Gran Fondo Alpujarra Magna is best described as Hell in Paradise. Riding through some of the most beautiful landscapes of Andalusia, Spain, the course takes riders up (and down) 11,000′ in only 85 miles.
It’s pure torture – with incredible views.
For the 4th edition, over 1000 riders showed up at the start in Lanjarón, including Lotto-Soudal Pro Tomasz Marczyński who lives in Granada, world class MTB Pro Alberto Mingorance, former Tour de France podium winner Fernando Escartín and last year’s champion Juan José Arquero .
With assistance from Tomasz Marczyński, who was out for a training ride, Alberto Mingorance got the victory in 4:09:53, just seconds ahead of pursuers Carlos García 4:09:58 and Nacho Ruiz 4:09:59.
The race started on a 40km climb with riders quickly separating into small groups as the field fractured. By the summit, Alberto Mingorance and Tomasz Marcinsky managed to ride away, but were pursued by a half-dozen riders not willing to concede defeat.
As miles ticked off, the duo’s lead was never more than 2 minutes.
With 6 miles to go and pursuers closing, Marcinsky put in a very hard effort, dropping companion Mingorance. But since the Lotto-Soudal rider was using the event for training, he waited for Mingorance at the finish line and gifted the 25-year old victory.
Afterwards, Alberto Mingorance told EsCiclismo “I am more of MTB, of ‘fat wheels’, but I wanted to try. It was my first road test.”
Cádiz María Díaz Pernía impressively won the women’s competition in 5:11:14, nine minutes ahead of Fabiola Muñoz Ros 5:20:09 and 18 minutes in front of Ana Isabel Morales at 5:29:01.
Full 2019 Gran Fondo Alpujarra Magna results here.
GRAN FONDO CALENDAR NORTH AMERICA here
GRAN FONDO CALENDAR EUROPE here
GRAN FONDO DAILY NEWS 