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Cycling: Ronda leader Rudy Roque banks on hometown cooking in Stage 3

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img figcaption="" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/sports/02/07/bike.jpg"/><div class="embed-desc">Rudy Roque, of Navy-Standard Insurance, will be back in familiar territory when Wednesday&#x27;s Stage 3 traverses his home province of Bataan. Photo courtesy of Ronda Pilipinas </div></figure></div>MANILA — If Rudy Roque wants to remain in first place in LBC Ronda Pilipinas, the next phase of the Luzon-wide cycling race will offer a familiar setting that could help him achieve that objective.The Navy-Standard Insurance rider returns to Bataan on Wednesday in Stage 3 that starts at the Angeles City municipal hall, traverses Roque&#x27;s home province and ends in Subic in Zambales.Roque, 25, took the solo lead after finishing 2nd in the first 2 stages in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, over the weekend, clocking an aggregate time of 5 hours, 3 minutes and 3 seconds, less than a minute ahead of Navy teammates Ronald Lomotos and Archie Cardana.Roque, of Tibo town in Bataan, said the next 3 stages will be critical to his campaign.&quot;If I&#x27;m still on top after those 3 stages, I think I&#x27;ll have a strong chance of winning here,&quot; said Roque, whose biggest finish came in the inaugural Ronda race 6 years ago when he placed 9th.In Stages 3 and 4, the 96-man field will need to negotiate the mountains of Morong, Bataan, site of the country&#x27;s only nuclear power plant.On Sunday, the cyclists will brave the 251-kilometer Stage 4 that will start in Lucena City and end in Pili, Camarines Sur. It will also include the dreaded mountain pass of Tatlong Eme in Atimonan, Quezon province.Go for Gold&#x27;s Ismael Grospe Jr. (5:05:31) is at No. 4, followed by Bike Extrme&#x27;s Jaybop Pagananwon (5:06:44) and Navy&#x27;s Jay Lampawog (5:06:56).Also expected to give Roque a fierce chase are last year&#x27;s Ronda winner Jan Paul Morales of Navy and Cris Joven of Kinetix Lab-Army.Morales made up for his subpar Stage 1 effort by reigning supreme in the Stage 2 criterium in Vigan to jump from No. 23 to No. 17. His time of 5:08:11 is a little more than 5 minutes off the pace.&quot;If I could eat up some minutes in the next few stages, then I will go for it,&quot; said Morales, who is seeking to become the first back-to-back Ronda winner. &quot;But (if) Rudy (Roque) remained there, I might as well support him and help him win.&quot;Joven (5:08:18) is at No. 18 and eager to close the gap.&quot;My goal is just to get closer to the top and see what happens,&quot; the 31-year-old native of Iriga, Camarines Sur, said.Rounding up the top 10 are Ilocos Sur&#x27;s Ryan Serapio (5:06:57), Go for Gold&#x27;s Jonel Carcueva (5:07:00), Quitoy (5:07:01) and Go for Gold&#x27;s Orlie Villanueva (5:07:07).Navy leads the team race with a total time of 20:17:32, a whopping 9 minutes ahead of Go for Gold (20:26:49) and Kinetix Lab Army (20:30:49).This race is staking P1 million to the champion courtesy of presentor LBC and in partnership with MVP Sports Foundation, Petron, Mitsubishi, Versa.ph, Partas, Maynilad, Standard Insurance, CCN, Bike Xtreme, NLEX, PhilCycling and 3Q Sports Event Management.(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com" target="_blank">Sports website.</a>)

If Rudy Roque wants to remain in first place in LBC Ronda Pilipinas, the next phase of the Luzon-wide cycling race will offer a familiar setting that could help him achieve his objective.

If Rudy Roque wants to remain in first place in LBC Ronda Pilipinas, the next phase of the Luzon-wide cycling race will offer a familiar setting that could help him achieve his objective.