Old champs back to rewrite tour history

While all eyes will be on Arnel Quirimit’s bid for a back-to-back title, Renato Dolosa will search for his own piece of history as laid back and as quietly as possible.

And in the midst of power pedal pushers, Carlo Guieb will set his sights on a notorious ascending race.

The two veteran cyclists will spearhead new squads Marsman-Drysdale and Metro Drug in the Air21 Tour Pilipinas 2004 and hope to corner their share of glory at the end of the lungbusting, 17-stage race.

Dolosa, skipper of Metro Drug, hopes to use his celebrated wile and guile in the hopes of gunning for a historic third Tour championship.

"Tignan natin kung may pagkakataon," said Dolosa, who won two Tour titles in 1992 and 1995 before the end of the old chapter of the annual summer spectacle.

In between that, Guieb made his mark in the sport’s history, winning back-to-back crowns in 1993 and 1994.

But now, Guieb is eyeing conquering the Baguio-to-Baguio lap, which is a race all on its own.

"Baka sakaling may ibubuga pa," humbly whispered the pride of Nueva Vizcaya.

Guieb, the skipper of Marsman-Drysdale in this race also sponsored by Isuzu Phils. Corp., Pharex Multivitamins, Gatorade, Red Bull, Lactovitale and Summit, will be backstopped by Alfie Catalan, Paolo Manapol, Darwin Marana, Art dela Cruz, Virgilio Buena and rookie Noel Rito.

Dolosa’s cerebral skills will come into play in this 2,758.69-km race as he hopes to come up with a strategy that will offset his opponents’ advantage in speed and power.

Helping him are his Metro Drug teammates Ronald Gorrantes, Manuel Mendoza, Reinhard Gorantes, Robert Villaber and rookies Alvin Benosa and Virgilio Quinta Jr.

The two teams will also eye the rich P1-million pot in the team classification, which is the biggest prize of the total P4.8 million Air21 and Tour Pilipinas chairman Bert Lina and wife and co-chairman Sylvia P. Lina have put up at stake.

"We will get to see how our veterans will fare against the young Turks who are ready to take over the cycling scene," said Lina of the subplot involving two of the revered icons of the sport.

"It’s hard to take them for granted considering the wealth of experience they bring to the race," echoed Lito Alvarez, Air21 president and tour organizer.

The other teams campaigning this year are Tanduay, Beer na Beer, Samsung, Dole, Mail and More, Purefoods, PLDT-NDD, BIR VAT Riders, DILG Patrol 117 and DOTC Postmen.

The cyclists will start off in Sorsogon, Sorsogon, and pedal northward and will make stops in 16 other key cities. They will traverse through 24 provinces in Luzon, covering a total distance of 2,758.69 kms.

The Tour will have stops in Naga City, Daet, Lucena, Tagaytay, Quezon City, Olongapo, Dagupan, Cabanatuan, Solano, Tuguegarao, Aparri, Laoag, Vigan, Baguio City and Tarlac City.