Sunbuild Top End Gran Fondo to go ahead on Sunday, August 30th

Australia's Sunbuild Top End Gran Fondo will go ahead in 2020! On Sunday 30 August, Darwin Cycling Club will host the 9^th edition of the Northern Territory’s largest cycling event

“Community sports events around the world have been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. We are incredibly fortunate that the sacrifices made by Territorians in recent months have seen us emerge as one of the safest places in the country. We see this year’s Sunbuild Top End Gran Fondo as some small reward for those sacrifices.” said Ben Gibson, Darwin Cycling Club Chairperson.

“In the last few months, a huge number of people have taken the chance to reacquaint themselves with riding a bike, some for the first time since they were kids. We encourage all of those riders to capitalise on that enthusiasm and challenge yourself by entering the Sunbuild Top End Gran Fondo.” Gibson added.

Following consultation with the NT Department of Health, and to ensure another fun and safe event, a COVID-19 safety plan will be implemented and riders from previous years will notice a number of changes including: enhanced hygiene at aid stations, individually portioned hydration and nutrition, and an extra two distance options to reduce congestion at the start lines.

This means there will be something for riders of all abilities with participants able to choose from six distances:

145km Sunbuild Top End Gran Fondo

109km Kirkland Lake Gold Tonne

60km Darwin Family Law Half Fondo

25km Territory Fun Fondo

10km Top End Fondo

3km Royal Flying Doctors Service Mini Fondo

Assistant Minister for Sport, Mr Tony Sievers MLA shared the events enthusiasm for proceeding.

“The Gran Fondo is a great community event that we have supported for the past four years and the Northern Territory Government has provided $25k to make this year’s event happen. Cycling is more popular than ever in the NT and this event just goes from strength to strength. The organisers have done a great job getting this year’s event up and running and I encourage all interested participants to get involved again,” Mr Sievers said.

Also, for the first time, those unable to make it to Darwin are able to participate in a virtual event and ride the same roads from the comfort of home but without the beautiful top end dry season weather.

We would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of the Northern Territory Government in helping us get this year’s Sunbuild Top End Gran Fondo off the ground under such challenging circumstances.

For more information, please visit: https://www.topendgrandfondo.com.au