ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/11 September) – The organizers of Ronda Pilipinas 2013, a nationwide bicycle race, has chosen this city to be the starting point of the competition.
Ronda Pilipinas 2013, the biggest nationwide cycling race covering 2,500 kilometers through Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, will take place on January 10-February 1, 2013.
Representatives of the organizers met on Monday with Mayor Celso Lobregat, city administrator Antonio Orendain Jr. and chief executive assistant Mario Roca to discuss the details of the event.
Organizers of the race include the courier company LBC, Total and MVP Sports Foundation.
At least 96 Filipino cyclists will join the race, which offers cash prizes totalling almost P8 million, the biggest prize ever, according to Jaideep Chulani, Ronda Pilipinas 2013 project director.
From January 10-11, Chulani said the 400-strong entourage of Ronda Pilipinas 2013 will arrive in the city in time for the race day, which is on January 12 at 9 a.m. It will start at City Hall.
From Zamboanga City, the race will proceed to Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay, Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur, Iligan City, Cagayan de Oro City, and Cebu.
From Cebu, the cyclists will race towards Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Pampanga, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan Valley, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet.
The Ronda Pilipinas 2013, now on its third straight year, will cover a period of 28 days.
After the meeting on Monday, Ronda Pilipinas 2013 race director Ricardo Rodriguez and race administration director Joaquin Yabut together with LBC-Western Mindanao Area
head George Delgado surveyed the race route.
Lobregat has expressed elation over the development saying it will help boost the tourism promotion efforts of the city government.
(MindaNews)
