Tougher routes await Le Tour elite riders

MANILA, Philippines - The Le Tour de Filipinas, the forerunner of the fabled local cycling tour, hits the road on April 14 on an unfamiliar but extremely more challenging route up north.

With Air21 returning as presentor of the Le Tour that is the trademark multi-stage road cycling summer spectacle in the country, this year’s edition slated April 14-17 kicks off in Sta. Ana, Cagayan and winds up at the Burnham Park in Baguio City on a non-traditional route.

The Dynamic Outsource Solutions, Inc. (Dos-1), organizer of the only international race in the country that is on the Asia Tour calendar of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), has drawn a culminating but expectedly dramatic final stage that will pass through what is to be called the “Northern Alps,” a mountain-top ride on the Cordilleras that approaches the Summer Capital from the back door.

Three treacherous climbs no lower than 5,000 feet above sea level will test the legs and lungs of riders from at least 10 international teams from Europe and Asia and five from the Philippines from Bayombong, Nueva Viscaya, through Aritao, Kayapa, Bokod just nearby Luzon’s highest peak Mt. Pulag, Itogon and Ambuklao Dam, before piercing toward Baguio City.

“The first three stages (of the four-stage international race) are a sprinters’ paradise, but come the ‘Northern Alps,’ the complexion of the race drastically and dramatically changes. This is where you separate the men from the boys,” said Dos-1 president and race organizer Gary Cayton.

Stage One will start in Port Irene in Sta. Ana, Cagayan, with Cagayan Rep. Jackie Enrile flagging off the riders to their destination 155 kms away in Tuguegarao City. Stage Two will be all of 110 kms from Tuguegarao to Cauayan City, while Stage Three will be a short 102-km ride to Bayombong, enough to prepare the riders for the treacherous 153-km race to Baguio City the next day.

“The challenge is extremely tough as we are traversing through mountainous routes that are virtually unchartered in the history of Philippine cycling,” said Air21 president Jerry Jara.

The third edition of the Le Tour is the continuation of the commitment of cycling godfather and Air21 chairman Bert Lina, the former president of the PhilCycling. It is sanctioned by the PhilCycling under its president, Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham Tolentino, and held under the auspices of the Asian Cycling Confederation and the Asean Cycling Association.