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Wednesday, August 20, 2003
3rd district bikefest mulled
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
I WAS informed last Monday by a close pal of mine and one of the bosom buddies of Pangasinan third district Rep. Generoso Tulagan, that a cycling road race is in the offing tentatively scheduled on the first week of October this year.
This prominent person in the province who spoke on conditions of anonymity said that the bikefest would be dubbed as "Tour de Tersero Distrito" in conjunction with the celebration of Cong. Tulagan's birthday. It will start and finish in San Carlos City, his birthplace.
My source said that although the exact date is not yet fixed, he believes it will be slated on October 5th traversing all the towns of the third district twice with an approximate distance of 168 kilometers.
He added that prizes amounting to P40,000 would be at stake plus trophies that would be participated in by around 60 accredited cyclists in Pangasinan and neighboring provinces including Manila.
The first time a bicycle road race with this kind of format was done in March, 2001.
Despite the presence of eight members of our national squad led by Tour champions Warren Davadilla, Victor Espiritu and Arnel Quirimit, it was local boy Ericson Obosa of Manaoag who bagged the championship convincingly crossing the finish line, stunning cycling aficionados including myself.
Visitor Joseph Millanes of Paniqui, Tarlac came in second and Mangaldan upcoming rider Renato Sembrano checked in third.
It will be done again after two-and-a-half years of absence. Thanks to Cong. Tulagan and his friends. At least our local boys who I believe will dominate the numbers of participants (as usual, if not the race), will be given again a chance to prove their worth in this kind of two-wheeled event.
I was also told from my other reliable source that the qualifying races for the 2004 Tour Pilipinas fall on the months of October and November.
So, the Tulagan's race is good for their tune-up to measure their brawn in road playing. The "big race" is half year to go.
Our very own 2003 Tour Pilipinas champion Arnel Quirimit phoned me the other day saying four members of the RP team namely Victor Espiritu, Lucien Reynante, Elmo Ramos and him will enplane to Kuala Lumpur last week of September to join the three-day Tour of Malaysia.
He also said that hopefully they're back in town before October 5th so they can join the said Tulagan's occasion.
He added that there's a plan by the Philippine Amateur Cycling Association (Paca) to send them to Melbourne, Australia to train there on November in preparation for the December Southeast Asia Games in Vietnam.
That's a great idea. I tip my hat to that, to the czars of Paca. Hopefully it will push through.
(August 20, 2003 issue)
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