2011 Le Tour De Filipinas all set to kick off
Posted on April 14th, 2011
The 211 Le Tour de Filipinas is all set and cyclists from all over the globe will hit the road on April 16. Filipino homegrown riders are out to prove and test their mettle against their foreign counterparts who are likewise out to steal the show in the said race.
The four-day multistage bikathon will kick-off with an 86-kilometer circuit run Roxas Boulevard and Macapagal Highway. The second stage will see the tour entourage travelling to Bataan for a 157.6-kilometer Balanga to Iba, Zambales run on April 17. On April 18, cyclists will go to Lingayen, Pangasinan for the 156.2-km ascent to Baguio City via Kennon Road.
Leading the packs of cyclists’ are 7-Eleven’s Lloyd Lucien Reynante, Shopinas’ Eusebio Quinones, Wow Videoke’s Santi Barnachea, American Vinyl’s Cris Joven, Road Bike Philippines’ Dante Cagas, Ari21’a Arnel Quirimit, Smart’s Tomas Martinez Jr. and Mark Julius Bonzo of Kia-PhilCylcing Under-23.
Irishman David McCann will be aiming for his second consecutive individual title of the $26,000 Tour as skipper of Malaysia’s Giant Kenda. McCann beats Philippine’s Reynante and Baler Ravina at the end of last year’s four-stage race.
Other foreign teams vying for a piece of the P1,120,000 total prize package are CNN Colosi of the Netherlands, Singapore’s OCBC, Iran’s Azad University and Suren Cycling Team, Malaysia’s Terenganu PASM and Bridgestone/Anchor of Japan.
A total of 75 cyclists will represent the 15 teams with fiver riders each.
Overall Tour chair Bert Lina is confident the local riders will exceed expectations. “Our riders are highly motivated and will not be intimated.” He added, “Inviting these foreign teams will definitely elevate the level of competition, which will benefit our cyclists in the long run.”
The 2011 Le Tour will be staged under the advocacy “Save the Seas.” It is organized by Dynamic Outsource Solutions Inc. and presented by Kia Motors with Smart, Air21 and the Lucio Tan Group of Companies led by Tanduay as partners. Other sponsors are Maynilad, Sign Media and Canondale-Mavic.
