2021 USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Champions Crowned in Asheville
Nearly 1,000 cyclists rode Gran Fondo Asheville, part of the Colnago Gran Fondo National Series, which included the 2021 USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championship
Photo: Sean Gardner from Charlotte, NC had the fastest overall time and won the Men’s 23-34 2021 USA Gran Fondo National Championship title
The 2021 USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championship was held in conjunction with Gran Fondo Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina on Sunday, July 18.
Cyclists chose from 3 distances: the 30-mile Piccolo Fondo, the 60-mile Medio Fondo, and the 96-mile Gran Fondo with 8,962 feet of climbing and four timed sections. The National Championship wave competed on the Gran Route. Professional chip timing kept track of riders out on course and allowed riders to compete for the best combined time through up to 4 timed sections on route.
More than 200 riders competed in the Gran Fondo National Championship, having qualified for the event based on participation and results in previous events. The field contained some well-known cyclists including State Champion Brendan Housler (EVOQ.BIKE) and Katie Aman (3T/Q&M), who competed in the USA Women's Pro Road Championship in June, Cane Creek Cycling Components CEO Brent Graves and previous Gran Fondo National Champion Owen Shott of Shott Performance.
Sean Gardner from Charlotte, NC had the fastest overall time and won the Men’s 23-34 2021 USA Gran Fondo National Championship title. He rode the 4 timed sections with the fastest combined time of 1h 7m 59s. Sean is widely recognized as the first cyclist in the world to Everest in less than seven hours in 2020.
Amy Phillips from Chattanooga TN, who won the TT1 Tour of Georgia Gran Fondo in April, was the fastest woman overall and won the Women’s 45-54 2021 USA Gran Fondo National Championship title. She completed the 4 timed sections with the fastest combined time 1h 16m 6s.
Photo: Amy Phillips from Chattanooga TN was the fastest woman overall and won the Women’s 45-54 2021 USA Gran Fondo National Championship title
Winners were crowned 2021 USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Champion, across each age group category. Each age-group winner in the Gran Fondo National Championship received an official USA Cycling National Championship Jersey.
2021 USA Gran Fondo National Champions are:
WOMEN U23 Zoe Eckman
WOMEN 23-34 Rachel Jordan
WOMEN 35-44 Stefanie Sydlik
WOMEN 45-54 Amy Philips
WOMEN 55-64 Beth Leasure-Hudson
WOMEN 65-74 Martha Parks
MEN U23 Liam Flanagan
MEN 23-34 Sean Gardner
MEN 35-44 Brendan Housler
MEN 45-54 Brian Schworm
MEN 55-64 Brendan Sullivan
MEN 65-74 Richard Mull
MEN 75+ S. Durward Higgins
The timed section format had the added benefit of allowing riders in the main event to enjoy their chosen route, ride safely in the company of others and enjoy a bit of healthy competition. The non-championship Gran Fondo Asheville peloton departed 30 minutes after the USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championship to enjoy either the Piccolo, Medio or Gran Fondo route.
