Gran Fondo Vincenzo Nibali - 5 Mila Marche joins the Gran Fondo World Tour® Series

With 6 months to go before the start of the Gran Fondo Nibali - 5 Mila Marche, the event has joined the GRAN FONDO WORLD TOUR® series and entered alongside those events with much greater International appeal

By participating in the events of the series, riders will collect points for the GRAN FONDO WORLD TOUR® world ranking system. The ranking is open to all cyclists, regardless of their level of preparation.

Taking place October 15-17, 2021 the Gran Fondo Nibali - 5,000 Marche is project of the Marche Region promoting the territory and national and international cycle tourism, one of Italy’s lesser known cycling gems.

Le Marche is known for its stunning landscapes, history, artistic heritage, and coast, an eastern Italian region, sits between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic Sea. Ancona, its capital, is a port city on the Riviera del Conero, an area with sandy coves, limestone cliffs and medieval villages. Pesaro is the birthplace of renowned opera composer Rossini. The interior has countryside dotted with fortified hilltop settlements and the glaciated valleys of the Monti Sibillini National Park

Experience three days of celebration in Porto Recanati, a beautiful seaside resort for relaxing summer holidays, where you can breathe a particular atmosphere of tranquillity, and ideal for families and children too.

Vincenzo Nibali, two-times winner of the Giro d'Italia, winner of the Tour de France and La Vuelta, two Italian championships, Milan - Sanremo and two times winner of Tirreno Adriatico stated "My go-to cycling get-away place is the Marche region, a real cycling heaven”.

Gran Fondo Vincenzo Nibali - 5 Mila Marche joins the Gran Fondo World Tour® Series

Photo: The Marche region is two-times winner of the Giro d'Italia, Vincenzo Nibali’s go-to get-away cycling haven.

Starting in Porto Recanati, there are three challenging routes to choose from.

The Medio Fondo is 77km long with 1,200m of climbing. The first 6 km of the Medio Fondo are flat up to the hamlet of San Girio where the first 3km long climb begins with an average gradient of 5%. At the top, you reach the town of Potenza Picena, and then continue for about 25km with continuous climbs with gradients up to 8%. On reaching the capital of Macerata, you will undertake a 3km descent towards Montecassiano and then climb again for 2km up to Montefano and Recanati, a Leopardian city, with continuous climbs. Finally, from Recanati, the descent to Porto Recanati begins back to the finish line.

The Gran Fondo is 123km with 1,930m of climbing and follows the same route to Macerata as the Medio Fondo. From Macerata you accelerate downhill for 3km towards Pollenza, with another climb to Treia onto Cingoli, facing a fast descent and a flat stretch up to the locality of Chiesanuova. Once you have passed the GROTTACCIA hamlet, the most demanding climb of the day begins to return to Cingoli, you will face a stretch of about 1 kilometer with peaks of 15%. Once the difficulty has been overcome, the easiest part of the Granfondo begins, you go down for about 10km to a false flat, then a descend 5 km. At the bottom of this, you turn right towards Montefano and then go up towards the town. From here, you will go towards Recanati for about 12 km of undulating climbs. Finally you will descend towards the sea towards Porto Recanati to the finish line.

My go-to cycling get-away place is the Marche region, a real cycling heaven

For those looking for an even tougher challenge there’s the 250km 5 Mila Rando with 5,300m of climbing which includes two fierce Hors category climbs, the pass of Santa Maria Maddalena at an altitude of 1,445m and the Monte San Vicino at an altitude of 1,213m. The 5 Mila Rando is considered to one of the toughest Randonnèes in Italy and southern Europe.

Photo: The toughest Randonnèe in southern Europe with Sasotetto its Queen climb

The toughest Randonnèe in southern Europe with Sasotetto its Queen climb