Ninety riders from 15 teams. Sixteen stages in 22 days. Ten million pesos. Big-time cycling is back.
After a two-year absence from the road, a spectacle on wheels returns with a bang when GO Philippines Tour 2022 blasts off on Feb. 14 in Davao City.
“We know how our local cycling fans and riders have been hungry to have another big cycling competition and this our answer to that,” said Go Philippines Tour event director Ric Rodriguez during the launch on Thursday at the City of Dreams Ballroom in Paranaque.
Rodriguez said they targeted 15 participating teams, led by four pro squads Go For Gold, 7-11, Standard Insurance and Excellent Noodles. The rest will come from various LGUs like Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan.
They will vie for the total cash pot of P10 million—the biggest in Philippine cycling history—for the individual awards and team championships in this 16-stage wheel fiesta that can be witnessed by cycling fans from Mindanao to Luzon.
“It’s a realization of a dream,” said Go Philippines Tour chief executive officer Marian Romilyn Galanza of the event that will be passing through some of the country’s top scenic and tourist attractions.
“We are just as excited with Rodriguez in the staging of this event that will be anticipated by local riders and cycling fans alike.”
Galanza noted that the event has the endorsement of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, who has been a strong advocate of sports tourism and the opening up of the industry that was enjoying a huge boom before the pandemic struck.
She also cited Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, the Chairman of the Senate Sports Committee, for supporting the bike fest, underscoring his status both as a sportsman and patron of local sports.
“We hope that this cycling event will be one of Sen. Go’s lasting sports legacies in recognizing our local cyclists, who mostly come from the marginalized sector of society, and are among our unsung heroes,” Galanza said.
Rodriguez revealed that the longest leg at 228 kilometers from Lingayen, Pangasinan to Vigan, Ilocos Sur, looms as the make-or-break stage for the riders. The final stage will be in Baguio City with the finish being hosted by Camp John Hay.
In every stage, Rodriguez said fun bike races will also be held to accommodate bike enthusiasts to have fun and give them the “feel of what it’s like in competitive racing.”
Galanza also said that every stage will have a fiesta atmosphere, even as strict social distancing will be put in place.
Undersecretary Martin Dino, who heads the Barangay Affairs of the Department of Interior and Local Government, assured the cooperation of the barangay officials, whose areas are covered by the routes of the race.