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$540,000 prize purse for Abu Dhabi Gran Fondo winners

The Abu Dhabi Gran Fondo saw 500 amateur athletes tackle a 150km course from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain with top riders sharing a $540,000 prize purse

$540,000 prize purse for Abu Dhabi Gran Fondo winners

The inaugural edition of the Bike Abu Dhabi Festival took place this weekend with championship events, community rides and prize money worth Dh2 million. The Abu Dhabi Gran Fondo saw 500 amateur athletes tackle a 150km course from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain and compete for a Dh2 million prize pot on Saturday with an equal split for both men and women.

The Gran Fondo Abu Dhabi is the world’s largest one-day amateur prize list, AED 2,000,000 ($540,000 USD) for amatuer Gran Fondo riders across six age categories equally split between men and women. Professional riders are not eligible for the cash prizes and are to be removed from the results.

Grega Bole (Shabab Al Ahli Cycling Team) won the overall race and the 18-39 year-old open category with a time of 3h 33m 32s Essaid Abelouache was second and Yahya Aldeen Khalifa third

Dubai Police Cycling Team took all podium places in the women’s race, Olivija Baleisyte claimed both the overall and 18-39 year-old win in 3h 44m 47s, Makhabbat Umutzhanova was second and Ebtissam Zayed third.

Jill Mair won the women's 40-49 masters age category in 4h 2m 15s and Danilo Colombo the men's in 3h 35m 18s.

Melanie Bowman won the 50+ year-old women's veteran’s race in 4h 34m 55s and Noor Haouchine the men's in 3h 44m 16s.

Link to Gran Fondo Abu Dhabi results: https://results.sporthive.com/events/6995289694883358464/races/1

As part of the festival, Abu Dhabi hosted two world-class cycling events. The fifth edition of the UCI Urban Cycling World Championship being held in the region for the first time and comprised of three disciplines: BMX Freestyle Park (on the Olympic Games programme since Tokyo 2020), as well as the BMX Freestyle Flatland and trials. The championship concluded on Sunday.

Dubai will also host a UCI Gran Fondo World Championship Series race in February 2023 at the Spinney’s Dubai 92 Cycle Challenge.

Abu Dhabi to host 2028 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships

Abu Dhabi hailed a 'UCI Bike City' and unveils new 109km Loop and velodrome.

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, has accepted the prestigious “Bike City” label from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). 

The city is the first destination in Asia to receive the distinction. Other towns with the status include Bergen in Norway; Copenhagen, the Danish capital; Glasgow in Scotland; and the French capital of Paris.

The UCI is the world governing body for sport cycling and the categorisation recognises Abu Dhabi’s efforts to promote cycling, said Sheikh Khaled.

“Through visionary thinking, the emirate has developed state-of-the-art sport and community facilities that help enhance Abu Dhabi’s position as one of the world’s most liveable cities,” he said.

“This exciting new chapter for the emirate will see Abu Dhabi achieve even greater heights in its work to drive sustainability across all areas of life, to advance dynamic urban development and to create as many opportunities as possible for people to live healthy, active lives.”

In tandem with the award ceremony on Tuesday, Abu Dhabi also announced a series of new measures and facilities to encourage more people to take up cycling.

Planned infrastructure projects include a new 109-kilometre designated cycling track called the Abu Dhabi Loop and a 3,500-seat velodrome, called the Velodrome Hudayriyat, to be built on Hudayriyat Island.

The Loop will be a segregated cycleway linking key destinations around the city and the 12,000-square-metre velodrome will offer track racing.

In total, the emirate plans to extend its current 300km cycling network to more than 1,000km.

UCI Gran Fondo World Championships Calendar

The UCI Gran Fondo World Championships are held every year in September.

  2023 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships - Glasgow, Scottland 
  2024 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships - Aalborg, Demark
  2025 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships - Melbourne, Australia
  2026 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships - Victoriaville, Canada
  2027 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships - TBD
  2028 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships - Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi to host 2028 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships

 
Tag: abudhabigranfondo
 
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