PNA
MANILA – The curtain rises on the Tour of Luzon: Great Revival on Wednesday in Paoay, Ilocos Norte with a 119-athlete, 17-team cast.
Actual competition in the 1,074.90-kilometer race starts Thursday with the 190.70-kilometer Paoay-Paoay Stage 1, followed by the 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 which is a 172.53-km from Lingayen to the Scout Hill finish inside Camp John Hay in Baguio City.
All teams, except Team Pangasinan which is due Wednesday morning, have been accounted for, 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 in Pamapanga and Laoag City airports.
Already in town for a few days to acclimatize in 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.
Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla will grace the opening ceremony and team presentation, with world heritage site St. Augustine Church of Paoay as backdrop. It will be aired live by Cignal TV and Pilipinas Live.
Abraham Tolentino, president of both the Philippine Olympic Committee and the sanctioning national federation PhilCycling.
Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Manotoc and Paoay Mayor Shiella Galano will be welcoming the Tour of Luzon in the ceremony that also features Bases Conversion and MPTC president Jose Ma. Lim. (PNA)
