Tour of Luzon all set for return on April 24

(UPDATE) SEVENTEEN teams — including four from overseas — hit the road on April 24 as the fabled Tour of Luzon returns with "The Great Revival" edition in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.

Shelved at least thrice since the Manila-Vigan inaugural race in 1956, the Tour of Luzon — presented by the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), DuckWorld PH and Cignal TV — will be all of eight stages traversing seven Northern and Central Luzon provinces with a mountain top finish inside Camp John Hay in Baguio City.

"The legendary Tour of Luzon is back," exclaimed Patrick "Patò" Gregorio, president of DuckWorld PH whose collaboration with MPTC, led by Chief Regulatory Officer Arrey Perez, resulted in the return of the Tour of Luzon last staged in 2019 via the international Le Tour de Filipinas.

"The excitement has bordered from excitement to the extreme for once again, we'll see the best of Philippine road cycling reliving the historic summer sports tradition," said Perez, himself an active executive cyclist.

Up for grabs in the PhilCycling-sanctioned race is a P1-million cash prize and a year's possession of the Tour of Luzon perpetual trophy for the team champion and P500,000 and a uniquely crafted trophy for the general individual classification winner.

The eight stages cover a total of 1,074.90 kilometers starting with the 190.70-km Paoay-Paoay (via Pagudpud) Stage 1 on April 24, 68.39-km Paoay-Vigan team time trial Stage 2 on April 25, 130.33-km Vigan-San Juan (La Union) Stage 3 the next day, 162.97-km Agoo-Clark Stage 4, 166.65 Clark-Clark (via New Clark City and Tarlac) Stage 5, 168.19 Clark-Lingayen Stage 6 and 15.14-km individual time trial Labrador-Lingayen Stage 7 on April 30.

Come May 1, the surviving cyclists will pedal 172.53 kms from Lingayen to a top-of-the-hill finish at the Scout Hill section inside Camp John Hay, the final queen stage that's expected to determine who lifts the champions' trophies in the race being staged through sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan's MVP Group's advocacy to promote sports in all disciplines and at all levels.