The very first UCI Gran Fondo Brasil this past weekend in the southern city of Pomerode saw 1000 riders competing in the different distances all battling for the win in their respective age groups and the qualification for the 2024 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships.
The race was shortened because of a thunderstorm at the turning point area two days before the race with lots of trees on the road. The last 10km before the turn was therefore cut and the race distance for the granfondo reduced to 120km.
The start of the men age groups was organised with 1-minute intervals between the groups. The fastest group was the men 45-49 with reigning MTB marathon world champion Hugo Alves Prado Neto closing the gap towards the first started categories with some competitors from his category, scoring the fastest time of the day with Roberto Leite Rodrigues Junior as second in the sprint and Marconi Soares Ribeiro as third. They rode at an average speed of just over 41km/h.
The women age groups all started together with Karine De Macedo Frota (F35) winning in an average speed of almost 34km/h, 15 seconds ahead of Bruna Strube Lima (F35) with Hanna Costa Oliveira as overall third, winning her F19 category a minute later.
In the shorter 80km mediofondo counting as qualifier for men 60+ and women 50+, the respective age groups racing for qualification were won by Paul Lirio Berwig and Silvia Riberio Nardi.
