Bitter rivals on the road, Mark Galedo of 7-11 Road Bike Philippines and Ronald Oranza of Team LBC will join hands as spearheads of the national cycling team seeing action in the 2015 Le Tour de Filipinas.
PhilCycling president and Cavite Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino yesterday said the national riders will compete in the Le Tour on Feb. 1 to 4 as part of their buildup for the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore next year.
Joining Galedo, the defending champion of the Le Tour and winner of the 2012 Ronda Pilipinas, and Oranza in the team are young riders Rustom Lim, George Oconer, Ronald Lomotos, Mark Julius Bordeos and Jan Paul Morales.
“The Le Tour is an international race and we need to be there to test our riders as part of our preparation for the SEA Games,’’ said Tolentino.
Galedo, 26, ruled the men’s individual time trial event of the SEA Games in 2013 Burma.
The national riders will also see action in the Asian Cycling Championship in Bangkok on Feb. 10 to 14.
Aside from the PH squad, the 7-11 team will also race for the country in the four-stage event that also features entries from Australia, United States, Kazakshtan, Brunei, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Iran, Malaysia, Japan, and Taiwan.
The first stage of the tour will be the Balanga (Bataan)-to-Balanga (126 kilometers), followed by Balanga to Iba Zambales (153.75 km), Iba to Lingayen, Pangasinan (149.34 km), and finally Lingayen to Baguio City via Kennon (101 km).