The pioneering Gran Fondo Kazakhstan - Tour of Zhetysu, doubles participation in its 3rd Edition
The Almaty region, Taldykurgan, hosted the 3th edition of Gran Fondo Kazakhstan - Tour of Zhetysu, the 4th stop at the 2018 Gran Fondo World Tour ® Series
The peloton were challenged with a hillier 80 km route, with temperatures reaching 34C. It was a fast race featuring a breakaway that included the current leader of Gran Fondo World Tour ® Series, Norwegian cyclist Jonas Orset.
On the second day, the city hosted a criterium won by the former pro rider Nikita Fedotowskikh.
The final results for the 2 day event were:
1st Nikita Fedotowskikh 2nd Maxim Shtyrbulov 3rd Jonas Orset
With the above result, Norwegian rider and defending champion Jonas Orset took over the leadership from previous leader Choe Geeniyong from Korea.
In the woman's category, the Russian cyclist Maria Kireyeva, dominated both days and easily took 1,000 Gran Fondo World Tour ® points for first place, but Korean Song Jumi retained the overall lead with 1,100 Gran Fondo World Tour ® points.
The 4th edition has been scheduled for May 26, 2019, a one day event with two distances of 50 and 100 km, the Gran Fondo Kazakhstan arrived in central asia and is on it's way to become the biggest cycling event in Kazakhstan excluding pro cycling events or continental races.
Mr Serik Turdaliyev, Almaty Region Cycling Federation President, signed an advanced agreement for 2019, with the intention to become much more international next year and surpass the 10 countries represented in this edition, including a one week tourism package, visiting the best places in the country, such as the national parks, Almaty or Astana country capital.
Having doubled participation year after year, the forecast tis that the Gran Fondo Kazakhstan - Tour of Zhetysu will be on the Asian Gran Fondo calendar for the next few years.
The next stop for Gran Fondo World Tour ® Series is the Sea Otter Europe Gran Fondo on June 9-10 in Girona-Spain, and one week later Styrkeproven on June 16-17 in Oslo Norway.
For further updates, please visit granfondoworldtour.com