GFNY, billed as the world’s premier global cycling series, held the first edition of GFNY Rockford outside of Chicago on Sunday 6 August. Sponsored by the City of Rockford and the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, the gran fondo race hoped to attract at least 750 cyclists and fill over 1000 room nights each year as part of a three-year deal with GFNY.

The event fell short of those goals, well short, about 600 riders short and hundreds of thousands of dollars of anticipated tourism revenue.

Only 101 riders are listed in the gran fondo results and another 37 in the non-competitive medio fondo, each paying $200 USD to participate. Winning the day were Andy Cicero in the men’s gran fondo and Olivia Wicktor in the women’s.

GFNY Rockford’s tiny turnout follows on the heels of other GFNY failures as the brand struggles to find a viable franchisee model for the United States market. Four new GFNY events in as many years have launched with lofty participation and financial goals, with each franchisee discovering the brand falls short when it comes to attracting and winning over American cyclists. GFNY Santa Fe, GFNY Waco, GFNY Ann Arbor and now GFNY Rockford all failed to achieve stated attendance and financial goals, with the first three now defunct. Only one existing franchise event in the United States remains, GFNY Florida, where two riders were caught violating anti-doping rules last year.

GFNY Maryland Cambridge on 1 October hopes to break the string of failures, but that is a tall order. The Dorchester Star reports that in a 3-2 vote, the Cambridge city mayor and commissioners agreed to a two-year GFNY franchise deal beginning in 2023 that hopes to attract 1000-1500 participants and their guests to the city each year.

Photo Credit: 13 WREX

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