko of LCW UAE kept his yellow jersey despite finishing the stage in 52nd place, behind by three minutes and 30 seconds.

The Russian rider, who started holding the top spot in the individual general classification since Stage 3, has now accumulated a 32:57:30 clocking.

Back by three minutes and 41 seconds in second place was his teammate Yousef Ibrahiem Alrefai while Frenchman and Stage 10 winner Antoine Huby of 7-Eleven remained in third with three minutes and 54 seconds deficit.

In the team general classification, 7-Eleven maintained its lead with a total time of 131:05:38 for a two-minute, 20-second gap over Go for Gold.

Standard Insurance dropped 13 minutes and 12 seconds back in third place.

Monday’s 141.4-kilometer Stage 12 will roll out in front of the Eagle of the North landmark in Agoo, La Union and will conclude in a Category 2 climb in Daang Kalikasan View Deck in Mangatarem, Pangasinan.