Ronda Pilipinas eyes annual Panagbenga fest

THE country’s fabled cycling race will formally make its way to the mountain resort during the Panagbenga Festival.

Following the success of its 2012 run that saw Mark Galedo winning the P1 million top purse in the tournament, Ronda Pilipinas is set to return to Baguio City next year announced in their web page rondapilipinas.com.

"Mga Ka-Ronda, last week pasok na sa Sinulog Festival ang Ronda Pilipinas 2013, this week pasok na naman tayo sa Panagbenga Festival sa Baguio City. Two big festivals and 1 big race,” announced the country’s largest bike fest in the country.

The race is set to start early this year to visit the country’s premiere festival, which include Baguio’s crowd drawer Flower Festival and Cebu’s Sinulog with 18 stages from the original 15 laps.

The new stages will include Zamboanga City, where the race will start.

One of the race advocacies is to promote “LBC’s Go Green” in order to raise awareness for environmental preservation which has become an integral part of all of LBC’s initiatives, with Ronda Pilipinas being the latest addition to its projects.

The 2012 race attracted 16 teams and 96 racers and took them through challenging but scenic routes in Luzon, Visayas and Minandao.

Six-man teams of professional cyclists or elite clubs will be invited by the Ronda Pilipinas committee to join the qualifying rounds, which will start in October 2012 where it is expected to cover more than 2,200 kilometers in 22 days. (Roderick Osis)