ZAMBOANGA CITY, 9 July 2006 — Some 100 cyclists joined a grueling 95-kilometer mountain tour yesterday in a new race called the Tour de Fabian in the southern Philippines.
Contestants, some coming from as far as Cebu province in the central Philippines, raced from a dirt road in the remote Licomo village of Zamboanga Sibugay province down to Zamboanga City in the western part of Mindanao Island.
Thousands of villagers lined up along the highway to cheer the athletes. “It was really a grueling race and we hope to see them race again,” cyclist Arvin Santi said.
Security was also tight along the highway often traversed by bandits and extremist groups, including the dreaded Abu Sayyaf, during the 4-hour race.
Dozens of paramedics, backed by a convoy of vehicles and ambulances, trailed the cyclists up to the finish line.
Organizers said they hope to attract more cyclists probably next year to join the race influenced by the world’s most high-profile and most difficult bicycle race, the Tour de France.
The Tour de France, often referred to as La Grande Boucle, Le Tour or The Tour, is comprised of about 20 professional teams of nine riders per team.
The competitors race a collective distance of approximately 3,600 km traveling through France, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Spain.
It is the most famous and prestigious road bicycle race held annually since 1903 and the winner is the individual rider who finishes the course of the race in the least accumulated time.
But unlike the Tour de France, the Zamboanga Peninsula’s race bases its winners on the team that finishes first the course of the race.
The most prestigious and biggest bicycle race in the country was the Tour Pilipinas. It began as the Tour of Luzon in 1955 and evolved into the Marlboro Tour, but was scrapped in 1999 when sponsors could no longer support the race.
It was again revived in 2002, but the race was not as huge as the Tour Pilipinas. Competition was only around the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, collectively known as the Calabarzon region, near Manila.
