The Istria Granfondo held on the northern peninsula of Croatia, near the borders with Italy and Slovenia, set a new participation record with 1100 riders competing in the granfondo and 200 in the time trial.
During the 21km time trial on Friday, Slovenian ex-world champion Igor Kopce claimed victory with a time of 28 minutes and 51 seconds, achieving an average speed of 43.7 km/h. He finished 28 seconds ahead of German Tobias Eise, with British Matthew Smith coming in third overall, more than a minute behind Kopce.
In the women’s time trial, Dutch cyclist Anneleen Bosma secured first place with a time of 32 minutes and 52 seconds, averaging 38.3 km/h. She was followed by Belgian Marijke De Smedt, who finished 49 seconds later, and Slovenian Petra Pasar, who took third place with a time of 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Italian cyclist Francesco Zandri emerged as the winner of the 112km granfondo on Saturday, triumphing in a 16-men sprint finish against Austrian Hans-Jörg Leopold and Italian Matteo Cigala.
Former world champion Laura Simenc from Slovenia dominated the women’s granfondo, finishing a remarkable 7 minutes ahead of Austrian Denise Zöhrer, with compatriot Katharina Urdl securing third place.
In the mediofondo, which served as a qualifying event for men over 60 and women over 50, ex-professional cyclist Stefano Colagé from Italy and Marijke De Smedt from Belgium were the respective winners in their categories.
