Wong Kam-po will set out on the longest competitive journey of his career after he was confirmed in the US$260,000 Marlboro Tour of the Philippines.
Until yesterday the Hong Kong Cycling Association had been indecisive over Wong's appearance in Asia's longest and toughest multi-stage event, from April 16 to May 4, as it would have clashed with a possible training trip to Italy.
But with June's Asian Championships in Teheran foremost in the mind of national coach Shen Jinkang , it was decided that the 2,482-kilometre, 18-stage tour would slot readily into his training schedule.
'The coach felt that he needed to take part in a major tour to prepare for the Asian Championships,' said the HKCA executive Walter Yue, adding that Wong had also been pencilled in to contest the Tour of Japan after the Philippines event.
'The Tour of Japan will have some very good riders, so that will help him in his preparations,' added Yue.
He said the decision to go ahead with the Philippines tour came after Wong received the much sought-after invitation to the Tour of Japan.
