Padyak Pinoy draws MVP support, will go nationwide
Updated May 22, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Padyak Pinoy goes 18 stages spread over 21 days in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao in 2010.

This was jointly announced yesterday by Air21 chairman Bert Lina and Smart-PLDT head Manny V. Pangilinan during a courtesy call by Padyak Pinoy 2009 Tour of Champions individual titlist Joel Calderon and his Smart Buddy teammates at the PLDT offices in Makati.

“We are going nationwide to make the Padyak Pinoy truly the ‘Tour’ of the Philippines,” said Lina, currently chairman emeritus of PhilCycling.

Lina revived the Tour in 2002 after a four-year absence. Philip Morris, through Marlboro, sponsored the multi-stage cycling race until 1998 when global anti-tobacco regulations on advertising were enforced.

Pangilinan’s newfound passion for cycling has given the sport a shot in the arm.

“When I was a kid, I was animated by the Tour of Luzon,” said Pangilinan, the acknowledged Philippine sports godfather who also supports basketball, boxing, badminton and taekwondo.

“And I believe cycling is one sport that is best for Filipinos. We don’t need six-footers here,” he said, adding “and for as long as Bert Lina’s group is with cycling, I am assured of the sport’s development.”

A long-term goal of Pangilinan is for him to see a Philippine team competing in the tour of all tours, the Tour de France. “I hope that soon, we will have Filipino cyclists competing in the prestigious Tour de France,” he said.

Tanduay, the Padyak Pinoy presentor for the past three stagings, is also expected to throw its full support to the nationwide tour, according to Lina.

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