Filipino cyclists gear up for Le Tour de Filipinas

MANILA - Six local teams, led by 7-Eleven Road Bike Philippines, will see action in the 9th Le Tour de Filipinas next month.

Also competing in the race scheduled on May 20-23 and sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) are the Philippine National Team, Bike Extreme PH, Go for Gold Cycling Team, Standard Insurance Navy Team, and CCN Superteam.

The Filipinos will be up against riders from Iran's Pishgaman Cycling Team, Australia's Brisbane Continental Cycling Team and Oliver's Real Food Racing, Mongolia's Nice Devo Cycling Team, Thailand's Interpro Cycling Academy, South Korea's Korail Cycling Team, Malaysia's Team Sapura Cycling and Terengganu Cycling Team, China's Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team, and Indonesia's KFC Cycling Team.

Stage 1 will start from Quezon City to Palayan City in Nueva Ecija, covering a distance of 151.32 km. Stage 2 is a 157.90-km. race from Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya.

Riders will travel a total distance of 174.50 km. from Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya to Dagupan City, Pangasinan for Stage 3 while the final stage is a 154.65km. route from Lingayen, Pangasinan to Baguio City in Benguet.

"We are familiar with the routes and that gives us the advantage in this competition," said the 32year-old Mark John Lexer Galedo during the tournament's launch at the Palacio de Manila in Malate, Manila on Thursday.

Galedo won the 2014 Le Tour de Filipinas. He was a gold medalist in the Individual Time Trial (ITT) during the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar.

"Our goal is to perform well," said Galedo, who along with Marcelo Felipe and Rustom Lim belong to the 7-Eleven Road Bike Philippines team.

The Le Tour de Filipinas is only the second tournament for Galedo, who ruled the ITT event in the PruLife UK race held in Subic last January.

Daniel Whitehouse of Interpro Cycling Academy will be back to defend his title while the tough climbers from the Pishgaman Cycling Team are setting their sights on the King of the Mountain title.

Donna May Lina, chairperson of Le Tour de Filipinas, said she is happy that more local teams are participating this year. PNA