Lepoutre and de Vries fastest at the inaugural Millars Granfondo in Spain

Inaugural Millars Granfondo was a huge success with 1,600 cyclists riding a challenging 178km course in Valencian mountains that attracted elite amateur cyclists worldwide and Ivan Basso

Cyclists from 27 countries attended the first edition of Millars Gran Fondo in Vila-Real Spain, just north of the international hub of Valencia, last weekend with the opportunity to qualify for the 2024 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships taking place in Denmark.

Amongst the participants former professional rider and Giro d’Italia winner and living legend Ivan Basso.

The Granfondo was definately one for the climbers, with a demanding course. The 179km route included around 2,940 meters of climbing through the Sierra de Espadán and the interior of the gorgeous province of Castellón.

At the start of the race, two riders, Maxime Pirard (Belgium) and Alexander Steffens (Germany) got in the breakway and built up a good lead as the course headed quickly into the mountains, passing through the Parc Natural Serra d’Espada with a long 16km climb. The summit, situated 893m above sea level, was reached after 72km.

The second half was easier going back to sea level, and behind, with time checks, the bunch chased and the pair were eventually caught just before the finish line!

From the reminants of the what was left of the chasing peloton, it ended up in a 4-up bunch sprint finish that saw fastman Tomas Lepoutre (Belgium) claim victory just ahead of Emmanuel Cognet (France) in second and Pieter Frolichs (Netherlands) in third place and Lars van Coppenolle fourth.

In the women’s race, Maaike de Vries (Netherlands) dominated the race early on, attacking and securing a significant lead in the mountains, never to be seen again by the chasing ladies bunch. She finished almost 11 minutes ahead of Kim Knaeps (Belgium) in second, with Hanna Tamoudi (Spain) finishing third to secure a podium spot for the host country.

The shorter 122km Medio Fondo route lacked full road closures and traffic management this year and didn't qualify as UCI distance, making the Millars Gran Fondo a tougher challenge to qualify across all age categories. Riders were rewarded with epic views atop the stunning Parc Natural Serra d’Espada.

Riders finishing in the top 25% of their age/sex category will have automatically qualified to participate in the 2024 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in Denmark.

The Millars Gran Fondo in Vila-real was a great party for cyclists of all abilities, complete with aid stations, a spectacular start and finish area with all amenities, where everyone was able to relax and celebrate an epic day's cycling in the Valencian mountains.

2024 UCI Millars Granfondo Men Top 10

1 Lepoutre, Tomàs 4:56:08
2 Cognet, Emmanuel 4:56:09
3 Frolichs, Pieter 4:56:10
4 Van Coppenolle , Lars 4:56:12
5 Escobar Milan, Aitor 4:57:30
6 Arizmendi, Imanol 4:57:30
7 Moerman, Jens 4:57:30
8 Marzá Martínez, Alvaro 4:57:30
9 Rodríguez Moya , Pedro Antonio 4:57:30
10 Zugasti Arrese, Ibon 4:57:32

2024 UCI Millars Granfondo Women Top 10

1 de Vries, Maaike 5:26:39
2 Knaeps, Kim 5:37:33
3 Tamoudi, Hanna 5:45:13
4 Fdez-Coronado Alonso, Tuxa 5:56:02
5 Salvado Verges, Arantxa 5:58:42
6 ROMANELLO, PATRIZIA 5:58:42
7 Mansilla Ferragud, Pilar 6:00:32
8 DAZA ASUMENDI, MONICA 6:08:07
9 Vañó MIRÓ, M.JOSÉ 6:10:48
10 BETETA CORVILLO, AIDA 6:10:49

Link to 2024 UCI Millars Granfondo Results: https://www.chiplevante.com/es/prueba/the-millars-uci-gran-fondo-world-series-vila-real-1119-2024