Tour Pilipinas to stage Metro Manila race

A first in Philippine cycling gets going Sunday with the staging of the Tour Pilipinas Metro Manila race, a 114-km massed start race that will trace much of the metropolis’ perimeter.

The race, which is part of the Tour Pilipinas’special races, will start and finish at the Marikina City Sports Park. Riders from the 12 teams in the Tour Pilipinas will compete in the event principally sponsored by Air21 and backed up by FedEx and Mail and More.

Tour Pilipinas 2003 champion Arnel Quirimit of the Tanduay Rhum Riders will be the favorite in the race, along with his fellow national teammates who are treating the event as part of their preparations for next month’s 22nd Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.

Besides the Rhum Riders, the other teams seeing action are Intel, Samsung, Pagcor Sports, Bowling Gold, PLDT-NDD, Gilbey’s Island Punch, DILG Patrol 117, DILG Drug Busters, DENR Ecosavers, DOTC Postmen and BIR Vat Riders.

Marikina Mayor Ma. Lourdes Fernando will flag off the race at 9 a.m. The riders will compete not only for cash prizes but also would gain the needed preparation for the qualifying races for the 2004 Tour Pilipinas.

The qualifying races are scheduled Nov. 15 – a 190-km massed start race on an out-and-back course in Cuenca in Batangas – and Nov. 16 – a 36-km individual time trial from Lemery through Tagaytay to Batulao also in Batangas.

Bert Lina, chairman of both Air21 and Tour Pilipinas Inc. and president of PhilCycling, the national sports association for the sport, is also expected to grace the first of its kind race in the National Capital Region.

Also expected at the Metro Manila Race managed by the Philippine National Cycling Association is Tour Pilipinas organizer and Air21 president Lito Alvarez.

More than 300 riders led by top national team member Victor Espiritu, meanwhile, have already earned slots to the Nov. 15-16 qualifyings. The top 36 riders in last summer’s Tour are automatically seeded for next year’s race – a 21-day, 17-stage event that will have stages in Samar and Leyte.

All qualifiers are advised to complete their application forms and bring along ID cards and two 2x2 photos at 2440 G. del Pilar Street, Singalong, Manila. Inquiries could be obtained at tel. No. 536-9378 or from PNCA president Paquito Rivas at 0919-285-1362 or 0916-260-1992.

From the Marikina start, the Metro Manila race will pass through major areas close to the perimeter of the metropolis including UP Balara, Fairview, Novaliches, Balintawak, Monumento, Rizal Avenue in Kalookan, Abad Santos, Binondo, Jones Bridge, Aduana, Roxas Boulevard, Gil Puyat, Macapagal Avenue, NAIA Road, Sucat and Alabang, the turning point.

It will be Alabang, Bicutan, C-5 Road, Rosario, Antipolo and Sumulong on the way back to the Marikina Sports Park finish.