Le Tour De Filipinas kicks off its ninth edition on Metro Manila’s busiest major highway on Sunday.
Eighty-five cyclists from 17 teams kick off the race at Liwasang Aurora inside the Quezon Memorial Circle then to Elliptical Road before heading to Epifanio de los Santos Avenue toward Monumento in Caloocan City.
This is the first time in Philippine Tour history that Edsa will play in the race’s neutral zone that covers 9.5 kilometers. The race column is expected to complete the Edsa neutral ride under 30 minutes.
The first of four stages of the International Cycling Union race will also tackle the McArthur Highway, where the major artery that connects Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon before the expressways, particularly the North Luzon Expressway, was built.
Stage 2 on Monday will bring the cyclists from Cabanatuan City to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, covering 157.90 kilometers with a climb over Dalton Pass.
On Tuesday Stage 3 is the longest at 185.20 kms from Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya, to Lingayen, Pangasinan, and finally, Stage 4 will be 154.65 kms from Lingayen to Baguio City via Kennon Road.
The roster is up by two teams this year with 11 foreign teams and six local. They are 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines, Team CCN Philippines, Go For Gold, Philippine National Team, Bike Extreme Philippines, Standard Insurance-Navy, Terrenganu Cycling Team (Malaysia), Pishgaman Cycling Team (Iran), Nice Devo Cycling Team (Mongolia), Interpro Stradalli Cycling Team (Japan), Oliver’s Real Food Racing (Australia), Korail Cycling Team (South Korea), Team Sapura Cycling Team (Malaysia), Ningxia Sports Lottery Livall Cycling Team (China), KFC Cycling Team (Indonesia), Uijeongbu Cycling Team (South Korea) and Forca Amskins Racing (Malaysia).