ANTIPOLO City—Filipino riders will keep a keen eye on their foreign competitors as the seventh edition of the Le Tour de Filipinas gets going today with a Stage One race, which reels off in Antipolo City and ends in Lucena City.
The homegrown cyclists said they will especially mark defending champion Frenchman Thomas Leibas.
Leibas is the lead rider of the Japan-based continental squad Bridgestone Anchor Cycling Team in the Le Tour, presented by Air21.
Leibas leads a tough foreign contingent in the race participated in by 74 riders in the 2016 edition, which has Petron, MVP Sports Foundation and Smart as Principal Sponsors.
Ric Rodriguez, team manager of the 7-Eleven SAVA Road Bike Philippines, said that aside from Leibas, they will will also watch out for Spanish rider Francisco Mancebo.
Mancebo will ride with Skydive Dubai, one of 12 foreign squads which will answer the starting gun for the 153.53-km opening stage of the only International Cycling Union race in the country.
“We will be watching out for them. They have been competing in the highest level of cycling,” said Rodriguez.
The riders face an entirely different terrain from the first six editions of the Le Tour organized by Ube Media Inc., headed by its President Donna Lina.
“I expect a tough ride from the other cyclists but I believe me and my team will be up to the challenge,” said defending champion Leibas.
Among the Filipino riders who are expected to shine is Marcelo Felipe, who has been designated as the lead rider of the team 7-Eleven.
The other foreign challengers will come from Team Novo Nordisk (USA), Kinan Cycling Team (Japan), Terrenganu Cycling Team (Malaysia), Hsyport Look Cycling Team (China), Team Ukyo (Japan), Dutch Global Cycling Team (Holland), Vinno 4-Ever Sko (Kazakhstan), Attaque Team Gusto (Chinese Taipei), LX-IIBS Cycling Team (South Korea) and Oliver’s Real Food Racing (Australia).