Nat’l riders hone up in ’15 Le Tour

MANILA, Philippines - The national men’s team preparing for two other major international competitions this year has shifted its focus to the 2015 Le Tour de Filipinas kicking off this Sunday in an out-and-back course in Balanga, Bataan.

Led by defending champion Mark John Lexer Galedo, the nationals are also vying in the Asian Cycling Championships in Thailand later this month and the Singapore Southeast Asian Games in June.

The PhilCycling has given a marching order that focuses on winning the country’s only UCI Asia Tour road race presented by Air21 and co-presented by the MVP Sports Foundation and Smart.

“It is always very inspiring for our cyclists to win an international race on home soil and a victory could translate into a heightened enthusiasm toward cycling,” said Donna Lina-Flavier, president of Le Tour de Filipinas organizer Ube Media.

“But ranged against 12 continental team and two national teams from countries [Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan] with winning traditions in cycling, the Filipino riders would not be expecting a cruise but a grind for all of the four days of the Tour.”

With Galedo, the time trial gold medalist in the 2013 Myanmar Sea Games, on the PhilCycling National Team that will train in Belgium this summer to further hone for the Singapore Games are young but potent Ronald Lomotos (youngest at 20 years old), George Oconer (22), Incheon Asian Games veteran Ronald Oranza (22) and Jun Rey Navarra (22).

The continental teams entered in the race backed by Victory Liner, San Mig Zero, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Phils. and Canon are the US’s Team Novo Nordisk – the first professional cycling team composed of riders with Type 1 Diabetes – Taiwan’s RTS Santic Racing Team and Attaque Team Gusto, Thailand’s Singha Infinite Cycling Team, Australia’s Navitas Satalyst Racing Team, Brunei’s CCN Cycling Team, Indonesia’s Pegasus Continental Cycling Team, Malaysia’s Terengganu Cycling Team, Japan’s Bridgestone Anchor Cycling Team, Iran’s Pishgaman Yzad Pro Cycling Team and Tabriz Petrochemical Team and 7-Eleven-Road Bike Philippines.

With Isuzu, MAN Truck and Bus, Viking Rent-A-Car and NLEX as road partners, the sixth edition of the Le Tour de Filipinas that celebrates 60 years of multi-stage road racing in the country starts on February 1 with the 126-km Balanga-Balanga (Bataan) Stage One, followed by the 153.75-km Balanga-Iba (Zambales) Stage Two, 149.34-km Iba-Lingayen (Pangasinan) Stage Three and the 101-km Lingayen-Baguio City Stage Four.