Barnachea leads quest for P1M purse in LBC Ronda

MANILA, Philippines - Ninety-six riders, composed of veterans and a slew of upcoming riders, clash for glory and a total cash pot of over P7.5 million in a virtual race against time in the second LBC Ronda Pilipinas which kicks off May 20 in Sarangani.

Defending champion Santy Barnachea sets out for a second P1 million champion’s purse as he leads crack riders in a shortened edition of the country’s richest, most prestigious spectacle on wheels featuring sprint races of less than 100 kilometers in all but one of the 15 legs spread out in key cities of Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon.

Barnachea, formerly of East Pangasinan, now leads the newly formed Team Navy, as he stakes his title against a field that includes top national mainstays Irish Valenzuela of defending champion American Vinyl/LPGMA, Ronald Gorantes and Warren Davadilla of Air Force, Alfie Catalan of Army/RC Cola, Baler Ravina of Road Bike/7-11 and Merculio Ramos of Tarlac/Northern Builders.

Navy is also a cinch to contend for the P1 million team champion’s prize with Lloyd Lucien Reynante, Frederick Feliciano and Eusebio Quinones providing the backbone of its campaign in the 20-day, 2,000 km race covering 32 towns and cities nationwide.

The 2012 LBC Ronda Pilipinas, staged by the LBC Express, Inc., the leading courier firm, will have a 15+1 format, with the regular 15 stages to be kicked off by a prologue in Sarangani.

After the prologue stage, Ronda Pilipinas will hold the first four stages in Mindanao. The first stage will be a 183.3 km race from General Santos City all the way to Kiamba and back. Stage 2 will take the Gen. Santos-Davao City route, Stage 3 will be from Tagum to Butuan and Stage 4 from Butuan to Surigao.

The Visayas tour will take the riders from Ormoc to Tacloban (Stage 5) and Tacloban to Calbayog (Stage 6).

The remaining nine stages will be a Tour of Luzon, from the Bicol Region to Southern Tagalog, National Capital Region all the way up to Central Luzon and Baguio in Northern Luzon and back to NCR.

The routes covered are Legaspi to Naga (Stage 7), Daet to Lucena (Stage 8), Lucena to Antipolo (Stage 9), San Fernando, Pampanga to Cabanatuan, (Stage 10), Cabanatuan to Lingayen (Stage 11), Lingayen to Baguio (Stage 12), another time trial in Baguio (Stage 13), San Fernando, La Union to Tarlac (Stage 14) and Valenzuela to Manila (Stage 15).

For more details, visit www.rondapilipinas.com or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rondapilipinas and twitter www.twitter/rondapilipinas.