Tour de Cagayan kicks off May 10

MANILA, Philippines – A total purse of P1.3 million will be up for grabs in the Tour de Cagayan, a 746-km bicycle race covering the northeast side of Luzon which kicks off May 10 at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City.

An elite cast of 70 riders, who survived two pre-qualifying tournaments, will battle it out for top honors in the five-day bikefest organized by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) in cooperation with the Cycling Organizers Association of the Philippines (COAP).

The race will start in Pasig City, which hosts CEZA’s Metro Manila office, and pass through the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, and Isabela, before hitting the finish line on May 14 in Sta. Ana, Cagayan, where the 54,000-hectare Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport is located.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the father of Cagayan, will fire off the race at 7:30 a.m. together with Rizal Governor Jun Jun Ynares and CEZA chairman and CEO Jose Mari Ponce.

Chris Valenzona, spokesman of CEZA, said the tour is a part of the agency’s commitment to promote tourism in the Cagayan Valley region and help raise funds for CEZA’s social welfare development projects.