Petros Gkotsis - UCI Gran Fondo, Rhodes

 

The UCI Gran Fondo Series is a new reincarnation of an old idea. Have the weekend warriors of the world try their luck at events designed specifically for them. Just such an event took place on the wonderful island of Rhodes. The Island of Knights, as it is also known, hosted 195 athletes from 26 countries, who donned their armour and duked it out to see who could be crowned their category's colossus. The format was one TT and one road race, with the winner having the quickest combined time. The overall women’s classification was won by the powerful rider from a tiny place, Malta’s Marie Clair Aquilina, and the men by the Greek Loukas Katapodis, a perennial favorite and 4 time winner of such events. Apart from the races, the island of Rhodes with its beautiful beaches and scenery put on a show for the competitors, with the hospitalities and amenities of the island on full showcase. Even if the competitors' respective races didn’t go as planned, the experience definitely didn’t leave them unsatisfied.