Ronda three-leg Visayas qualifier unfolds tomorrow

DUMAGUETE, Philippines – The search for future cycling stars begins tomorrow as Ronda Pilipinas 2015 presented by LBC holds a three-stage Visayas qualifier in this Negros Oriental capital.

“Ronda has produced a lot of elite cyclists through the years, most of them comprise our current national team,” said Ronda executive director Moe Chulani. “Hopefully, with a new format, we’ll have a better chance of discovering some talents from these qualifiers.”

A total of 54 slots, including 50 for elite riders and four for junior aspirants, will be up for grabs with the top finishers earning berths in the championship round set Feb. 22-27 in Greenfield City and Baguio City.

The Visayas stage is the first of two qualifiers, the other being the two-stage Luzon elims slated Feb. 16 and 17 in Tarlac and Antipolo City, respectively, where 34 more spots (30 elite and four juniors) will be disputed.

Some of the Ronda riders currently in the national are Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Mark Galedo, Ronald Oranza, Junrey Navarro, Rustom Lim and George Oconer Jr.

Chulani said they expect over a huge field from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to join.

Stage One will be a 172.7-km Dumaguete-Sipalay race to be followed by the 157.8-km Bacolod-Bacolod Stage Two and the 120-km Bacolod-Cadiz Stage Three on Friday. 

Ronda will then move up North for the two-stage Luzon qualifiers with a 138.9-km Tarlac-Tarlac Stage One on Feb. 16 and a 102.5-km Antipolo-Antipolo Stage Two on Feb. 17.

All the 88 qualifiers from the Visayas and Luzon legs will then clash in the main event alongside last year’s winner Reimon Lapaza of Butuan, the nine-man national team spearheaded by Mark Galedo and a composite European team composed mainly of Danish riders.

Meanwhile, Dutch Martin Bruin, Ronda’s chief president and head commissaire, and five foreign officials are in town along with the rest of the 150-man Ronda caravan running the race.

“We’re all accounted for. We’re just waiting the final list of participants and we’re ready to roll,” said Ronda administration director Jack Yabut.

Joining Bruin, a Tour de France veteran who has been around Ronda in the first four stagings, are fellow commissaires Micky Rob, Eduard Park, Ji Jin Qiu, Beatrice Lajawa and Jamal Mahmood.

The event is backed by major sponsors the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation, Petron and Mitsubishi and minor sponors Cannondale, Standard Insurance, Tech1 Corp., Maynilad and NLEX and sanctioned by PhilCycling under Cavite Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino with TV5 and Sports Radio as media partners.