Tour of Luzon: 119 riders answer starting gun

PAOAY, Ilocos Norte—The biggest hazards between Filipino cyclists and the title in the Tour of Luzon’s great revival aren’t the foreign riders raring to steal a piece of the show, nor is it the punishing weather.

The threat will simply come from within themselves.

“We know the terrain, we cycled on these roads countless times. (Winning) the Tour will just depend on the (body) condition of our riders,’’ said Cris Joven, a seasoned road warrior and multistage race veteran for 17 years, in Filipino.

The skipper of Exodus Army Cycling Team, Joven will lead one of the 13 home-based squads that will try to fend off the foreign challenge beginning Thursday with a back and forth of this charming town up north.

Four foreign sides

A total of 119 cyclists, including teams from South Korea (Gapyeong Cycling Team), Malaysia’s Pro Cycling, Taiwan (Bryton Racing Team) and Hong Kong (CCN Factory HK), will answer the starting bell in the 190.70-kilometer opening lap.

Riders will traverse the municipalities of Batac, Laoag City, Vintar, Pasuquin and make a U-turn in Pagudpud before winding up in this town with the 300-year-old Paoay church, a Unesco heritage gem, as backdrop.

“The heat here is super humid. That will really pose a challenge for us, more so for the foreign teams, which have to get used to this kind of weather,’’ said Standard Insurance coach Reinhard Gorrantes.