With the 2026 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships taking place in Niseko, the organizers had a great pre-event on the updated courses and saw 1414 riders from 17 different countries battling for the win.
One of the disciplines added to the schedule was a team relay on Friday evening. 7 teams of 4 riders tested the worlds courses with Team Okinawa & Hokkaida winning ahead of team Mops by 13 seconds and Team Roppongi Express by a bit more than 1 minute.
In the time trial on Saturday, Shishido Hiroki rode the overall fastest time, winning his M40-44 category in an average speed of 47.92 km/h, beating Ichimura Naoki and Sueoka Masamitsu by respectively 10 and 17 seconds.
The victory in the female time trial over all categories was for Australian Anne Elliott from the 55-59 age category, winning in an impressive average speed of 41.96 km/h and beating Nozaki Momoyo and Ichimura Ai by respectively 25 and 32 seconds.
The win in the granfondo on the new 140km course was for Ishii Yugo, beating Omae Kakeru and Oishi shoei in a sprint of a large group of 18 on top of the steep finish climb. The average speed of Ishii was 37.81 km/h.
All females had to do the 80km course, much harder than in previous years as they now also have to face a major climb towards the finish. Ishii Yoshiko won 31 ahead of Suzuki Yukako and Miso Kim from Korea. The average speed of Ishii was 32.46 km/h.
