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Ninth edition of Northern Colorado’s Premier Gravel a huge success

The ninth edition of Northern Colorado’s premier gravel, the Foco Fondo, was the highest attended to date. Athletes tackled one of four distances, with the 118-mile “Triple Dog Dare You” event being the most competitive with $9,000 purse – split evenly, three ways – for the Men, Women, and Non-binary categories

Seventh edition of Northern Colorado’s Premier Gravel a huge success

The Triple Dog Dare You event had a new, slightly shorter route this year. The changes offered less mileage, but with a similar amount of climbing as 2022’s 145-mile event, taking riders Northwest of Fort Collins, toward Red Feather, and taking on the decisive Prairie Divide Road climb.

Emily Newson claimed victory in the women’s category with about a 9-minute win over second place Paige Onweller and Cecily Decker just 11-seconds back. At the top of the Prairie Divide road (mile 71.7), she had about a 5-minute lead over Onweller, and then stretched that out over the return trip back South to Fort Collins.

“I was third in my group going into the cattle run and I worked really hard to stay with those guys,” Newsom recapped. “And then at some point I was just by myself, but I just stayed focused and kept working as I knew I had a pretty good lead.”

145-mile event, taking riders Northwest of Fort Collins

Men top-3 Alexey Vermeulen broke away from the group about halfway into the course, on the slopes of the main climb up Prairie Divide Road. He finished just under 2-minutes ahead of a group of three, including 2-place finisher Lance Haidet and 3-place Richard Arnopol.

“And I was kind of just hoping on a prayer that they couldn't see me and just keep, keep riding,” offered Vermeulen. “You know, when you go that far out, it's, you just have to kind of ride your pace.”

Vermeulen, also the winner of the 2022 Triple Dog Dare you offered some insight on the course changes, “This seems much more manageable. I loved it. I think they kept all the cool parts of the course. That climb that canyon is pretty awesome, cool.”

Non-binary winner Apollo Leonard summed up their day in two words with “I’m cracked.” The main climb of the day claimed many riders’ spirits with higher altitudes and an unrelenting sun. Leonard also had a slightly delayed start that saw them depart about five minutes behind the rest of the field and started their solo effort from the very beginning.

2023 Foco Fondo Podium

2023 Foco Fondo Results: https://www.athlinks.com/event/374927/results/Event/1053937/Course/2375066/Division/2163615/Split/485694/Results

2023 Fondo Fondo Photos: https://www.focofondo.com/past-years-results-photos

Registration opens January 1st 2024

Registration for the 10th edition opens on January 1st 2024. The event will sell out in advance.

Don't worry, Gran Fondo Guide will be reminding all fans and followers on New Year's day.

For more information, please visit: https://www.focofondo.com

Colorado Summer of Gravel Finale

The FoCo Fondo wa the final event of the inaugural Colorado Summer of Gravel series. Made up of four independently-owned events, Colorado Summer of Gravel showcases four very unique areas of Colorado.

Cait Charlton won the non-binary category, Justin Martin won the men’s, and TK took the series win.