THE curtain rises on the Tour of Luzon: Great Revival this Wednesday afternoon in Paoay with Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla gracing the opening ceremony and team presentation as the guest of honor.
Remulla will address the 119-athlete, 17-team cast vying in the Tour of Luzon in the ceremony that will be staged with the world heritage site San Agustin (Paoay) Church as an iconic backdrop.
“It will be a momentous event with the Lord’s blessing showering the whole entourage a day before The Great Revival hits the road,” said Patrick “Pató” Gregorio, chairman of organizer DuckWorld PH.
Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, president of the Philippine Olympic Committee and the sanctioning national federation PhilCycling, will also grace the ceremony for the event presented by the MVP Group’s Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) headed by its Chief Regulating Officer Arrey Perez.
Ilocos Norte Gov. Matthew Manotoc and Paoay Mayor Shiella Galano will welcome the Tour in the ceremony that also features Bases Conversion and MPTC president Jose Ma. Lim and aired live by Cignal TV and Pilipinas Live.
All teams—except Team Pangasinan, which is due Wednesday morning—have been accounted for in Paoay, including the four foreign teams—CCN Factory HK from Hong Kong, Malaysia Pro Cycling, Bryton Racing Team from Taiwan and Gapyeong Cycling Team from South Korea—which flew in from Clark and Laoag City airports.
Already in town for a few days to acclimatize to the rising summer heat are PhilCycling-registered UCI continental teams Standard Insurance Philippines, Victoria Sports Pro Cycling Team, 7-Eleven Click Roadbike Philippines and Go For Gold.
They are joined by the Philippines Under-23 Tom N Toms, Excellent Noodles, DReyna Orion Cement, Dandex T-Prime Cycling Team, Exodus Army, MPT Drive Hub Cycling Team, 1 Team Visayas and One Cycling Mindanao.
The 1,074.90-kilometer Tour of Luzon starts Thursday (April 24) with the 190.70-km Paoay-Paoay Stage 1.
