New Majka Granfondo on beautiful scenic but challenging roads

800 riders signed up for the new Granfondo hosted by UAE pro rider Rafael Majka on fully closed roads this weekend.

The 20km time trial in Dobczyce, 30km south of Krakau was a back and forth loop with former time trial and reigning granfondo World Champion Igor Kopse from Slovenia (M45-49) beating all of the younger components to win in a time of 24:51 in an average speed of 48.2 km/h. He was 14 seconds faster than Jan Swiercz (M35-39) and 27 seconds ahead of Martin Helcel (M19-34).

Fastest female was Marianna Hall (F19-34), bronze medal of the last World Championships in the discipline and a fast 27:15 in an average speed of 44km/h. She beated Anna Dzasowska (F40-44) by a bit more than a minute while Edyta Mroz (F40-44) got overall third.

On Sunday, the 105km granfondo in Myslenice was a rather short race, but the course had a lot of elevation with roads always going up and down. Rafael Majka launched the started from the front line but it was Joachim Mikler who outsprinted his compatriots Oleksii Kmets and Martin Helcel for victory at the end. All three riders were from the M19-34 age group for an average speed of just below 40km/h

First female was Kamila Wojcikiewicz in a time just over 3h (35 km/h), 2 minutes ahead of Alicja Szopinska and Karolina Kolkowicz, all three of the F19-34 age group for a complete Polish podium.

The shorter 72km mediofondo counted as official qualifier distance for all men 60+ and women 50+. The race was dominated by a few younger riders who didn’t go for qualification. Slovenian Andrej Zavbi (M60-64) was the first male in the qualifying age groups. Magdalena Chmielewska (F50-54) was the first female.

Share this article