ALL roads lead to Paoay, Ilocos Norte this Thursday as the Tour of Luzon: The Great Revival lives up to its moniker—the keenly awaited return of the fabled summer cycling spectacle.
A slew of fancied riders bannered by Southeast Asian Games medalist Ronald Oranza and Jan Paul Morales are expected to prove their mettle in the eight-stage, 1,074.90-kilometer race.
Oranza and fellow battle-scarred rider Morales show the way for the International Cycling Union continental team, along with the veteran Junrey Navarra, in the survival of the fittest presented by the MVP Group’s Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and organized by DuckWorld PH.
At stake is P500,000 for the overall winner and P1 million for the overall team champion in the Tour that also has foreign teams such as CCN Factory HK from Hong Kong, Malaysia Pro Cycling, Bryton Racing Team from Taiwan and Gapyeong Cycling Team from South Korea.
Stage 1 will be the 190.70-km Paoay-Paoay Stage 1, 68.39-km Paoay-Vigan team time trial Stage 2, 130.33-km Vigan-San Juan Stage 3, 162.97-km Agoo-Clark Stage 4, 166.65 Clark-Clark (via New Clark City) Stage 5, 168.19 Clark-Lingayen Stage 6, 15.14-km individual time trial Labrador-Lingayen Stage 7 and finally the queen Stage 8, a 172.53-km from Lingayen to the Scout Hill finish inside Camp John Hay in Baguio City.
The ribbons will roll at the quadrangle in front of the heritage-rich San Agustin Church, with Interior Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla expected to show up at the event with Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, also the PhilCycling chief.
Top provincial officials led by Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Manotoc and Paoay Mayor Shiella Galano will roll the red carpet for the 119 bets from the 17 squads in the opening ceremony, where MPTC Chief Regulatory Officer Arrey Perez expected to deliver the opening remarks.
DuckWorld chairman Patrick “Pató” Gregorio will open the race by ringing a bell symbolic of cycling’s lap bell common in criterium and track races.
The opening will just be the calm before the storm. Can these riders survive the grueling eight-day test of endurance and willpower?
