Sports Eye
Our local bets for 2013 Ronda Pilipinas
By Jess Garcia
REPORTS reaching me indicate that the 16-day road saga of the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas bikathon will definitely reel off on January 12 next year. And for the first time in the history of Philippine professional cycling since its birth in 1955, the multi-stage bicycle road race commences in Zamboanga province and will wind up on February 1 at Burnham Park in Baguio, the scenic City of Pines.
The 96 participants, including our 23 local bets, are now on their intensive training aiming to grab the P1 million individual top prize plus another P1 million for the team prize, excluding the P50,000 allotted for the daily stage winner. The 23 Pangasinenses who passed the grueling October 27-28 qualifying races will be distributed to different teams. And like in the past, the Ronda organizers allocated two teams for Pangasinan, the West and the East, with six members composing each team. But unfortunately our best in the province like former champions Santy Barnachea of Umingan and Baler Ravina of Asingan will not head our Pangasinan squads this time. My informant said the 2011 Ronda king Barnachea and 2012 Le Tour de Filipinas winner Ravina will join a commercial squad but declined as of this time to name the firm. That’s bad news for our province because these two eastern riders are our best bets in next year’s Ronda. The others are the upcoming Harvey Sicam (nephew of the late 1981-82 Marlboro Tour champ Jacinto Sicam) from San Manuel and the youthful Mark Julius Bonzo from Sual, the only cycling child of the late 1983 Marlboro Tour champ Romeo Bonzo. The four are the toughest veteran riders among our 23 local bets with so much experience in multi-stage racing, especially in mountain climbing which is undoubtedly very essential to win the crown. I’m not belittling the capability of the other 19 but based on their previous performances, the four perennially landed in the top ten (if not champion) in the overall standing in recent multi-stage national racing.
But what surprised to me is the non-participation this year of Pozorrubians Arnel Quirimit and Nilo Estayo, both military men. Quirimit, now in his late 30’s, said he was so busy organizing sporting events at Camp Aguinaldo as ordered by his commanding officer and that did not give him have enough time to train for the qualifying races. Meanwhile Estayo suffered a fall in a mountain bike event a week before the qualifying races and badly fractured his collarbone. His doctor advised him not to join any bike race for at least six months. Quirimit said he will try to make it next year as well as his town mate Estayo.
Well, with or without Quirimit and Estayo, let’s wish our boys victory, at least for individual honors if not the team championship. As I have always said, our boys’ victory is not only for themselves or for their families but also for us, Pangasinenses.
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Please indulge me as I congratulate the Pitaki boys and girls of my son Jazy for bringing honor to my village Buenlag in the basketball and volleyball games in my town Mangaldan. His Pitaki cagers captured the annual Mangaldan Knockout Invitational Basketball Tournament (for 21 years old and below) held last November 24 at the newly refurbished covered court of Barangay Landas and placed third in the volleyball tilt held at Barangay David on the same date. Congratulations to my daughter Raina too for placing third in a singing contest in Barangay David and to my neighbor Jessa Lagera for winning the cooking contest in Barangay Alitaya. The four competitions were all held under the auspices of our hardworking village chair Melchor D. de Guzman. Mabuhay po kayong lahat and carry on the good work.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 THESSALONIANS 5: 19-23
