Le Tour pits 2 PH teams versus crack foreign sides

THE 13 foreign teams vying in the 2015 Le Tour de Filipinas were all accounted for in Balanga, Bataan, yesterday, two days before the sixth edition of the race celebrating 60 years of multistage road cycling in the Philippines gets going.

The foreigners will be joining two local squads—the Philippine men’s team of PhilCycling and the continental team 7-Eleven Road Bike Philippines—in the four-stage International Cycling Union Asia Tour race.

“The enthusiasm of the foreigners was very evident as they hit the road immediately after taking their lunch,” said Donna Lina-Flavier, president of race organizer Ube Media Inc.

The foreign teams of the race presented by Air21 and co-presented by MVP Sports Foundation and Smart are Team Novo Nordisk (USA), Taiwan’s RTS Santic and Attaque Team Gusto, Singha Infinite Cycling (Thailand), Navitas Satalyst (Australia), CCN Cycling (Brunei), Pegasus Continental (Indonesia), Terengganu (Malaysia), Bridgestone Anchor (Japan), Iran’s Pishgaman Yzad Pro and Tabriz Petrochemical and the national teams of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Mark John Lexer Galedo, will defend his general classification title against a formidable field that includes three former champions—Filipino Baler Ravina and Iranians Ghader Mizbani and Rahim Emami.

Tomorrow’s stage one will be an out-and-back race in Balanga covering 126 kilometers.