Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Tour de Filipinas

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Local name(s)
  
Tour ng Pilipinas

First winner
  
Antonio Arzala (PHI)

Region
  
Philippines

First edition
  
1955 (as Tour of Luzon)

Type
  
Stage race

Discipline
  
Road bicycle racing

Most recent
  
Jai Crawford (AUS)

Competition
  
UCI Asia Tour 2.2


English name
  
Tour of the Philippines

Organiser
  
Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines

Most wins
  
Antonio Arzala (PHI) (3 wins)

Le tour de filipinas 2017 stage 1 legazpi to sorsogon


The Le Tour de Filipinas is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Luzon, Philippines since 1955 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It is held in April every year. While the course changes every year, the tour traditionally ends at Rizal Park, Manila, although recently the tour has ended in Baguio after being licensed by the UCI. Its previous names included the Tour of Luzon, Marlboro Tour, Tour of Calabarzon, Tour Pilipinas and Padyak Pinoy, before carrying the current name.

Contents

Tour de Filipinas Australian takes crashmarred Le Tour de Filipinas opener

Le tour de filipinas stage 4 daet to lucena


1955 – 1976: Tour of Luzon

In 1955, the Tour was launched as a four-stage race from Manila to Vigan race won by Antonio Arzala. But, a year later, the race was renamed as the Tour of Luzon and carried the name until 1976 (there was no tour held in 1968, 1970–1972).

Tour de Filipinas datasportsabscbncommediaarticles1455698178

Among the prominent riders include Pangasinan riders Cornelio Padilla, Jr. and Jesus Garcia, Jr., who were two-time Tour champions along with Jose Sumalde of Catanduanes. However, in 1977, a rift within the PCAP (see below) led to a split of two tours during the said year. However, according to the Padyak Pinoy website, the event organized by Geruncio Lacuesta is recognized on their official list. The tour's name ended by 1978 as Marlboro entered the scene.

1979 – 1998: Marlboro Tour

By 1979, Marlboro became the official sponsor of the tour and the event was named as Marlboro Tour, a name that is commonly familiar to ardent racers and fans. During these times, the tour expanded its routes, by including cities from Visayas in the leg, with the final laps regularly held at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.

From 1997-1998, the tour allowed riders from Asia to compete in the event and was sanctioned by the UCI. It also led to Wong Kam-po of Hong Kong to become the first non-Filipino to win the event in 1997, after overtaking 1996 winner Victor Espiritu for the lead in the latter stages.

The format used for the teams are based on provinces with the national team included in the race. It was also the same format when Asian riders participated in the event beginning in 1997.

1999 – 2001: End of Marlboro Tour

In 1999, Marlboro backed out as sponsor which proved to be a devastating blow to the organizers. The tour lost about a possible 60-million pesos to finance the tour. With this, there was no tour held from 1999-2001. To compensate the loss of the so-called "Summer Cycling Spectacle", other groups formed mini-races during the summer.

2002 – Recent years

In 2002, the tour was revived after Airfreight 2100 of Bert Lina and Lito Alvarez financed the tour. A four-leg race was held in late-May known as Tour of CALABARZON won by Santy Barnachea. A year later, the tour was renamed as Tour Pilipinas, and held a 17-leg race, the longest since 1998. The tour was won by Arnel Quirimit of Pangasinan.

Ryan Tanguilig won in 2004 in a 10-stage tour. In 2005, the tour was renamed as the Golden Tour 50 @ 05, honoring the 50th anniversary of the Tour. 1998 champion Warren Davadilla, who won the last edition of the Marlboro, was the champion. In 2006, several disputes within the Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines led to a short eight stage event dubbed with the current Padyak Pinoy name, won by Barnachea.

Its current corporate sponsor is Airfreight 2100, the official brand-carrier of FedEx and Air21, thru the UBE Media, Inc. (producers of the TV program Panahon.TV), who has founded the tour since 2002. From 1979-1998, Marlboro was the carrying sponsor of the tour before backing out of the tour, resulting in the tour's stoppage for the next three years.

Le Tour de Pilipinas / Padyak Pinoy / FedEx/Air21 Tour

In the 2016 edition, race organizers had to stop the stage 1 event due to unprecedented road repairs, followed by traffic jams in Tiaong, Quezon, the first in the history of Le Tour de Filipinas.

References

Tour de Filipinas Wikipedia