Ronald Oranza. Photo from PSC

Close to 1,075 kilometers broken down into eight punishing laps over picturesque backdrops make up the Tour of Luzon: Great Revival that kicks off on Thursday in Paoay in Ilocos Norte, where an intrepid band of 13 local squads will try to fend off a foreign invasion.

There will be a total of 17 teams and among the local individual bets fancied to shine are Ronald Oranza and reigning national road champion Marcelo Felipe, who will be looking to put themselves in the company of the past greats of what is known—for the longest time—as the country’s “summer spectacle on wheels.”

“It’s been a while since we had a race this long. I’m glad to be here,” said the soft-spoken Oranza in Filipino, the pride of Villasis, Pangasinan who will ride for Standard Insurance.

“This is a big challenge, so our team has to work together,” Oranza, who won a defunct version of this event in 2016 and 2018, added. “I’ll just make sure to be in great shape.’’

Besides the foreign challenge from Hong Kong’s CCN Factory HK, Malaysia’s Pro Cycling, Bryton Racing Team of Taiwan and South Korea’s Gapyeong Cycling Team, Oranza will be in for an uphill battle against his fellow national team riders.

Felipe is one of them and is actually the odds-on pick for the individual general classification title, like seasoned riders Junrey Navarro and three-time multistage champion Jan Paul Morales.

Felipe rides for Victoria Sports Pro Cycling Team together with PH squad teammate Nichol Pareja, while Ruzzel Agapito, another national team regular, will carry the banner for 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines.

Then there’s Joshua Pascual (Excellent Noodles) and Julius Tudtud (Dreyna Orion Cement) with Steven Tablizo and Andrei Deudor leading the charge for the Philippines Under-23 Tom N Toms squad.

Gold For Gold Cycling Team is likewise a top contender for the P1-million overall team champion’s purse. The overall individual winner gets P500,000.

The return of the storied Tour opens with the 190.70-km Paoay and back first stage before the 68.39-km team time trial from Paoay to Vigan City on Friday.

The third stage is a 130.33km ride to San Juan, La Union followed by the Agoo to Clark (162.97) journey, the 166.65km Clark-Clark race via New Clark City in Stage 5, the Clark-Lingayen 168.19km Stage 6 and the 15.14km individual time trial from Labrador, Pangasinan to Lingayen in Stage 7. INQ