MANILA, Philippines – The country’s most-storied multistage cycling race is back.
The Tour of Luzon is set for a revival this year, with at least 15 new teams competing across eight stages in seven provinces from April 24 to May 1.
“Today, the ‘Great Revival of the Tour of Luzon’ realizes a great dream for Philippine cycling,” DuckWorld PH chairman Patrick Gregorio said in an introductory press conference on Friday, March 7, at the Meralco Lighthouse in Pasig City.
“We conceptualized it for more than a year ago because of our chairman (Manny V. Pangilinan), who kept saying, ‘I want to see a Filipino or a Philippine team in the Tour de France,’” Gregorio added in Filipino.
With Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) and DuckWorld PH teaming up, the partnership breathed new life to the iconic race, which started in 1955 before its annual tradition ended in 1998.
Tour of Luzon then returned in 2002, only for it to be discontinued once more in 2020, when it was renamed as the Le Tour de Filipinas.
According to Pangilinan, the revived race will be the first step in realizing the dream of seeing a Filipino compete in the Tour de France, which has been regarded as the most prestigious cycling race in the world.
“It has been my lifelong dream to see the first Filipino cyclist compete in the Tour de France. Reviving the Tour of Luzon is a vital step toward achieving that dream. It is about breaking barriers, one ‘impossible’ challenge at a time,’’ he said in a statement.
The champions will bring home the race’s Perpetual Trophy on top of a P1 million prize purse. Individual champions will then earn P500,000.
The Tour of Luzon will start with a 170-kilometer out-and-back route via Pagudpud in Stage 1 in Laoag City on April 24. It will be followed by an 80km team time trial Stage 2 from Laoag City to Vigan City on April 25.
Vigan City to Agoo, La Union will be the road for Stage 3 on April 26. The cyclists will then go to Clark in Pampanga for a 150km ride in Stage 4 on April 27.
Stage 5 will be on April 28 on the new SCTEX road, which will be highlighted by a U-turn at the New Clark City in Capas as part of the 120km route passing through the iconic Sacobia Bridge, where strong crosswinds await cyclists.
They will then go to the Pangasinan Provincial Capitol near Lingayen Gulf for the 150km Stage 6 on April 29.
After a short 30km pedal in Stage 7, the race will conclude in Stage 8 in a 180km route from Lingayen right on Labor Day to Camp John Hay in Baguio City.
Local teams from Iloilo, Tagaytay City, Nueva Viscaya, Davao, and Cebu banner the participating teams on top of commercial groups such as Excellent Noodles, D’ Reyna and Dandex Multi-Sports, among others.
They will also be joined by the Singapore National Team, Vietnam National Team, ASC Monsters Indonesia, and other squads from Thailand. – Rappler.com