The Kingdom of Morocco along with the city of Marrakesh hosted the 1st L’Etape gran fondo cycling race on the African continent, L’Etape Morocco, on Sunday, October 20th. Racing up, down and through the Atlas Mountains cyclists had a wonderful opportunity to see the wild, colorful and breathtaking scenery of Morocco.
In the Gran Fondo race of 150km with 2000m vertical, Moroccan Achraf Ed-doghmi won a sprint finish to record a time of 3:58:24, just ahead of his countrymen Oussama Khafi, and Anass Ait Elabdia.
In the women’s 150km Gran Fondo category, French cyclist Stephanie Gros won in 4:37:50, followed by Liane Jackson from Great Britain.
The 120km men’s race was won by Moroccan cyclist Amine in 3:11:19, followed by Imad Bouchtaoui and Hamza Ramadi.
In the women’s 120km race, Christine Servat from France won 4:49:52, with American Patricia Galofre Recasens and Laurence Bonzi of France completing the podium.
The 80km men’s race saw six Moroccans roll over the finish line in rapid order ahead of all other competitors. Ilias Ben Othman won the group sprint, followed by Mohamed Reda Karoumi, Abderrahim Himi, Hadi Akkouh, Mohamed Zaibat, and Mostafa Najjari.
Awards were presented by the Wali of Marrakech-Safi, a member of His Majesty the King, Mohammed VI’s Council of Ministers.
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