Portugal may not be the first country you think of of cycling gran fondos. Yet there are no less than 24 gran fondos in our calendar. I have ridden as many as I can this summer to get a good idea of the in's and out's. Read my findings below.
The gran fondo season in Portugal starts early and lasts long. In mid-February you can ride the Figueira
Champions Classic, one day after the pros. With 130 kilometers and 1700
meters of elevation a great event for your season start. After that, with the exception of the
month of August, a gran fondo almost every fortnight. Ending in mid-October with the
130-kilometer Amarante
Gran fondo. Pretty tough with 2500 meters of elevation, in the beautiful
surroundings around the Douro River. Ideal for the post-season.
There is an event for every type of cyclist. The Eurobec Granfondo is a high-speed gran fondo on the flat roads of the Alentejo.
The Granfondo Serra da Estrela has a route barely inferior to the Marmotte, in Portugal's high mountains.
And everything in between. Gran fondo Torres Vedras is a kind of Amstel Gold Race, the Medio Tejo a kind of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the gran fondos around the Douro and in north resemble the Vosges Mountains. All with mini-, medio and gran fondo options. Thereby for the real fanatics, there is also UCI qualifier for both time trial and road race in Coimbra Region. Enjoy of the stunning scenery and racing, it can be both.
For me personally, it's both. Lesson 1, then, was that you
for the competitive part must register quickly. If you want to start at the front at a gran fondo in
France to start at the front, then you have to be in the box early the day of the race
be in the box early. If you want to be at the front in Germany, you have to register a high
average speed. If you want to be at the front in Portugal, you have to be quick with
paying. The starting boxes are classified at bib with all gran fondos. The exception
is the one in Coimbra. The lowest numbers are at the front and the high numbers
at the back. The bibs are divided based on paying, whoever pays first
pays gets the first bib.
Despite the often neutralized start, you will never see bib 1400 at the head of the pack. Certainly not because there are many gran fondo teams that pace right after the start in trains and collaborate as a team. It doesn't help that all routes start at the same time and mixed together. Personally I find this quite a disadvantage. It sometimes creates unnecessary hassle and danger, but I understand the idea behind it. In French gran fondo's the different distances often start a few minutes apart to avoid dangerous situations at splits. avoid. In Portugal, all the distances start at the same time on purpose, so you can still change the route during the race. If you decide to choose a different route during the race, you will just end up in that ranking.
The result is that fanatical riders with high bibs still try to get to the front. The differences in speed are high which creates unnecessary danger. In addition, it is often chaos at the splits when the groups are still large. Although the split is usually indicated well in advance, there are always participants last-minute from right to left to take the correct route.
This regularly leads to strange match situations. During the Sao Marmede Gran fondo, I was in a chasing group of eight men shortly behind the leading group. At the split, my seven fellow chasers followed the medio fondoroute and I was the only one riding the gran fondo. Instead of closing the gap to closing the lead, I suddenly found myself in a chasse patate.
The roads in Portugal are generally good. Thereby, especially in the villages you cross, there is virtually no traffic furniture. The first and the last kilometers of the routes are kept completely car-free. This is often different in other countries. This advantage has a disadvantage, however, especially for the participants at the back of the field. It is not an exception that someone will go out on the road anyway. In this respect, the often professional organizations are really good in Portugal. From the information beforehand to the food after the finish, everything is excellently arranged every time. Only minus point are the photo services. The photos are free, but in the days after the gran fondo massively posted on Facebook. The first time it is still fun to yourself among the 10,000 photos, but after the third gran fondo I didn't feel like it anymore.
To the question of which is the most beautiful I have no direct answer. answer. De Serra da Estrela was an absolute highlight and one of the reasons why I wanted to be in Portugal to ride a gran fondo. Top organization, beautiful landscapes in the high mountains with Mount Torre as the literal and figurative highlight. The gran fondo’s Porto-Gaia and Sao Mamede are totally different in terms of route and landscape, but really stood out really stood out for me. Certainly the Serra de Sao Mamede with its ancient castle villages Marvão and Castelo de Vide were fantastic. I wouldn't recommend any of the gran fondos that I drove would not recommend against. My advice: come to Portugal and decide for yourself. It's impossible to make a wrong choice.
For an average of 43 euros entry fee you get good roads, (mostly) good weather, excellent organizations and phenomenal scenery on varying and very challenging routes. Portugal should definitely be the first country you think of it!
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