Stage One, although like the rest of the stages will be on well-paved roads from Rizal Park to Batangas City, will be a gruelling 168.5-km show of speed and endurance among the riders.
But it will be in the 154-km second stage from Batangas City to Lucena where the riders, more than half of them rookies aiming to achieve the fame and glory their predecessors have gained, will have to contend with a climb that could very well be a mini-killer lap similar to that of the Tour trade mark, the Baguio-to-Baguio.
"Sa second stage malamang magkakatalo. Nandito ang isang matinding akyatan," said Paquito Rivas, the 1979 Tour champion and original Eagle of the Mountain and now president of the Professional Cycling Association of the Philippines (PCAP), which was taken in as race managers by Tour organizer Airfreight 2100, sole franchisee of Federal Express in the country.
Rivas, of course, was referring to Atimonan, Quezon, where the Tatlong Eme is situated. The Tatlong Eme, so called because the roads leading to and down the summit of the hill on Atimonan resemble three letter Ms, is classified as a Category 2 climb, something about 500 feet in elevation.
Stage Three of the 2002 Calabarzon Tour will be a short 81.5-km Team Time Trial stage. But it is in this stage where the 10 provincial teams are bound to make emphatic moves.