Ronda Luzon elims kicks off in Tarlac

TARLAC CITY, Philippines  – The chase for berths in the Ronda Pilipinas 2015 presented by LBC championship round heats up today with the staging of the two-stage final qualifying leg here and in Antipolo tomorrow.

Ronda inaugural champion Santy Barnachea of Navy-Standard Insurance and Nueva Ecija’s Joel Calderon, a perennial title contender, head the more than a hundred bets vying for slots in the elims starting with the 138.9km Stage One. The 102.5km Stage Two is set in Antipolo.

Like in the three-stage Visayas leg last week, new faces are tipped to emerge, guaranteeing a fresh but tough roster clashing in the main event slated Feb. 22-27 starting in Paseo Greenfield City in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and ending in Baguio.

“If you have noticed, about a half of the 40 cyclists who qualified in the championship round are relatively new ones and we expect more to come from Luzon,” said Ronda executive director Moe Chulani.

Mark Galedo and the rest of the national team, who arrived a couple of days ago after competing in the Asian Cycling Championship in Thailand, are also expected to see action not as main competitors, the event serving as part of their buildup for the championship round, a six-day, eight-stage race offering P1 million to the individual champion.

Boots Ryan Cayubit of 7-Eleven upstaged the big guns by ruling the Visayas leg in impressive fashion, making him an early threat to last year’s titlist Reimon Lapaza of Butuan City.

“That is my dream, to win the Ronda Pilipinas if not this year but in the near future,” said the 23-year-old Cayubit, a Caloocan City native who also took the Sprint King trophy in the Visayas tilt.

Qualifiers will join last year’s champion Lapaza, Galedo and the rest of the national team including Ronald Oranza and Rustom Lim and a composite European team.