Le Tour lures elite cast of riders

MANILA, Philippines - The cream of local cycling brace for a tough challenge from a crack international field, the scorching heat and the tough, demanding routes when the Le Tour de Filipinas hits the road from April 14-17 starting in Tuguegarao City in Cagayan Valley and ending in mountaintop Baguio City.

“It’s going to be a race to remember that’s for sure,” said Air21 chairman Alberto Lina, who was responsible from bringing the fabled cycling summer race to life exactly a decade ago, in yesterday’s event launch at the Manila Hotel.

Among those who attended the press conference were Tagaytay City Mayor and cycling chief Abraham Tolentino, MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino, Manila Hotel general manager Joey Lina and officials of the Department of Tourism and the Philippine National Police.

LPGMA/American Vinyl, coached by former many-time Tour champion Renato Dolosa and led by Irish Valenzuela and Chris Joven, spearheads the cast of Filipino riders out to get back at their foreign rivals, including champion Azad University of Iran, who dominated the event last year.

“We know they’re stronger and more experienced teams because they have international experience,” said Dolosa, who also won two local team championships as a coach, in Filipino. 

“But what we have is the heart and we’re familiar with the course and terrain and we’re used to these kind of weather,” he added.

Smart, Go21, Mail and More, KIA and Jinbei are the other local teams seeking to hit it big against a formidable foreign cast composed of Dutch Global Cycling Team of the Netherlands, Aisan Racing Team of Japan, CCN cycling team and RTS Racing Team/GiantKenda of Chinese Taipei, Suren Team of Uzbekistan, Terrengganu Cycling Team of Malaysia, OCBC of Singapore, TPT of Iran, Plan B of Australia and Colossi Miche of Indonesia.

The four-day race, the only bike tour in the country recognized and sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), will start with a pair of laps in the flatlands of Tuguegarao and Cauayan City, Isabela with Stage One being a 155.5-kilometer race and the other a 109.43km long Stage Two.

The ascent starts with the 102.52km Stage Three that would pass through hilly towns and cities of Nueva Vizcaya before ending in the province’s capital in Bayombong.

The final stage is a treacherous 133.83 km climb to Mt. Pulag, Luzon’s highest peak at 2,922 meters above sea level and considered as the backdoor to Baguio City.

“The Tour has actually passed by these provinces before but these routes are all new and never been used before so this is going to be a challenge to everyone,” said Gary Cayton, head of the organizing Dynamic Outsource Solutions, Inc.

The real challenge though is surviving the heat in the early stages since Tuguegarao is known to reach high temperature during the summer season and, in fact, recorded the hottest temperature in the country last year at 44-degrees centigrade.

“We welcome the Le Tour in our province of Cagayan and we wish our cyclists all the luck because it’s going to be hot this summer,” said Ariel Magno, speaking in behalf of Second District Cagayan province Congressman Juan Ponce Enrile, Jr.