Photo: MPTC Tour of Luzon

PAGUDPUD, Ilocos Norte --- Yellow jersey-holder Nikita Shulchenko recorded the fastest time in the individual time trial Stage 7 of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) Tour of Luzon 2026 on Tuesday here.

Shulchenko, who rolled out last in the 77-rider field, dislodged early leader Stage 6 winner South Korean Kyeong Ho Min, who slipped to third place.

LCW UAE’s Yousef Ibrahiem Alrefai finished second, 49 seconds slower than his teammate, while Min spent most of the competition in the hotseat but ended a minute and 26 seconds behind at the conclusion of the run.

Shulchenko’s first stage win also extended his clearance from his nearest pursuer in the individual general classification.

The 26-year-old Shulchenko clocked in an aggregate time of 19:31:20 to keep his hold of the yellow jersey for a fifth straight day as the 14-stage race takes a break on Wednesday before rolling out again for the final half of the competition the following day.

He extended his gap from second-running Alrefai by one minute and 38 seconds while Filipino bet Mervin Corpuz of 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines moved up to third, four minutes and 15 seconds behind.

Dave Montemayor of Go for Gold was pulled down to 11^th a full six minutes back of Shulchenko after staying in the third spot in the previous four stages.

Go for Gold remained untouched on top of the team general classification with a total time of 77:13:38.

The squad steered a minute and one second clear of Standard Insurance while 7-Eleven was in far third, two minutes and 48 seconds back.