Birth of cycling rivalry

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

YEAR 1956 was when the first multi-stage bicycle road race was born. It was then called the “Tour of Luzon”, a one week road battle exclusively for professional cyclists. That was also the birth of professional cycling in the country.

Sta. Rosa, Laguna-born Antonio Arzala won the event while our very own Rufino Gabot from Manaoag town took the first runner-up plum. Our Pangasinan-Ilocos squad topped the team competition and defended the team supremacy thrice from 1957 to 1959.

Sensing that the elite group might dominate the annual big race for many more years, the organizers led by the father of the Tour of Luzon, the late Atty. Geruncio Lacuesta, divided the group into two and called one Pangasinan and its brother team Ilocandia.

And that was the start of the rivalry between the two Pangasinan squads as far as team competitions were concerned. It’s still happening until now.

Although Lacuesta had a valid reason to divide the unbeatable Pangasinan squad, which was to break the monopoly and dominance, still the two local squads eventually finished first and second in the yearly bikathon to the dismay of the other provincial teams.

Lacuesta divided again the Pangasinan squad in 1966 to form another two all Pangasinense teams called West and East.

This time the Lacuesta gambit was a bit successful because despite the West winning the championship, the Cagayan Valley team captured the first runner-up honor, East was third and Ilocandia was fourth. In that race, I placed ninth in the individual overall standing won by Cornelio Padilla, Jr.

Year 1967 was when more Pangasinan cyclists passed  the qualifying races that  forced Lacuesta anew to form a new team called Central Pangasinan, skippered by 1962 Tour of Luzon king Edmundo de Guzman and Dagupeno Teofilo Cuison.

Again, my West Pangasinan squad retained the title with this piece-maker capturing the first runner-up laurel.

From then on until today, it has been a battle of Pangasinan boys in the team competitions despite the race organizers’ deliberate efforts to distribute our local riders to different squads to balance the team competitions. (I can’t blame them, they had a reason to do it since they knew that an all-Pangasinense squad in the tour would be a sure winner).

July 2005 was when the now well-known Pitaki Boyz was born, a squad composed of 14 riders from Pangasinan.

Sponsored by Jazy Sportswear, the nation’s dreaded squad is under the management and tutelage of my son Jazy.

Like our local squads in the last five decades, the Pitaki Boyz are ruling the races here in the province and elsewhere, including Manila and Batangas.

In fact during their first stint abroad in Java, Indonesia three weeks ago, they placed fifth out of 22 teams and battled against the best in Asia plus Australia and Europe.

Their last race here on April 19 during the Bangus Festival Cycling Classic was another great show of dominance with the Mangaldan-based squad bagging nine honors among the top ten finishers topped by Binalonan resident Merculio Ramos, Jr.

I said it before and I’ll say it again: cycling is the best sports event that can bring in more accolades for our beloved province.

(Readers may reach columnist at biking.jess@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/sports-eye/
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