Riding the surge of excitement from the MPTC Tour of Luzon 2026, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and PhilCycling president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino confirmed that the long-awaited Baguio–Tagaytay Classic is set to finally roll out.
And this time, the spotlight will once again shine on the Tour’s brightest stars, with the top finishers of the recently concluded race tipped to headline the inaugural endurance showdown.
“Tuloy na ’yan. Yung top 10, sure natin invite ’yan,” Tolentino told Manila Standard, assuring that preparations are already in motion to stage a successful and memorable event.
Tolentino, who served as the guest of honor, also waved the checkered flag to welcome the winners of the Tour’s grueling 14th and final stage, which took riders from Lingayen, Pangasinan, to Camp John Hay.
The historic Baguio City to Tagaytay road race was originally scheduled last year but was shelved due to unpredictable weather season and other factors.
The weather has become unpredictable, with scattered thunderstorms and monsoon rains prevailing, and with the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. expected to do unscheduled repairs in some sections of the North Luzon Expressway, the endurance classic had to be postponed.
San Miguel Corp. Infrastructure—operator of the TPLEX, Skyway, and SLEX—has earlier welcomed the race on its expressways.
According to Tolentino, the breakthrough classic—one-day road race—from Camp John Hay in Baguio City to the finish line in front of the brand-new Tagaytay City Velodrome along Crisanto de los Reyes Avenue.
The Baguio-Tagaytay classic of the PhilCycling will cover a total of 288 kms and will pass through the major expressways—TPLEX, SCTEX, NLEX, Slyway, SLEX, and CALLAX—featuring the top 30 finishers in the MPTC Tour of Luzon last summer.
The Tagaytay City Velodrome served as the venue for the Asian Track Cycling Championship and was given a thumbs-up mark by participating countries.
The event marked the resurgence of Philippine track cycling—a cycling discipline that offers the most number of gold medals at 10 events for men and women at the Southeast Asian Games.
