The UCI Gran Fondo World Championships, take place in Trento, Italy, this weekend (15 - 18 September) with nearly 2,000 of the planet’s finest amateur athletes competing for a number of titles.
Competitors from 56 nations will descend on this beautiful part of the world after qualifying at one of the 24 races on the UCI Gran Fondo World Series calendar by finishing in the top 20% of their age-group category. The cream of the recreational crop includes the former Estonian President, Kersti Kaljulaid. Kaljulaid was the first woman in history to hold the Estonian presidency, between 2016 and 2021, and will make her UCI Gran Fondo World Championship debut.
“I never thought I would one day succeed in qualifying for a world event of this magnitude,” Kaljulaid said. “I can’t wait to find out what it means to compete for a rainbow jersey.”
Kaljulaid and her contemporaries will compete within this jewel of a city that brims with art and history. When the racers aren’t racing, or for their supportive families and friends, there’s much to see and explore. As a snapshot, there’s Tridentum, the underground Roman town; the Buonconsiglio Castle; the Cathedral square that’s dwarfed by frescoed palaces; and Muse, the modern museum of sciences.
The Trento area’s also well known in cycling circles, of course, and includes famous climbs like the Monte Bondone. This, cycling historians will remember, is where Charly Gaul attacked his rivals in horrendous weather at the 1965 Giro d’Italia. And he did so successfully, winning the stage and going on to win the Giro d’Italia outright. Monte Bondone will play an integral role at this year’s UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in a packed schedule of events …
Time triallists take centre stage on Thursday with competitors setting off between 9.30am and 11.30am, then between 2pm and 4pm. The 19.6km course is pan flat, and starts and finishes in Piazza delle Donne Lavoratrici. The start and finish are the most technical sections, featuring 90° bends and crossings of several roundabouts in the city centre, but for the most part, the riders will compete on long, straight roads.
The following day, the team-relay will see nations enter teams of four riders. Each team must include at least one female and one male, one rider over 40 years old, and another over 50 years old. The 2km loop starts and finishes in Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza. The course is entirely flat with long stretches of open road briefly interrupted by sharp left-hand corners. How the riders handle these could determine the podium.
While Saturday is a rest day for the qualified athletes, a new side event will take place on the Monte Bondone slopes: the Charly Gaul Uphill Time Trial. This is for non-qualified athletes, starting from Sardagna and finishing in Vason. The 13.6km time trial features 1,048m elevation gain and pays homage to the exploits of the Luxembourg rider.
The climax of the 2022 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships comes on Sunday, when the Granfondo (men up to 59 years and women up to 49 years) and Mediofondo (men 60+ and women 50+) races take place. The Granfondo covers 143.8km and racks up a brutal 3,900m climbing. The first 10km from Trento to Aldeno are flat… and that’s about it. Monte Bondone is tackled three times. After the first 20km ascent and a long descent, the athletes face the second Bondone climb from the Sopramonte side. This is a debilitating climb with some gradients between 8 and 9%. The final ascent of Bondone takes riders up to the village of Candriai. From here there’s just 13km to go, comprised of 10km downhill and 3km flat to the finish line in Trento.
The Mediofondo course is 86.8km long and features 2,218m of elevation gain, again starting and finishing in Trento. The first 30km follows the Granfondo parcours with the ascent of Bondone from Aldeno to the Le Viote plateau, and the following descent towards Lasino and Calavino. With around 20km to go, riders once again face the ascent of Bondone from Sopramonte to the village of Candriai before the 10km descent and 3km flat sprint to the finish.