Rich LBC Ronda kicks off Jan. 12

MANILA, Philippines - Another Filipino will be the next millionaire cyclist, or repeat as a millionaire, when the LBC Express, Inc. stages cycling’s biggest event of the year – the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2013 – offering P1 million to the individual champion from a total purse of P7.5 million.

Defending champion Mark Galedo and inaugural titleholder Santy Barnachea lead a tough field culled from national trials in November to choose the final list of 96 riders vying for the sport’s biggest purse since the demise of the Marlboro Tour in 1998.

The 2,200 km, 16-stay, 21-day tour gets under way Jan. 12 with the Zamboanga City leg and ends Feb. 1 in Baguio City.

While the top prize is the bone of contention, other prizes from second to 20th cannot be sneezed at.

The second placer receives P500,000, third P250,000 and fourth P100,000. The fifth to 10th places get P90,000, P80,000, P70,000, P60,000, P50,000 and P40,000, in that order. The rest of the prizes go down the line – P15,000 each for 11th to 15th place, and P10,000 each from 16th to 20th. The 21st to 50th placers earn a survivor’s prize of P8,000 each and the 51st to 96th P6,000 each.

A leader’s jersey bonus is worth P4,000 each day for 16 stages and bonus of other jerseys is worth P6,000 a day.

Along the way, cyclists will have the chance to earn daily stage prizes worth P50,000 for the winner, P25,000 for second and P15,000, with the rest of the total stages prizes of P2,088.00 spread to the 20th place.

The sprint king, best young rider (under-23) and King of the Mountain win P50,000 each with second and third places winning P30,000 and P20,000, respectively.

A handsome prize of P1 million also goes to the team champion, with the second getting P500,000, third P250,000, fourth P100,000, fifth P90,000 and sixth P80,000. Eight members comprise each of the 12 teams, now reduced from the original 16 the last two years.

The LBC Ronda Pilipinas is staged for the third straight year by LBC Express, Inc., the leading courier firm, and sponsored by Total Philippines, MVP Sports Foundation, Jimbei, Smart Communications, ICOMM IDAS, Standard Insurance, Sunstar, Maynilad, and NLEX.

Giving full support to the event are the Philippine National Police and all the local government units that will host the start and finish in each of the 16 stages.