FROM basketball to cycling.
Former Rain or Shine and Ginebra forward Jervy Cruz is bringing a major cycling event — the Solid North Larga Pilipinas — to his hometown of Nampicuan, where he is a councilor, on November 29 and 30.
Born and raised in this small town of Nueva Ecija, Cruz shared how passionate his kababayans are about the two-wheeled sport.
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“Grabe ang cycling dito sa amin. Maya’t maya may mga laro. Sanay na nga mga tao dito na biglang may dadaang karera sa 'min. Kasi pati yung kapitbahay namin na Cuyapo at Guimba, regularly may mga races din,” said Cruz.
Upon learning of the success of Larga Pilipinas — which is presented by Smart Communications, Red Dynasty Seafood and Hotpot Restaurant and Smart Sports, in the Guimba and Palayan City stages — Cruz shared how he immediately contacted the management of the league.
“Nakita namin ni Mayor (Mario) Lacurom yung race nila sa Guimba at Palayan noong August, nasa 11,000 yung sumali. So, sabi ko kilala ko yung organizer, tawagan ko nga,” he said.
“So, eto magre-race na kami sa November 29,” said the former UST Tigers star.
Cruz bared that in his term as councilor, he has focused more on sports, youth, and peace and order in Nampicuan, utilizing the discipline he learned playing basketball under coaches Yeng Guiao and Tim Cone.
He believes that after him, there will be more players, cyclists and sports stars who will come out of Nampicuan.
“Ayaw ko naman na ako na ang last na athlete from our province na magre-represent ng Nampicuan. Kaya gumagawa kami ng paraan para maka-discover ng mga batang atleta who will one day give pride to our town,” said Cruz, who last played for the Basilan Steel in the MPBL.
Meanwhile, Cruz also shared that apart from the free races for cyclists who will compete in 13 categories of the Larga Pilipinas, they will also give away a few units of Yamaha PG-1 to lucky participants during the two-day, two-stage event.
“We’re happy that Yamaha came in to support cycling, aside from Solid North and Smart, unti-unti nang dumadami ang nakakakita sa potential ng sport, which is really very popular sa 'min sa Nueva Ecija and even sa Pangasinan and Tarlac and in other parts of the country,” he said.
Under the plan, there will be simultaneous races each day, one for the professional/elite and the other, the People’s Race, for grassroots development that will have events for Men 23-under, Men 18-under, Men Senior 24-39, Men 40-up, Women 18-under, Women 23-under and Women Open in Roadbike, Men MTB Open, Women MTB Open, Fixed Gear and Phat Boyz race for male riders weighing 90 kilos and up and the fun ride for plain hobbyists.
The event is supported by the grassroots program of the Philippine Sports Commission, Solid North Party-list, Sen. Bong Go, Sen. Erwin Tulfo, Manny Pacquiao, Palayan City Mayor Vianne Cuevas and the MVP Sports Foundation and sanctioned by Philcycling of POC president Bambol Tolentino.
Race route
Stage 1 for the pros will be a 136-kilometer, Nampicuan-to-Nampicuan route, passing through cycling hubs Tarlac and Pangasinan before returning to the starting point on November 29.
A backbreaking Nampicuan to Sitio Baag Highlands Stage 2 in San Jose, Tarlac the next day will cap the race that is also backed by Yamaha Motor Philippines, Midas Smart Resources Corp, Chickyfam, Hytera, Twin Cycle Gear, Titan Ultra, NLEX-SCTEX, PCSO Scratchit, Go for Gold, Zen Skin Institute, Phenom Sportswear, Elves and the Zamboanga Valientes.
The People’s Race, Stage 1 will be a 106-km Nampicuan to Nampicuan via Tarlac with stage 2 set on the same route of the pro/elite.
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