Final Gran Fondo on closed public roads to start

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2 days ago

The final edition of a mass participation cycling event held on closed public roads is set to take place ahead of its reincarnation into an off-road competition.
Gran Fondo Isle of Man runs over both days of the weekend, with rolling road closures on Sunday to accommodate three of the four challenges in the series.
Organisers have said the event will be transformed into a collection of races on gravel, tracks, and private land in 2026, a decade after it was first run on public roads.
Regularly attracting entrants from places from as far afield as Japan, Australia and South Africa, more than 1,000 competitors have entered the 2025 event.
It was originally run under the banner of CycleFest in 2016 before evolving into the Gran Fondo Isle of Man brand.
All-time Tour de France stage win record holder Mark Cavendish is among the 8,000 past participants in the event, along with many of the island's other top cyclists.
Organisers previously said the event would be brought to a close in 2025 after its scale had become "enormous".
This year's event will see the main classes held over three distances on Sunday – in the Gran Fondo, Medio Fondo and Piccolo Fondo.
But for younger participants, a family friendly Minisculo Fondo takes place within the race village at the Mooragh Park in Ramsey over a 0.6-mile (1km) distance on Saturday.
That event begins at 15:00 BST in the northern park, with the other three classes being run with staggered starts the following day.
Gran Fondo
Start time: 09:30
Distance: 85 miles (137km)
Route: The course starts in Ramsey in a northerly direction along the coast through Dog Mills, Bride, Smeale, The Lhen, Sandygate and Ballaugh.
It then travels through the west of the island via Druidale, Sartfield, Little London, Staarvey, Ballig, St John's and Patrick.
The southern section of the route passes through Glen Maye, Dalby, the Round Table, Ronague, Corlea, South Barrule, and the Rushen Mines through to Lower Foxdale.
Competitors will then head back to St John's, heading to The Hope, Archallagan, Garth, Crosby and Mount Rule before heading towards the Mountain Road via West Baldwin, Injebreck and Brandywell, before turning down Tholt-y-Will at the Bunglalow.
The final part of the course runs through the Sulby Claddaghs, St Jude's and back to Ramsey.
Medio Fondo
Start time: 09:45
Distance: 45 miles (72km)
Route: Diverts from the main route at Ballaugh, heading straight to Brandywell Cottage and bypassing the southern section of the course.
Piccolo Fondo
Start time: 10:00
Distance: 20 miles (32km)
Route: Remains on the largely flat northern plain of the island, returning to Ramsey after reaching St Jude's on the main route.
Organisers said next year's new event, which would be focussed around Castletown in the south of the island and feature a range of bicycle types, would be in a similar vein to the now defunct End2End Mountain Bike Race.
That competition, run on an off-road course between the Point of Ayre and Port Erin, was scrapped in 2021 due to a lack of volunteers to run it following a pause during the coronavirus pandemic.
Explaining the planned transformation of the Gran Fondo event in 2026, event director Paul Phillips said gravel cycling was "experiencing rapid growth" so it had "felt like the ideal time to apply our expertise to a new project".
"We're excited about the plans we have in the works and can't wait to share them with the riders who have supported us over the years – and hopefully attract new faces who prefer off-road cycling," he added.
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Gran Fondo Isle of Man