UCI Gran Fondo Worlds Qualifying Results From Antalya, Türkiye

The Turkish Mediterranean coast city of Antalya was the host of the last qualifier option this year with a 20km time trial and 66 or 98km grand fondo.
The road races on Sunday started in front of the Nirvana hotel complex which is the main sponsor of the event. The courses have slightly changed compared to last year with a 98km course with 517m of elevation and some short but steep hills halfway, but was mainly flat and fast. 

On Thursday 165 aerodynamic speed demons competed in a 20 kilometers long individual time trial, with Sergei Serdiuk recording the fastest time and stopping the clock in 24:19. Eyup Karagöbek (24:49) finished in second place and Aydın Köfteci (25:06) third. 

Of the women, Victoria Collins racing in the 50-54 age category showed that age is no barrier to success, winning the time trial in 30:37, followed closely by Seniz Pamuk (30:45), Fiona Cockburn (30:48) and Ruby Altman (30:57). 

On Sunday riders switched to road bikes to compete in rather short races of 98 and 66 kilometers in length. 

For the men’s 98km race it was Gökhan Uzuntaş who won from a select group of six riders one and a half minutes ahead of the peloton. Kirill Krasavin, Eyup Karagöbek, Trubetskoi Sergey followed Uzuntaş, all credited with a final time of 2:26:15. 

In the women’s competition a rider only listed as “Bryne” had the fastest finishing time of 2:35:39, over two minutes up on Yulia Polevaya (2:37:54) and Victoria Collins (2:40:26). 

Kılıç Meltem (1:46:45) and Talha Tektaş (1:38:56) won the 66km medio fondo for the women and men respectively. 

Competitors finishing in the top 20% in their age/gender category at the gran fondo road race or time trial automatically qualify to attend the 2023 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships next August. 

The next race in the UCI Gran Fondo worldwide series takes place 4 February 2023 at UCI Gran Fondo Jordan on the shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan.  
 

Women's General Rankings: 
1- Byrne  
2 - Yulia Polevaya 
3 - Victoria Collins  
 

General standings for men: 
1 - Gökhan Uzuntaş 
2 - Kirill Krasavin 
3 - Eyup Karagöbek