Curtains go up on Tour Pilipinas ’03

The heroes of summer are ready to take the road again.

Air21, the logistic service of Airfreight 2100, raised the curtain amidst raining confetti and strobe lights on the Tour Pilipinas 2003, a signal that the fabled cycling marathon of yore will be on the road each summer.

But unveiling the Tour Pilipinas turned out to be just part of a bigger picture Airfreight 2100, sole licensee of FedEx in the Philippines, is painting.

Air 21 chairman Bert Lina is hopeful that the Tour Pilipinas his company initially intends to bankroll for the next four years will lead to the country’s participation in the Tour de France.

"We want to develop world-class cyclists who are capable of competing in the Tour de France," said Lina, who allotted P1-million for the winning team–the biggest team prize in Philippine cycling history–and P200,000 for the individual champion. The Tour de France is the ultimate of road racing in cycling and lures annually the legends of the sport from all over the world.

Yesterday’s lavish launch at the National Sports Grill in Makati City officially kicked off the Tour Pilipinas 2003 season which begins with the pre-qualifiers on Nov. 10-17 in Pililia, Rizal, for Luzon aspirants and Nov. 23 in Argao, Cebu, for Visayas and Mindanao hopefuls, respectively.

From these pre-qualifying races will be culled the top 120 and then the top 100 before the best of the best, the 84 riders who will ride under 12 different teams, all of which will carry the colors of their respective private sponsors, will be selected. To date, according to Tour organizer and Air21 president Lito Alvarez, 14 top private corporations have strongly signified their intentions to sponsor the teams.

The Tour Pilipinas basically carries the format of the past Tours but would have a significant twist in terms of the sponsorship and maintenance of the 12 teams.