Brazil’s Italo Junior Feletti successfully defended his title at the eighth edition of GFNY Punta del Este in Uruguay on Sunday 15 March, repeating his 2025 victory with a decisive late attack on one of South America’s most spectacular coastal race courses.

The race took place under ideal conditions, with sunny skies, a steady temperature of 24 C and almost no wind. The 124 km course featured 967 meters of climbing, with riders heading out on a scenic route along the Atlantic Ocean coastline before tackling the iconic climb of Punta Ballena from both sides.

The peloton stayed largely together until kilometer 86, when a small breakaway formed, only to be reeled back in by a chasing pack of around 35 riders. On the descent following Punta Ballena, Feletti launched a decisive attack with 8 km remaining to open a gap of roughly 90 seconds. Although the pack was slow to react, they would not cede victory and rode in hard pursuit, shrinking the gap to under 20 seconds with only one kilometer to go. Feletti did not panic, kept turning the pedals over and held on to cross the line arms up in 3:02:42, with Argentina’s Diones Chinelatto just 14 seconds back in second place and Brazil’s Roberto Rodrigues a further second behind in third.

After winning the Uruguay National Time Trial Championship last month, Mariana Garcia Britos delivered another outstanding performance to take the women’s victory. The 36 year-old rode strong to stay with the pointy end of the peloton until the very end, finishing in 3:03:02 and a most impressive 22nd overall. Minutes later Sabrina Lopez finished second, followed by Antonela Orique of Uruguay in third.

Sunday’s race also served as a qualifier for the Michelob ULTRA GFNY World Championship in New York City on 17 May 2026, with top finishers in each age group earning a front row starting place at the series flagship event.

Next up for the global series is the inaugural GFNY Aguascalientes in Mexico on Sunday 22 March 2026.

Full GFNY Punta del Este results HERE

Photo Credit: Facebook/GFNY – Yoanna Rodriguez Gutierrez

© 2026 Copyright Gran Fondo Daily News – All Rights Reserved