Sprint finish at Inaugural GFNY Rockford-Illinois

Andy Cicero and Olivia Wiktor win the first edition

Rockford hosted the inaugural edition of GFNY Rockford this past Sunday. The race course was 93.6 miles long with an elevation gain of 3,583 feet.

The race started off fast and already by mile 1.5, forty riders formed the lead group. After a string of attacks, a group of six riders successfully got away at mile 56, including GFNY Ann Arbor champ Ben Gorodetsky (NYC), Triple GFNY Florida champ Leon Santamaria (Miami) and Andy Cicero (Falls Church, VA).

Gorodetsky managed to break away and extended the lead during 15 miles to over 30 seconds.

But with 17 miles to go, the remaining quartet caught up with Gorodetsky. Attacks started and in the five man sprint to the finish line, Cicero put in a surprising attack. He took the win and crossed the finish line in 03:57:12, ahead of Santamaria and Gorodetsky.

In the female race, Olivia Wiktor (Team RETO, USA) took the solo win in 4:40:15, ahead of Mishelle Abreu (Dominican Republic) and Carolina Restrepo (Mexico) in third.

Next up on the GFNY calendar is the fourth edition of GFNY Alpes Vaujany which will take place Sunday, August 27, 2023.

Photo: Andy Cicero wins the men's category in the first edition of GFNY Rockford-Illinois