On March 19th 2017, the Metro Race Collective, in partnership with Ortigas & Company, organized the 1st annual Circulo Verde Chase Down – a fixed gear, eliminator style criterium event held at Circulo Verde.

In the eliminator format only the strongest survive. The slowest rider each lap is taken out of the race until one winner outlasts the competition, which makes for tense, dramatic racing that leaves little room for error.

On hand for the event were USAC Sanctioned Race Director, Ravi Rajcoomar, and world-renowned cyclist, Addison Zawada, who co-hosted the event.

“I’m here to hang out and chill with everyone here in the Philippines”, says Zawada. “This is a really fun and enjoyable race for the crowd. It’s really spectator friendly.”

“This my first time here in Manila and it was great to see the level of competition”, shares Rajcoomar. “it was really, really high. Cycling can flourish here in the Philippines.

The Fixed Geared Men’s race was the highlight of the event, which saw Ronnel Hualda take the victory in a dominating fashion. It proved to be the cyclist’s strongest showing, coming in over major competition that included Philippine National Team (Go for Gold) member, Jerry Roa Aquino. The victory cements Hualda’s place for the Red Bull Last Stand, which takes place later this year at the Alamo, in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

“First time ko mag laro ng gan ‘to”, shares Hualda. “So masaya ‘ko kasi first time ko naglaro nang gan’tong klase na karera, nanalo ako!”

For Red Bull ‘Last Stand’ the typical crit race format is getting a Texas-style overhaul with the new ‘Eliminator’ format. In this cutthroat setup, the rider who crosses the finish line last on each lap gets eliminated until there’s just one rider left to take their final celebration lap.

Other highlights included the Fixed Women (open), which saw a well-earned victory from Japo Parcero. “Well, I didn’t expect it because this is my first criterium race but it feels awesome”, says Parcero. “It would be awesome for this becomes a regular event, to liven up the scene. It’s awesome Red Bull is doing this!”

Also on hand for the event was the former editor of Women’s Health Philippines, Lara Parpan. “The event is well organized, the community is tight knit so there’s this feeling of camaraderie.”