TEAM parity and youth development will be among the main goals of the GO Philippine Tour 2022, a multi-stage cycling competition set to hit the road on Feb. 14 next year in Davao City, according to GPT director Ric Rodriguez.
“We will have 15 teams of six riders each, four of them elite and two riders who will be under 23 years old,” Rodriguez said of the event featuring 16 legs stretched over 22 days during the recent press launch at the City of Dreams ballroom in Paranaque.
“We made the team composition this way to level the playing field while aiming to discover new faces who will emerge in the GO Philippines Tour 2022,” Rodriguez added of the event offering a total cash pot of P10 million.
“All of the competing teams and riders will have a fair chance of winning this event because the strong cyclists will be spread among the participating squads,” he said.
“Now all of the competing teams and riders will have a fair chance of winning in this event because the strong cyclists will be spread among the participating squads,” he added of the bike showcase supported by Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, chairman of the Senate House Committee.
“We welcome the support of the Sen. Bong, who is an avid sportsman and supporter of our athletes, including our cycling cyclists, who often come from the marginalized sector of society,” said GPT chief executive officer Marian Romilyn Galanza.
Gracing the press launch was cycling enthusiast and Local Government Undersecretary Martin Dino, the chief of the Department of Interior and Local Government Barangay Affairs, who threw his department’s support behind the event.
The race will cover a distance of 2,629 kilometers and will pass through some of the country’s top tourist and scenic attractions, said Rodriguez, adding that some routes will be used for the first time and will pose huge challenges for the cyclists.
“Versatile riders, the all-rounders who are strong in flat, uphill-downhill and other race conditions will definitely have an edge here,” said Rodriguez.
The longest leg will be the 20th stage, a 228-kilometer grind from Lingayen, Pangasinan to the heritage-rich city of Vigan, Ilocos Sur and could be the most critical in deciding the overall team and individual champions.
The first GO Philippines Tour champion will be crowned after the cycling odyssey winds up with a 67-km. criterium on March 5, 2022 around the Burnham Park in Baguio city.
