Ronda Visayas qualifying Feb. 11

MANILA, Philippines—The Ronda Pilipinas 2015 kicks off on Feb. 11 with a three-stage Visayas qualifying leg on Negros island.

Ronda administration director Jack Yabut said the Visayas qualifiers of the Tour presented by LBC offer slots for 50 elite riders and four promising junior cyclists.

The Visayas opening stage will start at Negros Oriental provincial capitol in Dumaguete City and end in Sipalay City Plaza (172.7 km for elite, 120.2 km for juniors).

Stage 2 will start at Bacolod Plaza and end at Bacolod Government Center (158 km for elite, 110.5 km for juniors) on Feb. 12.

The third stage fires off the next day at Negros Occidental capitol and finish in Cadiz City (123 km for elite and juniors).

In the Luzon qualifying leg scheduled on Feb. 16 and 17 in Tarlac and Antipolo City, respectively, Yabut said 30 spots are up for grabs in the elite and four in the junior class.

He said the 88 qualifiers from Visayas and Luzon will join last year’s winner Reimon Lapaza, the nine-man national team led by Mark Galedo and a composite European team in the championship round slated Feb. 22 to 27. The tour will be fired off at Greenfield City in Sta. Rosa and end in Baguio.

Meanwhile, Ronda executive project director Moe Chulani said Ronda will ferry all Mindanao riders from Dipolog City to Dumaguete on Feb. 10 for free. June Navarro