Russian crowned Tour of Luzon champion as 14-stage spectacle ends

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – A last-ditch takeover attempt gave the 2026 Tour of Luzon a thrilling conclusion, but in the end, the rider who held the symbolic yellow jersey for most of the 14-stage spectacle came out triumphant.

Russian Nikita Shulchenko of LCW UAE Cycle captured the individual overall title and the champion’s purse of P1 million after weathering a tenacious challenge by Frenchman Antoine Huby of 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines in the Stage 14 finale at the Camp John Hay here on Wednesday, May 13.

Huby once again displayed his mastery of steep climbs as he ruled the 169.9-kilometer Stage 14 from Lingayen, Pangasinan, to Baguio City that featured an hors categorie (beyond categorization) ascent along Loakan Road but ultimately fell short in overcoming the 3-minute, 50-second lead Shulchenko built in the individual general classification (GC) after Stage 13. 

“It’s amazing for me, for the team. It’s a new experience. Very happy for this. Thank you guys, thank you fans. It’s so amazing,” said Shulchenko.

With a cumulative time of 41 hours, 11 minutes, and 10 seconds, Shulchenko protected the yellow jersey he held since Stage 3 with a gap of 1 minute and 34 seconds over Huby. 

In a bid to supplant Shulchenko from the top of the individual GC, Huby broke away from the peloton that included his Russian rival with 16 kilometers to go during the punishing ascent to the City of Pines and crossed the finish line first at 4 hours, 26 minutes, and 42 seconds, raising his hand in jubilation before wood-thumping fans.

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But the yellow jersey stayed with Shulchenko, who finished second to Huby 2 minutes and 12 seconds later.

“I want to overtake for the yellow jersey, of course, but it was too much this morning. I did my best. I don’t have regrets, but I’m just a bit sad,” said Huby.

Still, Huby claimed the green jersey for the individual points classification worth P300,000 and the polka dot jersey for the individual mountain classification worth P350,000. He also powered 7-Eleven to the team GC crown that netted them P2 million. 

“I think it’s a really great job for the team. I think everybody is happy now, we take the team classification, the victory today, the green jersey, the polka jersey. Yeah for sure, it’s not bad,” said Huby.

Syrian Ibrahim Alrefai gave LCW UAE Cycle a 1-3 finish in the individual GC at third. The 19-year-old also earned the white jersey given to the Best Young Rider of the Tour of Luzon.

A Filipino missed out on cracking the top three of the individual GC, with Nash Lim of MPT DriveHub ranking fourth, 2 minutes and 28 seconds behind Alrefai. 

Other Filipinos in the top 10 included Ronnilan Quita and Mervin Corpuz of 7-Eleven at fifth and seveth, respectively, Rustom Lim of MPT DriveHub at eighth, and Rench Michael Bondoc of Go For Gold Philippines at 10th.

“I tried everything, but that’s all I can do,” said Lim, one of the Philippines’ most promising cycling talents at 23 years old.

Korean Joo Dae Yeong of the Gapyeong Cycling Team, last year’s Tour of Luzon champion, mounted a solo breakaway early and then joined a five-man lead pack with 80 kilometers to go in Urdaneta, Pangasinan, in hopes of making a splash before his reign ended, but he faded in the second half of the race. 

Joo finished the stage second to last at 69th and placed 46th overall in the individual GC, 49 minutes and 1 second off Shulchenko’s pace.

“I wanted to try something. Doing nothing wouldn’t be really good for me. So I tried something to do. That’s why I did the first solo breakaway,” said Joo. 

“There were some stronger riders this year and we have different teammates. So it was not easy for me to race this year.” 

Powered by Antoine, Quita, and Corpuz, 7-Eleven ruled the team GC with a cumulative time of 162 hours, 25 minutes, and 49 seconds, beating out Go For Gold Philippines by 18 minutes and 27 seconds.

LCW UAE Cycle leapfrogged Standard Insurance Philippines for third. 

Rundown of races

In a preview of what was to come, Shulchenko placed second behind Alrefai in Stage 1 (Calatagan, Batangas to Tagaytay, Cavite), the two hand in hand as they crossed the finish line at the Praying Hands. 

The Seoul Cycling Team topped the team time trial Stage 2 from Clark, Pampanga, to New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, while Emmanuel Dave Montemayor of Go for Gold Philippines earned top honors in Stage 3 (New Clark City to Palayan City, Nueva Ecija), where Shulchenko finished fourth to wrest the yellow jersey from Alrefai. 

An LCW UAE Cycle rider bagged the next two races as Ivan Anisimov reigned in Stage 4 (Palayan City to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya) and Stage 5 (Santiago City, Isabela to Tuguegarao, Cagayan) before Korean Min Kyeong Ho of the Seoul Cycling Team denied the Russian a third straight stage victory by nailing Stage 6, which featured the longest route — a grueling 223.7-kilometer travel from Tuguegarao to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.

Shulchenko padded his lead in the individual GC by taking the individual time trial Stage 7 in Pagudpud, while Ryan Tugawin of the Excellent Noodles Cycling Team put a break on the foreign domination following his Stage 8 victory from Pagudpud to Paoay, Ilocos Norte.

Dane rider Daniel Guld of CCN Factory Racing clinched Stage 9 (Laoag City, Ilocos Norte to Candon City, Ilocos Sur) before Huby started making a serious case for the yellow jersey after taking Stage 10 (Candon City to Cervantes, Ilocos Sur) and Stage 12 (Agoo, La Union to Mangatarem, Pangasinan), where he also boosted his claim for the King of the Mountain title.

In between Huby’s Stage 10 and Stage 12 triumphs, Joo nailed his lone victory of the Tour of Luzon as he convincingly won Stage 11 from Candon City to San Juan, La Union.

Min then picked up his second stage victory after topping the individual time trial Stage 13 in Lingayen.

Overall, the Tour of Luzon crossed 13 regions and five provinces for a total distance of 1,825 kilometers. – Rappler.com