Riders coming from 30 different countries competed in the two distances. The Gran Fondo can be considered as a general rehearsal for the Tour the France start which takes place in Frank and Andy’s hometown on the 4th of July for the fourth stage of the Tour. The 162km loop had a fast start along the Mosel river to then enter a hillier zone in the second part.
Overall male winner was Belgian Bjorn De Decker who escaped with his compatriot Bart Van Damme with some 12km to go on the second last climb and outsprinted his competitor in the final meters. Another Belgian Jelle Van den Plas finished in third winning the sprint of the group behind half a minute later.
The females had a shorter 89km course with a shortcut halfway. Theresa Hoebanckx from France was the overall fastest female before het compatriot Sylvie Riedle and British Claire Thomas.
The males over 60 also competed on the same 89km for their qualification. Belgian Ronny Sluyts (67) was the fastest male in the qualifying age groups before Dutch Gijs Nederlof and Swiss Felix Widmer who won the 60-64 age group.
