The third edition of the UCI Gran Fondo Novi Sad delivered its most competitive field yet on Sunday, with former professionals and world champions sweeping the podiums across both distances in Serbia’s Fruška Gora National Park.
In the women’s 110 km race, Laura Šimenc Kramar, the Santini Squadra Corse rider and four-time UCI Gran Fondo World Champion, delivered a dominant performance to win in 02:53:32, distancing Russia’s Nadezhda Pavlova by 15 minutes and 46 seconds.
The Slovenian has become one of the leading riders on the UCI Gran Fondo World Series circuit, adding this result to recent victories at L’Étape Slovenia and the Istria Gran Fondo. Belgium’s Lieselotte Van Nuffelen claimed third place in 03:17:16.
In the 110 km Gran Fondo men’s race, former professional Russian cyclist Aidar Zakarin, now living in Cyprus and riding for Tribe Cycling Club, took the win in 02:43:59, edging Serbia’s Marko Stanković by just 11 seconds. Germany’s Alexander Steffens completed the podium, 19 seconds behind. Zakarin, brother of former Tour de France stage winner Ilnur Zakarin, has established himself as one of the amateur circuit’s most consistent performers, having claimed multiple UCI Gran Fondo World Series victories in Cyprus in recent years.
The 80 km Mediofondo produced its own headline results.
Serbia’s Egon Egorov won the men’s race in a rapid 02:03:15, averaging 37.48 km/h, and beating compatriot Nemanja Trifunović by three minutes.
In the women’s Mediofondo, American Molly Van Houweling of Ann Arbor Velo Club — a six-time UCI Amateur Road World Champion and former UCI Hour Record holder — topped the field in 02:26:18, with Hungary’s Viktória Káliné Székely arriving 1 minute and 10 seconds later.
The race routes wound through the landscapes of Fruška Gora National Park, starting and finishing in front of Novi Sad’s Provincial Government building. The top finishers in each UCI age group qualified for the 2026 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships.
UCI Gran Fondo Novi Sad results HERE
Photo Credit: Sport i omladina Novi Sad
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