Photo: last year's start in Scotland.
The UCI Gran Fondo World Championships does not have a long history. The event only saw the light of day in 2011. Since the 2020 edition did not take place, this year's edition will be the 13th installment. This year's edition breaks all records in terms of participant numbers, as nearly 3,300 riders are currently registered.
Photo: Our own editor Luc Nouwen in action at last year's World Cup in Scotland.
The concept has hardly changed in all these years. You have to qualify by riding among the top 25% in your age group in races belonging to the UCI Gran Fondo World Series. At the World Championships, you ride for your country and therefore wear your country's colors. There is usually hardly any team play: you ride for your own success.
The road book can be found here.
Last edition there was no mixed relay because of the Super World Cup, but this event returns this year.
For the road races, the race will start in categories, with five minutes between each. Some categories will be merged because they are too small. What is certain is that the event will produce not one world champion but several. For the men, there are 11 categories, and for the women, 9. The distance you ride depends on your age. For the men, the schedule looks like this:
| Age | Distance |
| 19-34 | Gran Fondo |
| 35-39 | Gran Fondo |
| 40-44 | Gran Fondo |
| 45-49 | Gran Fondo |
| 50-54 | Gran Fondo |
| 55-59 | Gran Fondo |
| 60-64 | Medio Fondo |
| 65-69 | Medio Fondo |
| 70-74 | Medio Fondo |
| 75-79 | Medio Fondo |
| 80-84 | Medio Fondo |
And for the women, the list looks like this:
| Age | Distance |
| 19-34 | Gran Fondo |
| 35-39 | Gran Fondo |
| 40-44 | Gran Fondo |
| 45-49 | Gran Fondo |
| 50-54 | Medio Fondo |
| 55-59 | Medio Fondo |
| 60-64 | Medio Fondo |
| 65-69 | Medio Fondo |
| 70-74 | Medio Fondo |
Gran fondo
With start and finish in downtown Aalborg, the first and last eight kilometers are much like a city criterium. After turning left after 10 kilometers, the course follows mostly narrow country roads through open meadows and forests. Although Denmark has no real mountains, the route is anything but flat. An incessant stream of short climbs of about 3 to 5%, with outliers to 8%, adds up to about 1,200 meters of elevation. In particular, the succession of short calf bites, technical descents, and narrow country roads are definitely going to be felt as the kilometers increase. Not to mention the ever-present wind.
Medio fondo
The shorter route is 114 km with about 770 meters of elevation. Men over 59 and women over 49 ride the medio fondo.
Time trial
The course of the time trial is also known. The route starts and finishes in Aalborg, is 33 km long, and has only 90 meters of elevation.
All participants for both the time trial and road race can be found here.
The Danish weather institute DMI predicts fine weather with temperatures ranging from 25 degrees on Thursday, 19 degrees on Friday, and 16 degrees on Sunday. A good amount of sunshine is expected and no rain.
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