“It was pure chaos. Some bikes were broken, people were lying on the side of the road and there were about five ambulances present,” is how a witness described a 200 rider crash at the 2025 UCI Gran Fondo World Championship qualifying race in Belgium last year to VRT.

Now, the organizer of UCI Gran Fondo Belgium says significant safety changes are planned for this year’s race when it returns on 19 April 2026 in Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure, Belgium.

First and foremost, both the 138 kilometer gran fondo and 114 kilometer medio fondo will be run on FULLY CLOSED ROADS WITH NO CARS.

After allowing a massive 3500 riders into last year’s race, organizers have wisely reduced the total field size to 1400 gran fondo and 600 medio fondo riders for 2026 (so you better register early…)

Rather than a le-mans style start with all participants immediately jockeying for position, riders will be grouped and launched 2 minutes apart in waves of 200 using standard UCI age/gender categories.

In addition, organizers inserted a challenging 3km selective climb (including leg-snapping 8% pitches) immediately after the start to quickly stretch-out the field.

Like all UCI Gran Fondo World Championship qualifying events, finishers in the top 25% of their age/gender category will automatically qualify for the 2026 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships planned in Niseko, Japan next August.

More UCI Gran Fondo Belgium information HERE

Photo Credit: PhotoNews; Video: Instagram/burzanarowerze

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