Gran Fondo World Tour (GFWT) is expanding its global series in 2020, starting the season with 14 events on 4 continents. As the gran fondo cycling event organiser points out, the series is ‘focused on the splendour of cycling in the most remarkable locations.’

‘Each event of the 2020 international series offers avid cyclists a memorable cycling experience with the personalized challenge of racing the clock, the route and each other.’

“Gran Fondo World Tour takes event cycling to a new level,” said Gran Fondo World Tour CEO Dani Buyo. “Our series is now in our fifth season and we continue to expand our Gran Fondo philosophy around the world. The new destinations joining our series compliment nicely the returning destinations we know so well. Our series expansion offers more races, in new exciting locations, all with the quality of organisation and safety that the GFWT is known for.”

He continued, “In order to make our series races even more attractive, we are launching our VIP Experiences alongside the cycling events. The Gran Fondo World Tour VIP Experiences provide cyclists unique travel packages around the races with everything taken care of to allow the riders to focus on the race and enjoy the overall experience of visiting these special destinations.

“We want to share places to ride your bike, encourage healthy lifestyles, grow our Gran Fondo community and share our true passion of cycling.”

Gran Fondo World Tour VIP Experiences are prepared high-end experiences designed to include cycling, cuisine, culture and activities, both for the cyclist and accompanying family and friends. GFWT will be collaborating with series events to offer these custom experiences to various destinations in 2020, with further expansion planned in 2021.

A few of the 2020 series features include… ‘the cycling mystique of South Africa, the challenging Vermont countryside, the steep South Korean landscapes of Seorak National Park, the iconic cobbles of the Netherlands in spring, the sunny weather of the Canary Islands and the extreme conditions of ultra-racing from Trondheim to Oslo in Norway.’

The series starts in mid-February with the EPIC Gran Canaria and will look to add additional events to the 2020 calendar mid-year.

“We are very excited to host the 2020 opening Gran Fondo World Tour event in Gran Canaria,” said EPIC Gran Canaria Manager, Yojan Reyes. “Gran Canaria is a true cycling destination. With an international airport, beautiful weather and amazing roads, Gran Canaria has it all and is the perfect location for riders and their families.”

GFWT’s Dani Buyo added, “The Gran Fondo World Tour now has a rolling ranking system for all members, focused on participation, rather than winning. Points are accumulated in all events and held for a year with recognition on our platform for anyone who participates in more than one event and a ranking for those who have accumulated the most points in the past twelve months.”

Gran Fondo World Championship 2020 – Seorak Gran Fondo
The 5th annual Gran Fondo World Championship will be held on May 23-24, 2020 in Seorak, South Korea. The Giant Seorak Gran Fondo event features an international peloton of riders from over 40 countries. Athletes take on a steep and challenging 208km route through Seorak National Park and compete against each other, the clock and themselves in a personal endurance challenge.

“Seorak Gran Fondo originated with 10 riders departing from the east side of Baek Bok-ryeong in the Donghae city of Gangwon Province at 5:00am on June 5th, 2010. [They rode] 265km over seven hills to reach Sokcho,” said Kisseok Uhm, Principal and Head Manager t Giant Seorak Gran Fondo.

“Consisting of beautiful mountain scenery from Seorak Mountain and O’de Mountain in Gangwon Province, the route travels through one of the best mountain areas in Korea. Our event has grown over 10 years and we are proud to be the Gran Fondo World Championship in 2020.”

This year’s participants will tackle the 208km course with four UCI category 2 climbs and one HC (Hors Catégorie) category climb with an overall 12-hour time cut. There is also a MedioFondo event – a 105 km course with two category 2 climbs and two category 4 climbs with a time limit of 7 hours.

Gran Fondo World Tour 2020 Calendar

• 15-16 February – EPIC Gran Canaria
• 6-8 March – Tour of Phuket
• 4-5 April – California Classic Weekend
• 11 April – Gran Fondo Drenthe
• 25 April – Swartberg100 Gran Fondo
• 23- 24 May – Seorak Gran Fondo
• 30-31 May – Sea Otter Europe Ciclobrava
• 31 May – Cyclotour du Léman
• 6-7 June – Gran Fondo Kazakhstan Silk Way
• 19-21 June – Styrkeproven
• 27 June – Vermont Gran Fondo
• 4-5 July – Gran Fondo Nur-Sultan Astana
• 5 July – Volta als Ports d’Andorra
• 13 September – Gran Fondo Sri Lanka

www.granfondoworldtour.com