Le Tour sets April ride, same route

The Le Tour de Filipinas will trace the same treacherous route in the race finale next year.

Tour organizers announced yesterday that the Union Cycliste Internationale has booked the fourth edition of the multistage race from April 13 to 16 in the Asian calendar of the world governing body for cycling.

The Le Tour tried an untested route in the final stage of the four-day race held early this year—a back-breaking course from Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, to Baguio via the Sierra Madre and Cordillera mountain ranges—where Filipino Baler Ravina emerged triumphant.

PhilCycling chair Bert Lina and president Abraham Tolentino are throwing their full support behind the Le Tour, which enticed 10 foreign and five local cycling teams of five riders each last year.

“This is a reaffirmation by the UCI of our competence and capability in organizing, managing and hosting an event that enjoys international status equal to similar events held in Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and others,” said Lina.

“It is time our professional cyclists gear up for this event as Filipino riders will once again be competing with continental teams from all over Asia and probably from European and American countries,” said Tolentino.