Ronda Pilipinas king to Philippine riders: Train hard, daily

BORACAY, Philippines — Newly-crowned LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2019 king Francisco Mancebo Perez has an advice for Filipino riders who aspire to become world-class cyclists – train, train hard everyday.

“They need to train, work hard and they need to do it the whole year round,” said Mancebo, moments after he ruled the five-stage, UCI-sanctioned race that started in Iloilo on Feb. 8 and ended in Pandan, Antique Tuesday.

“My training? I train every day even on a Sunday. I go to the gym and do different kinds of training. I also live in the mountains and train there,” he added.

Mancebo, 2005 Tour de France fourth placer, gave local riders a cycling clinic after dominating Ronda from start to finish.

In fact, the Spaniard wound up with an aggregate time of 19 hours, 26 minutes, 3 seconds, or a whopping 3:20 ahead of distant second placer Ronald Oranza of Navy-Standard Insurance.

Dominic Perez of 7Eleven Cliqq-Air21 by Roadbike Philippines ended third, 3:23 off Mancebo.

Mancebo’s Matrix team also took home the team crown as it edged 7Eleven and Navy, the country’s top two teams.

Another factor to become successful is to compete in more races here and abroad.

And since there are more races in Europe where the best of the best in the world race, the local riders should plan in racing there.

“There should be more races in the Philippines and the teams (should) go to Europe to compete,” said Mancebo.

Oranza, who celebrated his 26th birthday Tuesday, said he learned a lot by just watching Mancebo race.

“He’s really strong, so hard to beat him,” said Oranza, who also emerged the best Filipino rider to take home P100,000 and P400,000 worth of Boy Kanin franchise. “We really have to train harder to just be at par with them.”

Filipino riders, take note.