Although Frenchman Damien Jeanjean was the first rider to cross the finish line after racing 186 kilometers and +5520 meters vertical at La Marmotte Gran Fondo on Sunday 25 June, he was relegated to second place after the event’s confusing “American” style segment timing was applied to results.

Fellow Frenchman Loic Ruffaut finished over one minute behind Jeanjean on a superhero Spider-Man painted bike, but after a few chaotic minutes officials subtracted 41:12 of time spent in two neutral segments, giving Ruffat the win with an official result of 5:50:53.

Jeanjean had neutral time of 40:01, netting him an official result of 5:51:00, just seven seconds “slower” than Ruffaut.

Without significant confusion or controversy, Belgian Tim Aleman finished third, crossing the finish atop Alpe d’Huez with an official result calculated as 5:51:25.

Unfortunately for Jeanjean, rather than time the event from beginning to end like a traditional gran fondo with results determined by finish order, La Marmotte uses “American” style timing over just certain designated segments due to unsafe road conditions.

Race participant Mario de Waal commented on the road conditions via Facebook: “The decent of the Mollard was TOO DANGEROUS!! This must never be done anymore. The road was very bad! I saw 2 people lying in blood. Very bad decision from the organisation Marmote Granfondo Series.”

In the women’s race, Joke van Wijk of The Netherland’s won with an official result of 7:50:34, followed by the Swiss Claudia Kurtali (7:57:34) and Joline van Arnhem (8:10:20), also from The Netherlands.

Over 4500 riders participated in the 38th La Marmotte Gran Fondo, which started at the base of Alpe d’Huez in France and finished atop the famed mountain 186 kilometers later.

Photo Credit: Facebook/Marmotte Gran Fondo Series

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