Congratulations to the age group winners for the Gran Fondo:
WOMEN U23 Nora O’prey
WOMEN 23-34 Elise Portugal
WOMEN 35-44 Valentina Cuellar Zuluaga
WOMEN 45-54 Laura Calvin
WOMEN 55-64 Karen Gauthier
MEN U23 Tyler Miranda
MEN 23-34 Felipe Aros
MEN 35-44 Devin Clancy
MEN 45-54 William Gil
MEN 55-64 Peter Davis
MEN 65+ Peter Pate
Congratulations to the age group winners for the Medio Fondo:
WOMEN U23 Jasmine Honea
WOMEN 23-34 Anna Barton
WOMEN 35-44 Kim Hogan
WOMEN 45-54 Abby Walker
WOMEN 55-64 Georgia Frousiakis
WOMEN 65+ Laura Schoor
MEN U23 Davis Turner
MEN 23-34 Peter Shoemaker
MEN 35-44 Samuel Mejia
MEN 45-54 Charles Hoover
MEN 55-64 Eric Wiseman
MEN 65+ David Parks
Congratulations to the age group winners for the Piccolo Fondo:
WOMEN U23 Natalie Ward
WOMEN 23-34 Tay Marraro
WOMEN 35-44 Ashley Shapiro
WOMEN 45-54 Paola Florez
WOMEN 55-64 Debbie Garner-Transou
WOMEN 65+ Katherine Paul
MEN U23 Jack Thomas Spears
MEN 23-34 Steve Wood
MEN 35-44 Mike Mann
MEN 45-54 Bryant Howard
MEN 55-64 David Maguire
MEN 65+ Sam Weir
Photos
Event photo gallery from First Place Photo can be viewed on the event page or Facebook. Participant photos are available through First Place Photo.
Primes
In addition to raffle prizes, national championship jerseys, and champion’s kits for Gran Route age group winners, two fast riders captured valuable primes on Sunday:
- Sourwood Inn Prime: Fastest Time up Elk Mountain Scenic Highway. Sean Gardner of Charlotte, NC won with a time of 22:42.01 and earned a 3-night stay at the Sourwood Inn and a dinner for two at their restaurant! This package from the Sourwood Inn is valued at more than $850.
- Hyperice: Fastest Male and Female on Time Segment #2. Sean Gardner and Amy Philips each won a pair of Hyperice Normatec 2.0 leg system. Sean’s time was 19:13.27 and Amy’s time was 21:39.13.
Nutrition and hydration products included products from sponsors including Hammer Nutrition and Bonk Breaker.
Team Winners
To win the Team Competition at Colnago Gran Fondo National Series, a team’s top three riders have their time’s combined, and then bonus seconds are deducted from each team’s time based on the total number of teammates who finished the event. The top 3 results from the Team Competition at Ashville Gran Fondo were:
First place: Base Media (4 team members)
Second place: Coffeepace-Liv Watches (16 team members)
Third place: Melody Farms (23 team members)
What People had to Say
Steve Pratt said afterwards, “Such an outstanding, well organized event! NEVER enjoyed suffering so MUCH!”
“First time here, we drove twelve hours and we’re excited to be here,” said Gema Gonzalez from Miami. She and her crew were all smiles on Sunday.
“You know, it’s Asheville, there’s exceptional riding, the beauty, the scenery, the backroads,” said Rueben Kline, the director for the Gran Fondo National Series, “It was great to see a record-breaking peloton of riders at the Asheville Gran Fondo this year, and I want to congratulate the new 2021 USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Champions.
Prize Raffle
The popular Colnago Gran Fondo National Series Raffle was held after the podium awards. Prizes from Series sponsors included: Sourwood Inn, Hyperice Hypervolt, Industry Nine hubset, components from Cane Creek, Swiftwick socks, Shimano products, a Lazer helmet, Shimano components, Wahoo Kick trainer, a holiday at Garda Bike Hotel in Italy, as well as other prizes.
Raffle Prizes:
- Hyperice Hypervolt
- Hyperice Hypersphere
- 2-night stay at Sourwood Inn
- 4-night Stay for 2 at Garda Bike Hotel in Italy
- Wahoo KICKR Core
- Industry Nine hubset
- Lazer Sphere MIPS helmet
- Cane Creek components
- Bike Flights travel voucher
- Shimano products
- Swiftwick socks
- Shott Performance coaching package
- DNA Cycling Mid Pack Attack (awarded to rider in the exact middle of the overall results)
Benefiting Asheville on Bikes
Asheville on Bikes cultivates the culture of urban and commuter cycling through advocacy and celebration. We believe that cycling has direct benefit to the health of our community.
Full 2021 Gran Fondo Asheville results can be found at: https://www.granfondonationalseries.com/2021
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