Bigger Ronda awaits 96 cyclists

MANILA, Philippines - Turning a potential logistical nightmare into a showcase of efficient delivery, LBC succeeded in staging the 12-lap, 1,600-kilometer, 18-day inaugural Ronda Pilipinas from Cagayan de Oro to Luneta without a hitch last year and the country’s No. 1 courier company is organizing an even bigger bikefest along the eastern seaboard this May.

LBC sports development executive director and senior vice president for marketing Javy Mantecon told The Star what’s in the works will bring 96 riders through 2,200 kilometers in 22 days starting with a team time trial in Sarangani on May 23.

Four international race commissaires are expected to oversee the grueling 16-stage grind that includes a 216-kilometer stretch from Tagum to Butuan in the third lap and a brutal 27.6-kilometer uphill climb in Baguio in the 13th lap. Cycling commissaires Martin Bruin of Holland, Jamal Mahmood of Malaysia, Henk Van der Linden of Holland and Michael Robb of Ireland are in the invited guest list. Bruin, Mahmood and Van der Linden witnessed last year’s event.

Mantecon said LBC CEO Santi Araneta and COO Dino Araneta are determined to make Ronda Pilipinas an annual sports tourism attraction. “At the moment, Ronda is strictly an all-Filipino affair,” said Mantecon. “Last year, we brought in three foreign commissaires to advise us on the conduct of the race, where we did wrong, where we did right and where we can improve for the future. We feel we’re not ready to invite foreign cyclists because we still need to develop our own riders. We’re not in a hurry. Our long-term goal is to qualify Filipinos for the Tour de France by 2020. Ronda is our breeding ground. We want to open the floodgates and expose our riders to tough conditions that will get them ready for competitions abroad.”

The top 30 individual finishers in last year’s Ronda are automatically seeded into the second edition which has a total pot prize of P7.4 million, including P1 million for the No. 1 rider and another P1 million for the No. 1 team. In the inaugural Ronda, Eastern Pangasinan’s Santi Barnachea took the top prize of P1 million and American Vinyl, the P1 million prize for the No. 1 team.

“This year’s Ronda will be a stiffer challenge,” said Mantecon. “We went through the western coastal highway before but now, we’re doing the eastern seaboard across the Philippine-Japan friendship highway through 40 municipalities and cities with 25 key cities as start and end points. Last year’s average coverage was 129 kilometers a day. This year, we’re doing 131 with more mileage, more days and more stages. We survived three storms and some routes with knee-deep water last year when we raced from September to October. Now, we’re regularizing the schedule in the summer from May to June but while we’ll be avoiding typhoons, the heat will be exhausting. We’re mobilizing an organizing team of 350, using 40 vehicles, including a 10-wheeler, and 50 motorcycles moving from lap to lap. We’ll provide a full-time ambulance on standby with a race doctor and paramedics. Host cities or towns will make available another ambulance. Ordinarily, this would be a logistical nightmare but not for LBC which is why we’re called ‘Hari Ng Padala’ – we specialize in logistics, handling and delivery anywhere in the world.”

Ronda race director Jack Yabut said to choose the cyclists for the May event, a qualifying competition was recently held in Tarlac where 185 hopefuls showed up to battle for 66 available slots.

“Last year, some doubters wondered whether we could pull off this ambitious project,” said Yabut. “But we did it. With our foreign consultants, we learned how to do things the proper way like a build, operate and transfer scheme. We’ve got 16 teams of six riders each. We charge a fee of P300,000 a team but that’s a bargain because throughout the race, we take care of food, accommodations and transportation. Then, if you win, the cash prizes are huge. We want to make it worth the effort of every rider to join.”