2020 UCI Gran Fondo World Series: to reach all continents with 10 new events | SWIM

Swim.by, SWIM Channel, Andrzej Waszkewicz

2020 UCI Gran Fondo World Series: to reach all continents with 10 new events

The UCI Gran Fondo World Series will grow significantly next season with 10 new events featured on the 2020 calendar. The UCI Gran Fondo World Series, the UCI’s mass participation series, will comprise 27 qualifying events worldwide in 2019-2020.

2020 UCI Gran Fondo World Series, GRAN FONDO RACES 2020, Gran Fondo Calendar 2020, www.swim.by, Gran Fondo World Championships 2020, Gran Fondo Cycling 2020, Гран Фондо Календарь 2020, 2020 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships, Swim.by

Photo: © UCI Gran Fondo World Series

The 2020 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships will take place in Vancouver / Whistler, Canada, from 9 to 13 September 2020.

In 2019, a total of more than 60,000 riders - representing 76 different nationalities - took part in the events of the series, strengthening its standing as a leader in mass participation events worldwide.

The UCI is also happy to announce a new African qualifier event in Casablanca, Morocco. UCI Granfondo Casablanca, taking place on 23 February 2020, will start and finish in the city centre and follow the coastline for a flat and fast course in an exotic climate. It will be the first African event on the calendar since 2015.

Photo: © UCI Gran Fondo World Series / Granfondo Casablanca

The fourth new event on the calendar is «Around Samcheok» in the Republic of Korea on the weekend of 11-12 April 2020. It will feature a time trial on Saturday and a Gran Fondo on Sunday, with parts of the course following the coastline, but also tackling one major climb.

Photo: © Around Samcheok / Korea Times

Turkey will also host a new Gran Fondo in the city of Canakkale, famous for its Trojan horse and the epic battle fought during World War I. UCI Gran Fondo Troy will take place on 26 April 2020.

Photo: © UCI Gran Fondo World Series

Gran Fondo Moscow joins the UCI Gran Fondo World Series for the first time. It will be organised for the third year in the city centre of the Russian capital, where the cycling road race on May will follow a 16 km loop around the ring of Moscow, passing next to the Red Square and other iconic buildings. The individual time trial race, which will take place a day earlier, will be on wide open lanes near Moscow University.

Photo: © Gran Fondo Russia

Riders who are curious to get a first glimpse of potential 2021 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships courses can participate in the Granfondo Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the last weekend of May. It will feature an individual time trial and granfondo / mediofondo in the city where the battle for the rainbow jerseys will take place in 2021.

Gran Fondo Dnipro Race in the Ukraine will be the 8th new event in the calendar with a 20 km time trial and a 83 or 155 km Gran Fondo on mainly flat roads with some 10 shorter hills.

Photo: © Gran Fondo Dnipro Race

Villars-sur-Ollon, located in the Alpes Vaudoises, near the UCI headquarters and the UCI World Cycling Centre, will offer the new Gran Fondo Suisse on 26-28 June 2020. During the weekend, riders will have the opportunity to participate in a 9.9 km mountain time trial (785m of elevation) and a tough 104 km Gran Fondo comprising 5 climbs and finish on top of Col de la Croix (8.4 km with an average gradient of 7.3%).

Photo: © UCI Gran Fondo World Series

Riders from Eastern Canada and the North Eastern US regions as well as those who will have missed qualification in Vancouver will have a new destination as last new qualifier for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships. La Classique des Appalaches, in Victoriaville (Québec) will also host the National Masters Cycling Championships in one combined event.

Photo: © UCI Gran Fondo World Series

The existing stopovers in the UCI Gran Fondo World Series, which include Amy’s Gran Fondo, Tre Valli Varesine, Bathust Cycling Classic, Cyprus Gran Fondo, Tour de Bintan, Tour de Brisbane, Schleck Granfondo, GF Rio de Janeiro, Cheaha Challenge Granfondo, Greek Granfondo, UCI GF San Luis Potosi, Tour of Cambridgeshire, Maraton Franja, Gran Fondo Ezaro, Cache Gran Fondo, La Leggendaria Charly Gaul and Niseko Classic are proven high quality-events with excellent organisation and are all confirmed in the 2020 UCI Gran Fondo World Series Calendar.

For the first time in its history, the UCI Gran Fondo World Series will stop over in all 5 continents.

Photo: © Tour de Bintan

Top 20% to qualify for 2020 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships:

At its meeting in June, the UCI Management Committee also approved the official qualification system for the 2020 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in Vancouver / Whistler (CAN). It should be noted that the percentage of qualified riders in each category has been reduced from 25% to 20% due to the increased number of qualification events. This measure will prioritise rider safety at the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships.