Perilous Stage 4 to decide winner

THE 2012 LE TOUR de Filipinas international bikathon will pass through a treacherous route never before tackled in the local tour’s rich history.

Local coaches expect the climb to Baguio City via the Cordilleras’ back door—a route mapped out for the first time since the local tour was born 58 years ago—to be the most decisive in the four-stage cycling race presented by Air21.

“It’s steep and allows only little time for rest,” said LPGMA-American Vinyl coach Renato Dolosa, who inspected the 153-kilometer climb from Bayombong City to Burnham Park in the country’s summer capital.

Serving as the Le Tour’s fourth and final stage, the route features seemingly endless mountain roads with the Ambuklao Dam and Luzon’s highest peak, Mt. Pulag, among other scenic attractions, as backdrops.

“Unlike Kennon Road, a solid strategy will be needed in this climb,” said Go21 coach Johnny Borja after testing the route that includes a pair of King of the Mountain summits, both over 5,000 feet above sea level.

Neil Barlis of Mail and More, Bert Oconer of Smart PhilCycling National Team and Bernardo Llentada of Kia echoed the comments of Dolosa and Borja.

The coaches of five local squads pit their charges against 12 foreign squads in the race held in partnership with Smart and supported by Foton and Jinbei.

Oconer only sees a vigorous struggle for his national riders in the “killer” stage, a leg very much removed from the usual ascent to Baguio via Kennon Road.

“(This route) is very different,” said Oconer. “We need to prepare hard and concentrate. Most of all, there should be teamwork.”

Said Barlis, agreeing to Oconer’s observation: “We should pace our climbers in the fourth stage. If not, we Filipinos will be left behind.”

The 12 foreign teams, particularly the well-trained Iranians, are expected to make their move in the mountains.

Le Tour is the only Philippine race sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale.

Expecting blistering weather, one of the foreign squads, Dutch Global, arrived yesterday to adjust to the expected high temperatures during the tour.

“The Dutch team wanted to acclimatize early, that’s why they booked an early flight,” said Gary Cayton, president of the organizing Dynamic Outsource Solutions Inc. (Dos-1).

Stage 1 on April 14 is a 155-km ride from Sta. Ana, Cagayan, to Tuguegarao City, the jump-off point for the 110-km second stage to Cauayan, Isabela.

After negotiating mostly flat roads from Sta. Ana, the riders will next tackle the 102-km Stage 3 to Bayombong which offers steeper roads that will prepare the riders for the final stage of the race supported by official wear WetShop, Airphil Express and dzRH.

Temperatures in Cagayan have been hovering above 34 degrees Celsius.

“The foreigners want to adopt to the weather fast,” said Cayton.

The other foreign teams—TPT (Tabriz Petrochemical) of Iran, CNN of Netherlands, Uzbekistan Suren, Aisan Racing Team of Japan, OCBC of Singapore, Action of Chinese Taipei, Plan B  of Australia, Pure Black of New Zealand and Colossi Miche of Indonesia—start arriving today.