The Union Européenne de Cyclisme (UEC) announced that Granfondo Tre Valli Varesine will organise the 2026 UEC Gran Fondo European Championships. The event will take place in Varese, Italy, on Saturday 03 and Sunday 04 October 2026, adding yet another prestigious chapter to the region’s already decorated cycling history.
For Varese, major championships are nothing new. The city has organised the UCI Road World Championships in 1939, 1951, and most recently in 2008, when Italian Alessandro Ballan claimed the elite men’s road race title. A decade later, the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships followed. In 2018, more than 2,500 riders from 60 nations raced in Varese for the UCI Gran Fondo World title in their respective age categories.
The course is demanding and worthy of a world title race. It winds through hills, mountains, and pre-alpine villages, following the same roads used for the 2018 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships. The gran fondo distance covers 126 kilometres with 2,100 metres of elevation across six climbs, while a shorter 101-kilometre medio fondo caters to older age categories.
Alongside the venue announcement, the UEC has introduced a new qualification system for 2026. Leveraging UCI Gran Fondo World Series events, European nationality riders finishing in the top 25% of their age/gender category in the 12 months preceding the UEC championships will qualify. Only riders hold holding a full-year cycling licence issued by a UCI European national cycling body will be eligible to compete for EUC titles — and coveted white champion’s jerseys adorned with gold stars and blue bands.
The combination of a historic race route and a sharper qualification pathway — plus the fact that the 2026 world championships are not in Europe — looks set to make this year’s race the most competitive UEC Gran Fondo European Championship to date.
Photo Credit: Golazo
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