MANILA—Arnel Quirimit, whose sterling career spans 20 years—from the glory days of the Marlboro Tour to pocket races of the last decade—takes one last fling with stardom against the new generation of cyclists in the P7M 2011 LBC Ronda Pilipinas which gets under way Sept. 24 in Cagayan de Oro.
Quirimit, one of the top riders in the last five years of the now-defunct Marlboro Tour, pedaled back to prominence in 2003 when he ruled the 17-leg Tour Pilipinas, the longest cycling event since the last of the Marlboro Tour in 1998.
His conquest came at a time when aging Marlboro Tour veterans Bernie Llentada, Carlo Guieb, Victor Espiritu, Placido Valdez, Warren Davadilla and Renato Dolosa one by one rode into the sunset.
Quirimit, who also ruled the two-stage Tour of the Hundred Islands a year earlier, is back on the saddle for the LBC Ronda Pilipinas, considered the biggest racing spectacle during the last 12 years.
In its maiden year, the LBC Ronda Pilipinas, sponsored by LBC Express Inc., the country’s leading courier firm, aims to duplicate if not surpass the Marlboro Tour in terms of participation (96 riders, 16 teams), prizes (P7M, all tax free with P1M each to the individual and team champion), coverage (1,650km, 12-stage tour of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) and challenges (bad weather, and the mountain climbs of the dreaded Baguio-to-Baguio stage).