The most popular cycle sports event in the south of Gran Canaria, the EPIC Gran Canaria RIU Hotels & Resorts, returns in its 2024 edition, jumping internationally. To celebrate the opening of registration for this edition, which will be held between February 9 and 11, 2024, the EPIC Gran Canaria Hotels & Resorts presents an unprecedented leap in level, and will crown the world champions in the Gran Fondo World Championship.
The seventh edition of the EPIC Gran Canaria open registrations in style, picking up the baton of host events such as Styrkeproven (Oslo-Norway) 2018, Rollfast Gran Fondo (Carmel-Indian-USA) 2019, Gran Fondo Encamp (Andorra) 2022, Seorak Giant Gran Fondo (South Korea) 2023 to close the titles in the first cycle sports world ranking for fans and passionate cyclists. Gran Canaria will receive the 2024 champions, while the candidate events for 2025 are already being evaluated, which will be decided between the 719 Ride in Colorado Springs in the United States, the Gran Fondo of Kazakhstan in the city of Taldykurgan (Kazakhstan) and the AmashovaDurban Classic in Durban (South Africa).
Gran Fondo World Tour offers the possibility of entering a world circuit to non-professional cyclists, with the option of participating in quality events on different continents, pedaling along the Galibier - Madeleine, touring the stages of Central Asia, the South African hills of the region of Natal Zulu, the coast of California, the mountains of Korea, the sun and climate of different cities in Spain or the landscapes of Norway. Gran Fondo World Tour is a world ranking which brings together a whole series of unique tests to form a great international circuit.
The EPIC Gran Canaria RIU Hotels & Resorts will have two privileged cycling stages, which run along several of the most popular routes on the island, with a first test of 115 kilometers and two timed sections. Starting from the Mirador de las Dunas de Maspalomas at the RIU Palace Maspalomas, the course will test the athletes on a climb that starts at the foot of the Maspalomas Dunes to take the competitors to face a route through Arteara, Fataga, Tirajana and El Pajar to Pasito Blanco.
The first timed section of this stage goes from Aqualand to Ayagaures, with the finish line at the Pedro González summit in a time trial of 12,3 kilometers at 470 meters of altitude, which plans to leave cyclists breathless in a fight against a average inclination of 4,4%, and a cut-off time of 50 minutes.
The second of the trials will evaluate the athletes in their face to face with the road between Pasito Blanco on its way up to Ayacata, with 45 kilometers and 1.304 meters high. With an average slope of 4,7%, this time trial will push the participants to the limit in a challenge through El Pajar, Cercados de Espino, Soria, Barranquillo Andrés, the Las Niñas dam and culminates at the top of Ayacata.
Fast and demanding
The second stage promises a fast and dynamic sporting spectacle, all or nothing in a single timed section. The second stage has 75 kilometers of route, with a 22-kilometer time trial that will adjust the times to the podium. Departing from the RIU Palace Maspalomas hotel, the cyclists will face a competition section that goes from the Mirador to Fataga and Tirajana, with 925 meters of altitude, in a slope of 810 meters and average slopes of 4%. This timed section will decide the titles, and will put the finishing touch on one of the most iconic cycling routes on the island, exclusively for the EPIC Gran Canaria RIU Hotels & Resorts.
This non-competitive stretch is a two-wheeled sports paradise and one of the attractions that attracts thousands of amateur and professional cyclists to the island every year. With step by Santa Lucía, La Era, Vecindario, Doctoral and Bahía Feliz and with the GC-65 and the GC-500 at the disposal of the participants, the trophy presentation will be the place to meet again and celebrate a great sports festival with a show and live music.
Cycling as a tourist attraction and differentiator
The EPIC Gran Canaria RIU Hotels & Resorts has consolidated itself in the sports calendar, firm in its objective that sport adds quality to the offer of Gran Canaria as a destination, is a tourist attraction and encourages enjoying the island from a healthy perspective, putting in value its natural heritage.
The EPIC Gran Canaria RIU Hotels & Resorts has the support of the Insular Sports Institute of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Maspalomas Costa Canaria, RIU Hotels & Resorts, Turismo Gran Canaria, Hospiten, Free Motion, Nektium, Coca-Cola, Aquabona, and Esenat, among others.
