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One of the brightest cycling talents in the Philippines, Nash Lim is closing in on a top-three finish in the overall individual classification at the 2026 Tour of Luzon as he finishes fourth for MPT DriveHub.
MANILA, Philippines – Foreigners dominated the 2026 Tour of Luzon, but MPT DriveHub’s Nash Lim shined as the Philippines’ best rider.
Lim came close to cracking the top three of the individual general classification (GC) when he finished fourth at the conclusion of the grueling 14-stage summer festival that started in Calatagan, Batangas, and ended in Baguio City, Benguet, on Wednesday, May 13.
One of the Philippines’ brightest talents at the age of 23, Lim posted an overtime time of 41 hours, 20 minutes and 23 seconds, just 2 minutes and 28 seconds behind third-place Syrian Ibrahim Alrefai of LCW UAE Cycle.
Russian Nikita Shulchenko of LCW UAE Cycle took the overall title in 41 hours, 11 minutes, and 10 seconds, with French rider Antoine Huby of 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines coming in second, 1 minute and 34 seconds behind.
“I’m very happy. I made sure to get fourth in the GC to finish as the best Filipino,” said Lim, who beat more experienced riders in Ronnilan Quita (5th), Mervin Corpuz (7th), Rustom Lim (8th), and Rench Michael Bondoc (10th).
Before becoming a professional cyclist, Lim said he was a teenager who was into computer games such as Valorant and Counter-Strike.
Lim already rode a bicycle at a young age, but he took the sport more seriously when the epidemic led to the rise of cycling in the world.
“I was already cycling. During this epidemic, I joined people who were mountain biking, and I realized that racing was fun. I just kept going,” said Lim.
Lim’s talent has opened doors internationally.
A popular athlete from Caloocan races for Factor Racing, a UCI team based in Slovenia, and has competed in Europe and the Middle East.
Lim, a two-time national individual time trial (ITT) champion, was brought along by MPT DriveHub trainer Mark Galedo for the Tour of Luzon.
Although Lim failed to make the podium in all 14 stages, he was regularly in the GC individual mix with four top-five finishes.
Lim placed fourth in stage 7 of the 22.9km ITT; fifth in stage 8 with a length of 148.4 km; fourth in stage 12 of 141.4 kilometers from Agoo, La Union, to Mangatarem, Pangasinan; and fourth again in the 13th stage of the 20-kilometer ITT in Lingayen, Pangasinan, where he climbed to fourth in the individual GC.
However, the best third place in the individual GC, fell short for Lim as he finished sixth in the 14th stage of 169.9 kilometers from Lingayen to Baguio City, with Alrefai just behind in seventh.
Still, it was a big improvement for Lim, who finished 15th at the Tour of Luzon in 2025, when he raced for D’Reyna Orion Cement.
With the Tour of Luzon taking the title of foreign champions back-to-back, with Korean Joo Dae-yeong of the Gapyeong Cycling Team reigning in 2025, Lim aims to win one day.
“Everybody dreams of being a champion,” he said. – Rappler.com
