The Great Revival: The Tour of Luzon comes back with eight-stage competition

The fabled Tour of Luzon comes to life this summer with more than a hundred riders representing at least 15 teams competing for pride, honor and the title as the Philippines’ best cyclist for eight stages covering seven provinces and more than a thousand kilometers from April 24 to May 1.

"Summer won’t be the same again,” top-notched sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan told Friday’s press conference at the Lighthouse of Meralco Building.

Pangilinan himself is reviving his own passion for cycling—on top of more than a dozen sports he supports through the MVP Sports Foundation—having personally flagged off the 2009 Padyak Pinoy that started at BGC and finished in his hometown Apalit in Pampanga.

“Cycling is all about speed, determination and the courage to conquer the elements, much in the same way as what we do in business,” Pangilinan said.

“Business is like cycling, you train your body and prepare your mind, you set a goal to be ahead of the rest at the finish line—but in between you face all sorts of challenges.”

Bringing back what was called the annual “Summer Sports Spectacle on Wheels” is Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) with their event partner and organizer, DuckWorld PH. MPTC is the largest toll road developer and operator in the Philippines in terms of vehicle traffic volume, revenue levels, asset base, and combined length of expressways in kilometers. 

“The Tour of Luzon will always be a monument in Philippine sports history, thus the strong desire for us to revive the passion and the tradition of summer,” said Arrey A. Perez, Chief Regulatory Officer of MPTC. The team champion, according to Perez, will bring home P1 million and a year’s possession of the Tour of Luzon Perpetual Trophy, while the general classification or individual overall champion will become P500,000 richer.

Dubbed as “The Great Revival,” the Tour of Luzon 2025 kicks off with a 170-km outand-back route via Pagudpud in Stage 1 in Laoag City in President Ferdinand R. Marcos’s home province Ilocos Norre on April 24, followed by an 80-km team time trial Stage 2 from Laoag City to Vigan City on April 25.

Stage 3 brings the race sanctioned by the PhilCling from Vigan City to Agoo in La Union on April 26, before the riders pedal south to Clark over 150 kms in Stage 4 on April 27— stages that would bring the best out of the sprinters in the pack.

Next up on April 28 will be Stage 5, highlighting the magnificent SCTEX road. It will see the riders flagging off from Clark toward the u-turn at the New Clark City in Capas—a short 120-km route passing through the iconic Sacobia Bridge marked with what even elite cyclists call a gristly route where they have to contend with strong crosswinds, blistering heat and an up and down and up again strength-sapping roads. From Clark, it will be the 150-km Stage 6 on April 29 to the Pangasinan Provincial Capitol just off the World War II historically marked spot in Lingayen Gulf.

The penultimate Stage 7 on April 30 will bring some relief to the already worn muscles of the riders—a 30-km individual time trial stage—enough for them to prepare and focus on the “Big One.” The final grind—Stage 8—will practically punish and put to test all what’s left of the pack—a 180-km sacrifice from Lingayen right on Labor Day to Camp John Hay in Baguio City.

:The Queen Stage, where the men are separated from the boys, where the mind must be at its toughest to make the body work at its best,” Patrick Gregorio said, Chairman of DuckWorld PH.

The final 25 kms will all be uphill—on Kennon Road where cycling careers were either shattered or made, to the Scout Hill finish that poses one of the toughest final 3-km stretch in Tour of Luzon history.

The Tour of Luzon revival is targeted to feature 15 teams of seven riders each with UCI Continental Teams 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines, Standard Insurance Philippines, Victoria Cycling Team and Go-For-Gold Cycling Team already expressing their intention to join the revival.

Joining them are top-tier Philippine club teams Excellent Noodles, DREYNA Pro Cycling/Lacerta Group,Dandex Multi-Sports and Tom N Toms Philippines, a squad composed of the country’s top under-23 riders.

Provincial teams from Iloilo, Nueva Viscaya, Davao and Cebu have also shown interest in the Tour of Luzon, whose rich history began with the Manila-Vigan Race in 1955 and carried various brand names like the Tour of Luzon, Marlboro Tour, Tour Pilipinas, Padyak Pinoy and the UCI-calendared Le Tour de Pilipinas.

Although a domestic race, words on the Tour of Luzon revival have reach foreign soil with the Singapore National Team, ASC Monsters Indonesia and three top clubs from Thailand requesting to be invited to the race.

The Tour of Luzon will also showcase renowned celebrity cyclists participating in the Executive Race, one of the highlights of the TOL2025 Side Community Event.