Bruce Bird wins the Virtual Gran Fondo World Tour ® Andorra Rouvy Challenge
First round of the Virtual Gran Fondo World Tour Series saw riders from around the world tackle the Grand Tour climb of Ordino-Arcalis, with live commentary from Ex-Pro and Cycling Commentator Juan Antonio Flecha and Movistar Riders
Canadian cyclist Bruce Bird, a three times UCI amateur world champion from Toronto was fastest in the opening round of the new Gran Fondo Virtual World Championship® series climbing the 10.46 mile climb with over 3,195 feet in a time of 43m 58s.
For the women, German cyclist Heike Hardt was fastest finishing in a time of 1h 1m 2s, ahead of fellow countrywomen Sabine Ladwig (1h 2m 42s) and Tanja Lenz Team Erdinger Alkoholfrei (1h 3m 24s).
From the start, Gianfranco Pedretti attacked and built up a maximum lead of 250 metres. Behind, Norwegian cyclist and previous 2018 Gran Fondo World Tour Men’s Champion Jonas Orset (Nordic Trailblazer) moved into 2nd place (45m 59s) with Adam Pel finishing third in the men’s race (47m 46s)
Alvaro Galindo from Watts Lab started to move up the pack to the head of the race and finished in 5th place.
Professional rider Willie Smit who rode for Nippo Vini Fantini, Team Katusha-Alpecin and BURGOS-BH finished strongly overtaking several riders in the closing km’s to finish in 35th place whilst commentating on the race!
GFWT CEO Dani Buyo also in the Movistar Studio with Alvaro Galindo, crossed the finish and commented “It was great fun and good to see so many riders from around the world take part, including some professionals and past and present Gran Fondo World Tour participants”
270 riders from around the world took on the climb of Ordino-Arcalis, a 10.46 mile climb with over 3,195 feet of climbing and gradients of up to 21% in Andorra on the Rouvy virtual cycling platform.
The event was open to all cyclists, with no age restrictions in the Open Men and Women categories.
All finishers were entered into the 2021 GFWT ® series ranking with 100 Bonus points and all received a digital badge.
For the full results, please visit: https://my.rouvy.com/onlinerace/detail/45241
VIDEO REPLAY: Race in Andorra with Gran Fondo World Tour
Next Round: Andorra Rouvy Virtual Challenge, April 5th
The next round of the Gran Fondo Virtual World Championship® takes on another challenge in Andorra on April 5th 2021, full details of the challenge will be released shortly here on Gran Fondo Guide.
Qualify for the Gran Fondo Virtual World Championship® to be held in November with a $3,000 USD prize pool for the final World Champion winners, both men and women world-wide.
You will benefit with an additional FREE 15 day voucher to give you a month's worth of use on Rouvy and take your position on the start line to qualify for the Gran Fondo Virtual World Championship®.
For more information, please visit: https://www.granfondoworldtour.com
How Do I Take Part?
Click this link to register https://bit.ly/2NmkDcs and follow the instructions below.
- A Smart Trainer or Turbo Trainer, and an ANT+ or BLE power meter/speed and cadence sensor (for Turbo Trainers only)
- A bike
- A device (PC – desktop, ANDROID, iPad/ iPhone)
- A bridge/receiver for the ANT+/BLE signal (It depends on the configuration)