Mark Galedo has seen it all in the Tour of Luzon. And he enjoyed every bit of his experience as a feared rider.
“Racing in the Tour was always exciting and satisfying, one of the best times of my career,” said Galedo, a multiple cycling individual champion and constant podium finisher in the multistage event.
He gets to experience the Tour from a different seat this time—one inside the team bus.
Galedo will serve as chief tactician and sports director of the 7Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines in their quest to rule the great revival edition of the fabled Tour.
The race was shelved in 2020 due to the global health pandemic. It returns with a total of 119 riders from 17 teams, including four foreign squads.
Presented by the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), DuckWorld PH and Cignal TV, the eight-stage Tour kicks off on April 24 in Paoay, Ilocos Norte and ends with a mountain top finale inside Camp John Hay in Baguio City on May 1.
“There are many factors that could affect your success in every race. Our team will be ready for such challenges,” said Galedo, a three-time Tour champion and 2013 Southeast Asian Games men’s individual time trial gold medalist.
The 39-year-old first burst into the limelight by capturing the general individual classification of the 2009 LPGMA Tour of Luzon before winning the 2014 Tour de Filipinas. Galedo also ruled the 2012 edition of the defunct Ronda Pilipinas.
Rench Michael Bondoc, John Patrick Pagtalunan, Rex Luis Krog, Daniel Josh Corpuz will shoulder 7Eleven Roadbike PH’s bid on the road. King Vincent Mercado, Gilbert Valdez and Ruzel Agapito will provide support.
From the 190.7-kilometer, out-and-back opening stage in Paoay, Stage 2 will showcase the speed of each squad in the 68.39-km team time trial going to Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Cash prizes
Stage 3 is another flat route of 130.33km to San Juan, La Union, the next day. This will be followed by the 162.97-km race from Agoo, La Union to Clark in the fourth stage. Stage 5 features 166.65km of scorching road that will start and end in Clark via New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.
Sanctioned by PhilCycling, the local governing body in the sport, the team champion will bag the P1 million cash prize plus the Tour of Luzon perpetual trophy. The general individual classification champ will get P500,000.
Foreign squads CCN Factory HK from Hong Kong, Malaysia Pro Cycling, Bryton Racing Team from Taiwan and Gapyeong Cycling Team from South Korea will add spice to the race.
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Rounding out the teams are the Philippines Under-23-Tom N Toms Coffee squad and top clubs Excellent Noodles, D’ReynaOrion Cement, Dandez T-Prime Cycling Team, Exodus Army, MPT Drive Hub Cycling Team, 1 Team Visayas, One Cycling Mindanao and Team Pangasinan. INQ
