The Slow Pro Tour takes on the Philippines

The Philippines are a largely under-discovered grouping of islands in the South China Sea. Far from the classic routes and famous mountains of Europe and North America, cycling in the Philippines is normally reserved for the locals, with foreign travellers occasionally stumbling on the many mountains, rich coastlines and vivid cultures of the South Asian nation.

To discover more of what the country has to offer the curious cyclist, GCN has sent Conor Dunne to do his farthest-flung Slow Pro Tour amongst the islands. While Larry Warbasse is away racing, Conor called in a favour from a former professional to step up and tackle the challenge with him. This time, Conor even chose a rider who might be closer to the Irishman’s big proportions.

For the next instalment of the series, Conor headed out to the Philippines with none other than 14-time Tour de France stage winner, and one of the best sprinters of all time: Marcel Kittel. Kittel has been retired from the pro peloton for a number of years now, but the German has stayed fit and engaged in cycling throughout retirement. That being said, this tour through the Philippines is one that will be hard even with the muscle memory of the World Tour level racing still in the legs of both riders.

For this Slow Pro Tour, the two riders will be on the Philippines' largest island of Luzon for a five-day adventure. On the route, they’ll be traversing the highest mountains in the Philippines. The adventure will take the riders through 500km of roads with an astonishing 11000m of climbing. Beautiful scenery, friendly locals and epic mountain roads – all of the ingredients for the perfect trip on two wheels.

Over the course of the documentary, not only do Conor and Marcel explore the hinterlands of the Philippines, but they also get to recount their experiences as professionals and especially Marcel’s career in retrospect. Everything from his early days racing to his retirement is touched upon during the two riders' five days together.

To watch the trailer for Slow Pro Tour: Philippines, click the video above. To watch the full video – like the tours Conor and Larry did in Crete and the Canary Islands – be sure to subscribe to GCN+ where you can watch the full collection of GCN+ documentaries, as well as bike racing from around the world and across the cycling calendar.

Conor Dunne

GCN Presenter

Readdressing the power balance of the GCN crew