Travel restrictions combined with rising COVID Delta cases and general uncertainty caused participation at two UCI Gran Fondo World Championship qualifying races this past weekend to drop significantly. 

UCI Gran Fondo Isle of Man only had 169 riders, but that did not stop junior Tyler Hannay from putting his stamp of authority all over the event.  He not only won the UCI Time trial on Saturday, he soloed to victory in the Gran Fondo race on Sunday while also claiming the KOM title.

The 17-year-old is having a great season, in May he set a stunning time of 0:50:40 to set the fastest time for 25-miles on the Isle of Man, breaking the flying Scotsman, former world hour record and individual pursuit world champion Graeme Obree’s record of 51:41 set in 1995. 

In Canada on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean participation did not fare any better at UCI Classique d’Appalaches in Victoriaville.

On Sunday 139 riders raced in the rain and finished the gran fondo with just 39 starting the time trial on Friday.  33 year-old Maxime Forget won the gran fondo in 3:42:27 with a six second gap on multiple UCI Gran Fondo World Champion Bruce Bird.  It was the second time in as many days that Bird finished in the runner-up spot after 21 year-old Francis Juneau snatched the Time Trail victory from Bird on Friday.

Unfortunately, Classique d’Appalaches participation was discouraging for the organiser, which recently submitted a bid to host the 2026 UCI Gran Fondo World Championship.

Cyclists finishing in the top 25% of their age category at any UCI Gran Fond World Championship qualifying race automatically qualify to attend the world championships taking place in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina 10 October 2021.

PHOTOS: Classigue d’Appalaches, Gran Fondo IOM

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