February 19, 2018 (The Blue Mountains, ON) – The Blue Mountains Gran Fondo Road Race, Sat. June 16 and the Time Trial, Thur. Jun 14, will be the sole Canadian qualifier events for the 2018 UCI Gran Fondo World Series.

“This year we have changed the event name to The Blue Mountains Gran Fondo from the Grey County Road Race to better align with UCI Gran Fondo World Series,” said organizer Bruce Bird. “Plus we already following the rules format and spirit of a Gran Fondo and the event starts and ends in The Town of The Blue Mountains.

Bird is also excited that the 2018 event will also see the introduction of a Medio Fondo, a 75km distance route for those who want to participate in a shorter distance.

In 2011 the UCI created the UCI World Cycling Tour (UWCT) as a series of UCI-sanctioned races held all over the world. In 2016 the event series was been renamed to the UCI Grand Fondo World Series (GFWS). Feeding into the 2018 Gran Fondo World Championships that are being held inform Aug 30- Sept 2nd in Varese, Italy, there are 21 qualifier events up from fourteen in 2016.

In the qualifier events the top 25% from each age group will qualify for the Amateur World Championships, where the champions will be awarded with the coveted rainbow jersey.

“My main goal is to build challenging courses that put the rider’s experience first right here in Ontario. This vision can only be achieved by working with the best people who have gone to great lengths to make this into a reality,” added Bird. “Each year we strive to improve the event by incorporating feedback from participants and adopting best practices from the most successful amateur cycling events.”

The events take place in The Blue Mountains, Ontario which is located at the Southern end of Georgian Bay just outside of Collingwood, Ontario Canada. The Blue Mountains are located 126kms North of Toronto’s main airport (Pearson), 1hr 50minutes of driving time.

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Register coming soon here.