SEAG winners duel looms in Ronda Pilipinas

MANILA, Philippines -- A pair of reigning Southeast Asian Games gold medalists, two former champions and a slew of foreign riders spread from 17 countries are beefing up the Ronda Pilipinas 2014 slated Feb. 1 to Feb. 16 starting at the Quezon City Circle, threading through Luzon and ending in Marikina City.

Laos' Ariya Phounsavath hopes to carry the momentum of his gold medal victory in the road race of last December's Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar as he leads Thailand-based Infinite-Singha Cycling Team, which replaced the Uzbekistan national team after the latter begged off in the last minute.

Phounsavath, who is actually half French, will get to face off with another SEAG golden boy in Mark Galedo, the Ronda Pilipinas second edition winner who copped the gold in the 50-kilometer individual time trial and a bronze in the team road race to make the 14-stage, 16-day race a little more interesting.

Galedo, who topped the all-Filipino Ronda Pilipinas two years ago, will spearhead a 7-Eleven team managed by Bong Sual, coached by former ace sprinter Ericson Obosa and composed of Baler Ravina, Cris Joven, Edmundo Nicolas, Ryan Cayubit and Mark Julius Bordeos.

Irish Valenzuela, who came through with the ride of his life to reign supreme last year, and ageless Santy Barnachea, Ronda's inaugural winner, are also out to challenge for the crown and become the first two-time winner as they represent Team Phl Army and Navy Standard Insurance, respectively.

A youthful PLDT-Maynilad squad comprising of under-23 riders Ronald Oranza, Rustom Lim, Junrey Navarro, Mark Bonzo, Ronald Lomotos and Joshua Carino and coached by American Chris Allison and three more local teams, Team CycleLine Butuan Mindanao, Roadbike Phl and Team Cebu-Kalit Phl Air Force are out to make a big impression.

But it will not be easy for the Filipinos as seven foreign squads, including Dutch Global Cycling Team of The Netherlands, should make life difficult for the local cyclists gunning for the distinction as the first winner of the international edition of the annual race sponsored by MVP Sports Foundation, PLDT, Maynilad, NLEX and Mitsubishi and sanctioned by PhlCycling.

The other international squads are Matrix Powertag Continental Team of Japan, Gusto Continental Team of Chinese Taipei, the Malaysian national team, CNN Cycling Team from Thailand and Uijeongbu City Cycling Team of Korea.

"It will be tougher than the previous editions because for the first time, the Ronda Pilipinas will go international," said Ronda race director Ric Rodriguez.  

Most of the foreign squads are composite teams as they employ cyclists from countries like Denmark, New Zealand, United States, indonesia, France, Canada, Singapore, Spain and Great Britain.
To have a chance, reigning team titlist Roadbike Phl, also managed by Sual, have tapped a couple of foreign reinforcements in Briton Daniel Patten and Spaniard Edgar Nieto to help the local boys Ronnel Hualda, Nelson Martin, Carlos Gasmen and Dominic Perez.

The race, which covers 1,776.1 kilometers of flat and uphill roads, opens with a 66-km opening stage criterium on Feb. 1 at the Quezon City Memorial Circle followed by a 156.7-km  Stage Two unfurling in Muntinlupa City and ending in Silang, Cavite on Feb. 2.

Next is the 135.9-km Tagaytay City-San Pablo City Stage Three on Feb. 3, 103.7-km San Pablo-Lucena Stage Four on Feb. 4 and 148.2-km Lucena-Lucena Stage 5 on Feb. 5 before taking a one-day break in Lucena on Feb. 6.

The race resumes with the 155.1-km Lucena-Antipolo City Stage 6 on Feb. 7, 172-km Valenzuela-Tarlac Stage 7 on Feb. 8, 182.2-km Tarlac-Dagupan Stage 8 on Feb. 9 and 97.4-km Dagupan-Baguio City via Kennon Stage 9 on Feb. 10 before taking another respite in the City of Pines on Feb. 11.

It will be the calm before the storm as riders plunge into the final, toughest windup with a 72.9-km Baguio City Stage 10 criterium on Feb. 12, 98-km San Fernando-Baguio via Marcos Highway Stage 11 on Feb. 13, 182-km Agoo-Angeles City Stage 12 on Feb. 14, 146-km Angeles-Subic Stage 13 on Feb. 15 before winding up with a 60-km criterium in the National Capital Region on Feb. 16.