Dennis Van Nickerk of EMG Cycling Team stayed within range of his closest pursuer throughout the final stage to rule the 2010 Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPGMA) Tour of Luzon Sunday at the Ayala Triangle.

The South African never left his eye on Canadian David Veilleux of Kelly Benefits Strategies who was trailing Nickalk by 11.2 seconds going into the 15-lap, 60-kilometer race in the heart of Makati City.

Nickerk, who grabbed the yellow jersey from Veilleux in Stage 8 held in Subic on Saturday, captured his first multi-stage race since riding competitively in 2004.

Nickerk finished third and checked in six seconds behind the leader of the stage won by his teammate Reynard Butler, who clocked one hour, 20 minutes and 47.01 seconds. Veilleux came in second for the days (5 seconds).

After nine days, Nickerk clocked 20 hours, 41 minutes and 36.31 seconds while Veilleux was second overall, 6.2 seconds behind the yellow jersey.

“We just controlled the pace from start to finish and protected the lead,” said the 25-year-old Johannesburg-born rider after getting a shot in the arm from teammates James Perry, Reynard Butler, Tylei Day and Loto Petrus.

James Perry, the EMG team captain, wound up third (3:20.07) after the nine-stage Tour supported by partylist group LPGMA, Geo Estate Beacon, American Vinyl, Smart, Liquigaz, Burlington, Energizer and Schick.

Baler Ravina of Liquigaz (3:27.77) led the fight for the homegrown riders after ending up fourth overall followed by American Vinyl's Irish Valenzuela (3:33.61), Santi Barnachea of Liquigaz (4:20.25), Smart's Tomas Martinez (5:28.71), Tagaytay's Jay Tolentino (5:34.88), Joel Calderon of Smart (6:46.56) and Reid Mumford of Kelly Benefits (7:55.58).

Valenzuela, the best Asian rider in the 2007 Tour of Thailand, was named Burlington Sprint King after accumulating 30 points to edge out Sherwin Carera of Liquigaz (29 points).