No, he’s no accidental hero. He’s no ordinary champion, either.
He was a man of destiny.
Tanguilig, 25, won the race against time, the elements, the best of the breed and most of all his own self on sheer desire and determination, crowning himself the worthy winner of the P4.7-million Air21 Tour Pilipinas 2004 yesterday before a a sea of cheering spectators at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta.
It came to pass that this Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya young man, who gave up a good-paying job as a computer technician to pursue a Tour dream, realized that very dream.
Lloyd Espiritu and Victor Espiritu raised the hand of Tanguilig, representing PLDT here, as they crossed the finish line together in the third group in the 91.2km criterium race on Roxas Blvd., signaling the formal ending of the eventual winner’s chase for the much-coveted Tour crown.
Marsman Drysdale’s Paolo Manapul ruled the criterium race and won the special prize of P50,000 put up by PLDT top honcho Manny Pangilinan.
The latest hero in a long parade of champions produced by the fabled bikathon received his trophy and the symbolic check for P200,000 from Sen. Noli de Castro. He was later flanked in the podium by Reynante, the first runner-up, and Albert Primero, third placer.
Reynante first ascended the podium as King of the Mountain and member of the Postmen champion team including skipper and Sprint King Enrique Domingo, Joseph Millanes, Gerardo Amar, Gary Apolinar, Desi Hardin and Leonardo Lingas. VAT rider Baler Ravina also gained podium honors as rookie of the year.
Believing only a chosen few are gifted with this trip to Tour wonderland, Tanguilig was all smiles and shared the championship with all his supporters, led by his personal manager, Aritao Mayor Ruben Sayo, at the end of the 21-day, 17-stage cycling spectacle sponsored by Red Bull as the official energy drink, Isuzu, Pharex, Summit, Lactovitale, Gatorade and Ely Magaway’s Elixir Bikeshop.
"Kung hindi dahil sa suporta ng mga taong ito, wala ako ngayon dito," said Tanguilig, making special mention of Sayo, who encouraged him to take the sport seriously.
"Dati fun rider lang ako. Pasama-sama lang ako sa club nila. Si mayor ang pumilit na pasukin ko ang sport dahil nakita niya maganda ang built ko. Nakita niya may potential ako," said Tanguilig, who became the third Novo Vizcayano to become Tour champion after Domingo Quilban in 1969 and Carlo Guieb in 1993-94.
With the handsome trophy beside him and the mock winner’s check of P200,000 on his lap, Tanguilig said there’s no more reason for him to regret abandoning a career in information technology as he has gained ultimate glory in the sport so dear to him.
"Maganda nga ang kita doon at nasa aircon ka pa pero sa bisikleta at sa ilalim ng init ng araw ka naman masaya, doon na ako kung saan ako masaya," he said.
He basked in glory under searing afternoon heat after preserving a lead of four minutes and 51 seconds over Reynante at the conclusion of the Tour he covered in 70 hours, 28 minutes and 59 seconds.
Labor Day was over yesterday but it seemed no rider bothered to buckle down to work with the Top 10 riders after the decisive Baguio-Baguio stage content in preserving their positions to the finish.
Finishing behind Tanguilig, Reynante and Primero were Joel Calderon, Lito Atilano, Ronald Gorantes, Domingo, Ravina, Santi Barnachea and Espiritu.
Sixty-seven of the starting field of 84 riders finished the Tour. Among the big names who did not finish were Guieb and Patrol 117 team captain Placido Valdez.
Curiously, Reynante emerged No. 1 in the money list with total earnings of P380,857, counting his share from the P1 million top prize in the team competition, P150,000 prize as second placer to Tanguilig, P50,000 prize as King of the Mountain and the rest for stage honors.
Others who went home with fat checks were Tanguilig, Domingo and Primero. Tanguilig totaled P268,000 .
for his P200,000 prize in the overall individual championship, share in PLDT’s P140,000 prize as 11th placer in the team competition, P25,000 special prize as winner of the Baguio-Baguio stage plus extra winnings as yellow jersey holder. Domingo, six-day holder of the yellow jersey and winner of the sprint competition, earned P225,857, while Primero, winner of two stages and a member of the third-placer Dole squad, pocketed P180,000. Tanguilig’s victory in the killer Baguio-Baguio stage proved to be his springboard to the championship although he had had an earlier decisive move in the Tour’s longest stage, from Aparri to Laoag, where he first stripped Domingo of the yellow jersey. He yielded the Tour leadership back to Domingo two stages later as he was slowed down by the flu in the Team Time Trial race from Laoag to Vigan and in the Vigan-Baguio climb. He also had his frustration in their stop in his province of Nueva Vizcaya where he failed to shake off then three-day leader Domingo in their climb to the Sierra Madre Range via Dalton Pass. "Doon ako nagsimulang magbisikleta noong 1997. Doon nagsimula ang lahat sa cycling career ko," said Tanguilig. There, Tanguilig’s skin turned bronze as he dreamt the dream that has come true.