10th edition of Giant Seorak Gran Fondo on Course for September 19th

Riders will enjoy a lot of climbing at this challenging event! Event organizers are taking extra steps to insure the safety of the participants while offering a premier experience. 

Athletes will take on the steep and challenging 208 km route through the Seorak National Park and compete against each other, the clock and themselves in a personal endurance cycling challenge.

The Giant Seorak Gran Fondo is the biggest Gran Fondo in Asia with over 4,600 riders lining up at the start in 2019, testament to the rapid growth of Gran Fondo cycling culture across Asia.

Due to Coronavirus, the 2020 Giant Seorak Gran Fondo probably won't feature an international peloton of riders from over 40 countries.

Considering the difficulties of international travel restrictions, the title of the 2020 Gran Fondo World Tour® Championship will be carried over to 2021. Gran Fondo World Tour Championship category riders will be changed to the Granfondo or Mediofondo category. In addition, it is possible to change between Granfondo and Mediofondo categories.

The Gran Fondo riders will have to complete the 208 km course over four category 2 climbs and 1 of HC (Hors Catégorie) Category Mountain within 12 hours. The Medio Fondo riders have to complete the 105 km course over two category 2 mountains and 2 category 4 mountains within 7 hours.

In 2019, local cyclists, Song Joomi (women) and Cheon Sosan (men) were the winners. Joomi passed over 1,600 participants on the Gran Fondo course; an amazing result that shows the potential of Korean Cyclists in the overall Gran Fondo World Tour® rankings.

Song Joomi holds the womens 208km Gran Fondo course record, with a time of 07h 52m 36s. Jeong, Wooram holds the men's Gran Fondo course title with a time of 6h 39m 7s.

The Seorak Gran Fondo started in in June 2010 when 10 riders departed from the east side of Baek Bok-ryeong in the Donghae city of Gangwon Province, to ride 265km over seven mountains to reach Sokcho. Climbing Seorak Mountain and O'de Mountain in Gangwon Province, the route travels through one of the best mountain areas in Korea.

"Our event has grown over the last 10 years and we are proud to be part of the Gran Fondo World Tour Championships®  in 2021,” said Mr. Kisseok Uhm, Principal and head manager, Giant Seorak Gran Fondo.

For more information, please visit: http://granfondo.kr