For the second year in a row Italians have won the GFNY World Championships…but a surprise tow-truck sprinted for third place.

With a monster solo 40-mile attack Italian Mattia Gaffuri (Swattclub) won the 2023 GFNY World Championship in New York City on Sunday morning in 3:27:32. Elite esports racer Chiara Doni, also racing for Swattclub, won the women’s race in 3:43:09.

The 23 year-old Gaffuri waited until the mid-way point on the 85-mile route to attack from the men’s lead group of 30 riders, and then never looked back. He finished with a seven minute lead on a chase group of 13 riders.

Unfortunately, besides having to race on narrow bike paths and dodge safety barriers in the last kilometer, the chasing pack encountered a tow-truck sprinting with them to the finish, which had a disastrous impact on results.

Live broadcast showed the tow-truck finishing 3rd…but official results list Benjamin De Vicente Eguiguren of Chile second and Francisco De Candido of Italy third. In the women’s race Italian Annalisa Prato finished second and 2022 GFNY World Campion Samantha Arnaudo, also Italian, took third place.

With the finish line fiasco and dangerous conditions on the course, it is hard to imagine the UCI permitting a GFNY pro race on the same route in 2024, although that is the hope of amateur event organizer Uli Fluhme.

Starting on New York City’s famous George Washington Bridge, over 2000 participants (and one tow-truck) participated in the 11th GFNY World Championships.

Complete GFNY World Championship results HERE.

Photo Credit: YouTube/GFNY

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