To celebrate 70 years of diplomatic friendship between France and the Philippines, the Embassy of France to the Philippines in collaboration with the Firefly Brigade, Inc present the first ever Tour de Manille (Tour of Manila) cycling race on July 9, 2017 at the North Park SM by the Bay, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay.
With the common passion of French and Filipinos for cycling, this is an ideal celebration of friendship between the two countries through sports.
This commitment is at the heart of Paris’ candidacy to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. With the slogan #VenezPartager (#MadeForSharing), Paris 2024 aspires to be a meaningful opportunity for athletes from all over the world to share emotions, ideas, progress, and innovation through sports.
Like Tour de France, which is considered as the biggest annual sporting event in the world that takes place from July 1 to 23, 2017, the organizers wishes Tour de Manille to be great not only as a sporting event but a family / barkada event as well.
The Tour de Manille covers a 5 kilometer route for the following cycling categories:
Fun Ride & Chase (5:00am) – open to all ages and bicycle types. A challenging case will commence during the last lap of the Fun Ride, where the participants, after a 2-minute head start, will be pursued by professional cyclists from Team 7-Eleven-Road Bike Philippines-Taokas, the only Philippine Continental Team registered with the International Cycling Union.
Competitive race (6:00am) – Sportif Class for Men – open to male cyclists 17 years old and above
Competitive race (6:45am) – Sportive Class for Women – open to female cyclists 17 years old and above
Le Grand Spectacle Elite Pro-Class (7:30am) – a fierce but friendly competition with participants from the best of the country’s road race cyclists representing groups such as Team Go for Gold, the steadfast Team Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance and Team 7-Eleven-Road Bike Philippines-Taokas
The first 300 riders will receive the symbolic Medallion Rouge (Red Medal) for courage (as inspired from the Tour de France where they award the Red Number for the most aggressive and combative rider), while the top 3 winners of the races will receive medals and cash prizes.
Registration is extended until July 7, 2017 through Bikers’ Cafe at the SM by the BAY in Pasay City and the Firefly Brigade Office in Quezon City.
The 1st Edition of Tour de Manille is organized by the Embassy of France to the Philippines and the Firefly Brigade Inc., in cooperation with SM by the BAY, Seafood Island, Bikers’ Cafe, and Bike Town Cyclery, and with the generous support of Peugeot Philippines, DataOne Asia, 7-Eleven, Shimano, and media partners Solar Sports, the ABS-CBN News Channel, Rogue Magazine, L’Officiel Manila, and Manilascope. This event is organized as part of “PhilFrance: Feel French!” a year-long festival to celebrate 70 years of friendship between France and the Philippines.
So register now for this exciting event.
