BAGUIO, Philippines – In the shadow of the famous Lions Head in Baguio, a new alpha roars to rule his new kingdom.
Dae Yeong Joo, captain of the Korean cycling team Gapyeong, survived the eighth and final stage of the 2025 Tour of Luzon by the skin of his teeth, just enough to win the Great Revival’s individual overall championship and its accompanying P1 million grand prize.
Though only finishing 22nd in the final ascent to City of Pines with a time of 4 hours, 21 minutes, and 31 seconds hampered by an early flat tire, Joo kept his cool, his heart, and most importantly, the individual general classification or overall lead up to the very end.
The 28-year-old phenom, who lost all but one of his teammates in multiple crashes, completed the eight stages with a cumulative clocking of 22 hours, 21 minutes, and 8 seconds – just six seconds ahead of second overall placer Jan Paul Morales of Standard Insurance Philippines.
The Korean earned the top purse of P1 million, wearing the yellow jersey symbolic of overall leadership from the second stage after ruling the opening race, all the way to the Tour finish in the country’s summer capital. Morales clocked a mere six ticks behind Joo to settle for second place with P500,000.
“[I] just take one day [at a time]. I don’t [know that I’ll win], [I just] race [til I] the finish,” an exhausted Joo told reporters after the race. “Every time, [I just] keep going in every race.”
Joshua Pascual conquers Kennon Road; Mervin Corpuz falls from grace
Seemingly out of nowhere, meanwhile, 23-year-old Joshua Pascual of Excellent Noodles Cycling ruled the King of the Mountain challenge by scorching the winding 34.3-kilometer steep ascent up Kennon Road.
The pride of Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya finished at Camp John Hay with a stage time of 4 hours, 16 minutes, and 14 seconds for P100,000 and the prestigious Eagle of the Mountain title.
The final stage turned into a heartbreaking fall from grace for MPT DriveHub captain Mervin Corpuz, who suffered cramps midway through what should have been a familiar home soil ascent, and lost his provisional 2-minute, 30-second lead over Joo to fall all the way to 38th overall when the dust settled.
Corpuz, however, did just enough to still help his team MPT DriveHub edge Standard Insurance Philippines at the very last moment to win a collective 1 million pesos in the final team general classification standings.
Recapping history
In a rundown of the prior seven stages, Joo established his eventual tournament-winning time advantage in a dominant Stage 1 conquest at Paoay, Ilocos Norte, with a 4-minute, 22-second gap over the next best rider.
The Stage 2 team time trial at Vigan, Ilocos Sur was topped by Standard Insurance Philippines, while Stages 3 and 4 across Agoo, La Union and Clark, Pampanga were both snatched at the very last second by Victoria Sports’ young sprinter Ean Cajucom.
Former waiter turned winner Joseph Javiniar of Excellent Noodles convincingly ruled Stage 5 or the Clark-to-Clark Pampanga-Tarlac loop, while Malaysian rider Mohammad Wahhi dominated Stage 6 at Lingayen, Pangasinan, the hotbed of Philippine cycling.
Stage 6 was also most notable for Corpuz shaving a significant two-minute advantage from Joo’s lead, which ultimately played a part in Corpuz’s Stage 8 provisional lead, only to fall apart in the final ascent.
Javiniar seized the moment one last time in the Stage 7 individual time trial at Labrador, Pangasinan, before the tour culminated in a razor-thin championship win for Joo.
Across a thousand kilometers, a thousand more lessons were learned and countless more memories were made.
While winners and losers were known, the true victor, the true essence of this Tour of Luzon stands alone: That all of this is for the love and the great revival of Philippine cycling. – Rappler.com