Plans to start farther south puts fabled pass in play

Nikita Shulchenko is the MPTC Tour of Luzon champion. –JONAS TERRADO

The MPTC Tour of Luzon formally announced its 2027 edition during the close of this year’s 14-stage summer cycling odyssey in Baguio on Wednesday.

And the enthusiasm that greeted the announcement was understandable.

“It’s a happy [development] because the race continues and it will help a lot of cyclists,” said 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines’ Ronnilan Quita, who placed fifth in the general classification standings.

For the second straight time, a visiting cyclist ruled the annual derby on wheels, with Russian Nikita Shulchenko taking home the top purse of P1 million after donning the yellow jersey since Stage 3 and holding off the late charge of Quita’s 7-Eleven teammate Antoine Huby.

Shulchenko, the ace rider of LCW UAE Cycle, won with a final lead of one minute and 34 seconds.

It’s unclear if Shulchenko and some of his prominent LCW teammates, like third-placer Ibrahiem Alrefai and two-stage winner Ivan Anisimov will run it back next year or if a new batch of foreign riders will try to steal the limelight anew from local riders.

Whatever the field will look like next year, it will certainly face greater tests.

There are plans to push the Tour farther south, putting into play the famed “Tatlong Eme,” the steep and tight-curling zigzag mountain pass connecting the municipalities of Pagbilao and Atimonan in Quezon Province that has bedeviled several legendary cyclists in the past.

The Tour could also reach as far as Bicol, although Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Pato Gregorio, whose office supported the race, wants to go beyond Luzon.

“The Tour de France doesn’t start in France, right? It starts in a different country,” Gregorio said. “In the near future, maybe we can start in Visayas, but still call the race ‘Tour of Luzon.’”

This year’s Tour of Luzon started in Calatagan, Batangas, with Stage 1 ending in Tagaytay. It was the only time that it was held in the southern part of the region.

The race ran through Central Luzon before heading up north, passing Clark (Pampanga), New Clark City (Capas, Tarlac), Palayan (Nueva Ecija), Bayombong (Nueva Vizcaya), Santiago (Isabela), Tuguegarao (Cagayan), Pagudpud, Paoay and Laoag (Ilocos Norte) for the first half.

The latter phase had stops in Candon and Cervantes (Ilocos Sur), San Juan and Agoo (La Union), Mangatarem and Lingayen (Pangasinan).