Comebacking Espiritu standing on the way of Arnel’s historic bid

Only one thing is certain if Arnel Quirimit is to win a second straight Tour title this year, it won’t come on a silver platter.

Not when Victor Espiritu is around.

After sitting out last year’s Tour, Espiritu, the 1996 rookie-champion, will be back in the race and this early, has vowed to give Quirimit and the rest of the contenders a big run for their money.

"Nobody wants to lose here. So if Quirimit wants a second straight title, he can always try. There’ll be a lot of challengers," said Espiritu in Filipino as this year’s Tour Pilipinas was formally launched yesterday in Makati City.

Espiritu, an all-around rider who thrives best in the mountain stages, missed last year’s edition after being caught in between two warring factions within the then ruling Professional Cycling Association of the Philippines (PCAP).

The team captains of the 12 participating teams were made public yesterday during the press launch at the sponsoring Air21’s Makati headquarters. Present during the rites were Air21 and Tour chairman Bert Lina, Air21 president and Tour organizer Lito Alvarez, Tour executive director Mar Mendoza and ABS-CBN top honcho Peter Musngi.

The other teams returning from last year are Samsung, PLDT, Patrol 117, Postmen and VAT Riders. The new teams this year include Tanduay, Dole Pineapple, Beer na Beer, Purefoods, Mail and More, Marsman-Drysdale and Metro Drug.

Last year’s second placer – Merculio Ramos – will return as Samsung skipper while Warren Davadilla, last year’s third placer, will be at the helm of the Purefoods squad. The other team captains are: Espiritu (Beer na Beer), Ryan Tanguilig (PLDT), Albert Primero (Dole Pineapple), Carlo Guieb (Marsman-Drysdale), Renato Dolosa (Metro Drug), Felix Celeste (VAT Riders), Enrique Domingo (Postmen), Santi Barnachea (Mail and More) and Placido Valdez (Patrol 117).

Lina, who principally bankrolled the Tour along with co-chairman Sylvia Lina, is optimistic this year’s race will provide more excitement than last year because the cyclists will come prepared, having joined several qualifying races and other contests during the off-season.

"Our cyclists are prepared and from what I have seen and heard, they are already in perfect condition to really go for the victory," said Lina.

"That’s why we made the race longer this year, because the cyclists are more conditioned than they were last year," said Alvarez.

Musngi, for his part, said ABS-CBN, through Studio 23, will bring the color and life of the race to television and radio daily.

"We will have crews stationed at start, middle and finish of the race. We will provide viewers with different angles of race. And, we will carry regular reports through our AM radio carrier, DZMM," said Musngi.

Quirimit pounced on Espiritu’s absence to win last year’s title and earn a shot at becoming only the fifth cyclist to win back-to-back titles after Jose Sumalde (1964-65), Cornelio Padilla (1966-67), Jacinto Sicam (1981-82) and Carlo Guieb (1993-94).

"I’ve trained hard for this because I want to become a back-to-back champion," said Quirimit, of Pangasinan as he looked forward to the 21-day, 17-stage Tour that offers P1 million to the team champion and P200,000 to the individual winner.

Espiritu, however, is just as ready.

"I’ll give them a good fight," he said before mentioning the names of Davadilla (the 1998 champion), Ramos, Tanguilig, Barnachea and a couple of newcomers as strong contenders.

Espiritu, the road race champion in the 1997 Jakarta SEA Games, said Renato Dolosa, a two-time champion (1992-1995) will always be there waiting for an opportunity. The 37-year-old rider from Bicol finished 14th overall last year but not after giving the younger ones a big scare in the mid stages.

"He just doesn’t stop training even while the Tour was shelved (in 1999 until 2002). So he’ll still be there," said Espiritu of Dolosa.

Now married and blessed with a one-year-old son, Espiritu said he always had to check his 60 kg frame leading up to this year’s race. He weighed only 55 kgs when he won the title almost eight years ago.

"It’s hard when you’re getting old," he said. "No matter how hard you train, you just keep on getting heavier. But I’ve trained hard for this one," he added.