MANILA, Philippines - Former champions and a huge wave of new challengers are expected to vie for 54 individual slots in nine Luzon teams as the P7 million LBC Ronda Pilipinas gets under way with the staging of the first three of five regional qualifying races May 6-8 in Tarlac City.
The LBC Ronda Pilipinas organizers said the trials would select the riders that will comprise the nine six-man Luzon teams that will join two squads each from the Visayas and Mindanao in the main race to be held September to October.
The Luzon riders will form the bulk of the 90-man field that will vie for the distinction as first champion of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas, a 20-day, 12- stage, 1650 km cycling race which will cover key cities in Mindanao,Visayas and Luzon and offers a champion's purse of P1 million each to the individual and team champion.
Pangasinan, with its abundance of cycling talents, will be divided into two teams - Pangasinan 1 (West and Central) and Pangasinan 2 (East) - while Nueva Ecija, also home to former tour champions, will compete as one team.
The qualifying race for the three teams will be held May 6.
The second race will be held the next day, May 7, for the teams of Central Luzon, Ilocandia and Cagayan Valley, while the third race, slated May 8, will be for National Capital Region, Southern Tagalog and Bicolandia.
Moe Chulani, LBC sports marketing consultant, said the final number of competing teams would be based on the results of the qualifying races. Initially there will be nine teams from Luzon and two each from the Visayas and Mindanao.
The Visayas qualifying race, for all provinces of the Visayas, is scheduled May 12 in Silay City, Negros Occidental while Mindanao will hold a separate elimination May 15 in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
A rider may choose a team based on the place of his birth or his residence during the last six months.
