Mark Galedo wins 2017 “Hell of the Marianas” in Saipan. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Mark Galedo has seen all of it within the Tour of Luzon. And he enjoyed every little bit of his experience as a feared rider.
“Racing within the Tour was all the time exciting and satisfying, probably the greatest times of my profession,” said Galedo, a multiple cycling individual champion and constant podium finisher within the multistage event.
He gets to experience the Tour from a special seat this time—one contained in the team bus.
Galedo will function chief tactician and sports director of the 7Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines of their quest to rule the nice revival edition of the fabled Tour.
The race was shelved in 2020 as a result of the worldwide health pandemic. It returns with a complete of 119 riders from 17 teams, including 4 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 various aspects that might affect your success in every race. Our team will likely 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 overall 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 every squad within the 68.39-km team time trial going to Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Money prizes
Stage 3 is one other flat route of 130.33km to San Juan, La Union, the following day. This will likely be followed by the 162.97-km race from Agoo, La Union to Clark within the fourth stage. Stage 5 features 166.65km of scorching road that may start and end in Clark via Latest Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.
Sanctioned by PhilCycling, the local governing body in the game, the team champion will bag the P1 million money prize plus the Tour of Luzon perpetual trophy. The final 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.
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
