Jan Paul Morales of Excellent Noodles. RONDA PHOTO
Jan Paul Morales, a decorated cyclist who has pedaled through several types of races, has seen everything.
Or so he thought.
But even the grizzled three-time Tour champion admits that there’s something unique about the Baguio-Tagaytay Philcycling Classic, which is set to kick off on Monday.
“This is no ordinary race,” Morales said.
For one, the event is the longest single-day race in Philippine cycling history, covering 292 kilometers. That distance will provide riders with a lot of challenges.
“I haven’t tried something as long as this where you will be forced to utilize all your cycling skills,” said Morales, who placed second overall in the Tour of Luzon individual general classification.
Morales will lead the pack of the 30 cyclists who were chosen for the historic race, all of them top finishers in the MPTC Tour Of Luzon: The Great Revival two months ago won by Korean Joo Dae-young.
Jonel Carcueva, Nichol Pareja, Jeremy Lizardo and Rench Bondoc also qualified, along with James Escumbien, Jericho Lucero and veterans Ronald Oranza and Rustom Lim, after rounding out the top 10 in the recent Tour.
The classic marks the first time in Philippine cycling history that a race will be conducted on the major expressways—TPLEx, SCTEx, NLEx, Skyway, SLEx and Calax—and on the Cavite East West Lateral Road.
Riders will race to the finish pegged at the International Cycling Union-standard, 250-meter and wooden indoor Tagaytay City Velodrome.
“It’s a race of speed, endurance and everything an elite cyclist has in his arsenal,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino of the race that flags off Monday from Camp John Hay and finishes in front of the brand-new velodrome.
A prize of P100,000 out of the total cash pot of P870 million awaits the champion.
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The 10 sprints along the expressways will offer P10,000 in bonus prizes in the event that is part of the combined celebration of the Olympic Day, World Bicycle Day, velodrome inauguration and Tagaytay City’s 87th Charter Day anniversary this Saturday. INQ
