The first ever Chinese event in the UCI Gran Fondo World Series, taking place this weekend in Hangzhou was an instant success with lots of participants, safe and beautiful courses and a promising future.
In the 15km time trial on Saturday around the Xiang lake, Xu Zhaoliang rode the fastest overall time in an average speed of 53.8km/h. He completed the two laps around the lake 21 seconds faster than Han Shunyuan and 31 seconds to Italian Nicolas Marini.
The female time trial win was for Feng Jin in an average speed of 44.6km/h. Her nearest opponents were Lv Taotao and Fu Shiqi at respectively 7 and 25 seconds behind.
On Sunday, all riders completed one 136km lap around the Xiandao lake, mainly flat with some smaller climbs next to the lake with beautiful vistas. In extreme hot weather temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius around the finish time, it was Zhang Zhenyi who won in the streets of Chun’An with a small gap to a group of 7 others from which time trial winner Xu Zhaoliang won the sprint for second place ahead of Chen Yien who was the fastest in the 35-39 age category. The average speed of the winner was 42.8km/h.
Wu Wenmin was the fastest female in an average speed of 41.9km/h, outsprinting Xie Cuifeng on the line. Fu Shiqi finished as third 50 seconds behind the two.
