This year's World Gran fondo Championship, like the worlds for the other cycling disciplines, took place in Scotland. On a hilly 160-kilometer course, the different age categories competed for the world title.

Logistical challenge

The trip to Scotland is not that easy since things are quite different from the continental Europe we are used to. But on Wednesday we got there and could immediately pick up my bib. It is a bit of a search for the parking lot, which was not indicated by the organization. There I also immediately noticed a gigantic queue with the same plan as myself. Fortunately I made it to the time limit and got my number in time.

Some more cycling towards our cottage and then we could have a taste of Scottish cuisine. Scotland has a beautiful nature with beautiful vast hills. It is very inhospitable because there is not a house or village in the farthest distance. A country for the adventurous hiker or cyclist. Unfortunately, I hit the ground on this bike ride. A very narrow road where suddenly after a slight bend a minivan appears, no other possibility than to ride against the car, or straight into the overgrown tree and see where I end up. Fortunately, the bike still works perfectly and I get off with some small scratches. Starting will be possible on Friday.

Race day

Friday is the day, thanks to my result in the gran fondo Vosges I'm starting front row. After about 20 seconds it became clear to me that this was not going to be a great day. To my feeling I was already floundering to the finish with my last strength, according to my Wahoo I had just left. I then forcibly decided to keep calm anyway. After some attacks, a group of about seven got away, including my brother-in-law Maxim Pirard. He would make it to the finish, but with a lot of extra riders who joined him during the ride.

In the peloton it's more of a roll and standstill. Partly due to the headwind and the increasing elevation in the early stages, there is no real organization in the peloton. There are actually three noteworthy hills, which cause some shuffling in the peloton. An active Vince Mattens manages to cross over to the break away with Italian Gaffuri. About fifteen riders manage to get away on the final slope and also cross over to that leading group. I'm in a group that just didn't succeed at that moment. Very simply, I wasn't good enough to be there. In the end, I was in a big chasing group a few minutes from the wide leading group. After some attacls we were still able to get away with a small group and I crossed the finish line in 26th place. In my category M19-34, Belgian Lars van Coppenolle became world champion, ahead of Matteo Cigala and Matthias Studer.

Tightly organized event

The course was beautiful, also the quality of the roads was quite good. A large stretch of inhospitable nature, with beautiful views. The few villages we crossed on the course were full of spectators, it gave a fantastic feeling as a participant and in the end I think this really makes the experience of such an event great. So this is the difference between an ordinary gran fondo and a world championship. What a fantastically enthusiastic crowd!

The organization was fine. The course was completely free of traffic, everything was perfectly marked during the race, this quickly makes you forget the difficulties at registration. However, there are some points of criticism during the race. According to the rules, supplies are only allowed in a feed zone. I can understand that. But that the first feed zone is placed in a downhill section is absolutely incomprehensible. The bottles are flying in all directions at sixty kilometers per hour. We are not allowed to lie on our tube on the descent or put our hands loosely on the handlebars, but we have to catch a drink can at such speeds. The second zone was much better placed though.

About the finish line opinions were divided, just after the last kilometer there was a right angle turn between a wall as the finish line was at the Scone Palace. Some may have lost a possible medal or nice result here. But on the other hand this is also part of a race, it wasn't dangerous, and if you go to the finish in a group you can always get trapped, no matter how wide and straight the road is.

Special event

The gran fondo worlds has since taken me to several destinations, from Bosnia, Denmark to Scotland. Each event had its own atmosphere and experience. The next few years will pass me by, but I am already looking forward to the next super World Cup in 2027.

All results can be found here.