FedEx bares P30-M budget for 2003 Tour of Pilipinas

FedEx is not wasting any single moment just to make sure next year’s cycling tour will be another success.

Barely seven months before actual competition takes off, Airfreight 2100, the sole licensee of FedEx in the country, already laid out the blueprint for the staging of its second tour undertaking.

And the men behind it vow a summer spectacle that is bigger in scope and cash prizes.

"Tuloy na tuloy na," proclaimed FedEx Tour executive director Mar Mendoza who, along with Airfreight 2100 president Lito Alvarez, technical committee head Paquito Rivas and consultant Cornelio Padilla Jr., guested in yesterday’s PSA Forum at the Holiday Inn hotel.

Tentatively billed "Express Tour ng Pilipinas," the event comes in the heels of the successful staging of the Express Tour of Calabarzon last June which FedEx initiated to revive the annual cycling tour that had been shelved for almost three years.

Unlike its maiden venture, next year’s edition will be a 14-lap race covering the Manila and Bicol regions, which Mendoza said would cost the giant delivery service a total of P30 million.

Out of such amount, Alvarez bared P3.2 million is allotted as prize money, P1 million of which goes to the winning team and P200,00 to the individual champion.

"Gusto naming maging engrande ang tour. We have to increase the price package to make it more exciting and attractive sa mga riders," Alvarez added in the same forum which has Red Bull, Pioneer Insurance and Agfa Colors as sponsors.

In its effort to put premium on the value of teammanship rather than on individualism, Rivas said organizers decided to raise instead the cash prizes to be awarded on the winning team.

"Mas maganda pa rin kasi talaga ‘yung tulong-tulong sa team," said Rivas, himself a cycling champion during his time.

A set of pre-qualifying races are already slated in November and December to be held in Subic, according to Mendoza, from which riders would be selected to compete in a final qualifying race.

Plans of expanding the Express Tour to Visayas and Mindanao are also being considered, although Mendoza said the feasible thing at the moment is to hold races in Luzon.

For his part, Padilla remarked that FedEx’s move to revive the Tour couldn’t have come at a perfect time when the country is wanting in major cycling competitions.

"Kulang na kulang ang cycling races sa bansa ngayon. Kaya welcome na welcome sa mga siklista natin ‘yan," said Padilla.