Best European Gran Fondos

[northshore]

I'd like to plan a trip around a Gran Fondo next year, and am finding it hard to narrow it down. Are there any favourites you all recommend?
Some features I'm looking for:
- A few long climbs, and a challenging day out.
- Somewhat competitive, with ranked timing.
- Good organisation and atmosphere.
- Ideally closed roads.
- A scenic european destination that could double as a holiday with my non-cycling wife.

Some I am considering:
- Mallorca 312 (Did it in 2019)
- Maratona dles Dolomites (Hard to get a place in the ballot?)
- La Stelvio Santini
- Sportful Dolomiti
- Quebrantahuesos (Not a great holiday destination?)

Any advice would be appreciated!

[GaBa]

Oetztaler radmarathon ticks all the boxes. Have not done it, nor any other of the above besides Maratona dles Dolomites (paid for Sportful Dolomiti this year but did not do it in the end). I fell in love with Dolomites and Maratona though so worth giving it a try.

[BernieMoves]

Kitzbüheler Radmarathon or Istria 300 maybe?

[basilic]

how about alpenbrevet.ch
on September 6 2025. There are several levels of difficulty. The roads are beautiful and closed to traffic. Plenty of touristy stuff in the general area.

[barbaar]

Alpenbrevet is non-competitive, and open roads. Just did it 2 weeks ago.
Otztaler Radmarathon ticks all the boxes, but not easy to get into (there is a draw)
La Marmotte Alpes also ticks all the boxes and has some of the famous climbs (Galibier/Alpe d' Huez)
La Marmotte Pyrenees has the same, but then in the Pyrenees. But I just noticed it's canceled for this year. No idea why and/or if it's coming back
Various GF's in the Voges area (3 ballons, GF Vosges, l'Alsacienne). Not the famous high mountains, but still over 4000m elevation within 200km

[BernieMoves]

Krušnoton in Czech Republic is going to take place again in 2025.

[MoHels]

Strade Bianchi! Great event did the Fondo in 2023. It is really competitive. Just signed up for 2025.
Lombardia also has Fondo which ist probably pretty nice.
Italy has a great Fondo scene.


Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

[TheBeautifulOne]

Mallorca 312
This one I raced for 5 times (225 route). Beautiful gran fondo. This was my first GF ever back in 2019 and apart from year 2023 which was catastrophically organized, had always nice experience. Great atmosphere. Great scenery (especially first half of the race)

Maratona dles dolomites
Most spectacular views from all GF I have ever rode. Tricky weather however. Out of 3 times, I have experienced 2 times not very nice weather, including this year. Chilly in the morning, moderate weather in the valleys, cold and wind on the peaks. If weather turns out fine, it is the most beautiful GF. Perfectly organized but hard to get to. I have used packages with accomodation to get there. You have to get used to the fact it is quite expensive.

Istria 300
Rode it this weekend. Very nice, cozy GF. Very good organization. Nice start/finish point. However roads are not completely closed on some segments and quality of roads is occasionally very bad. Sceneries are nice but to me not worth doing it again. I do not regret however. It was a nice experience.

L´etape du tour
I rode 3 of them. One in France with devastating 20 km climb to Val thorens as a final climb, One in Czech republic , one in Slovakia. All of them very well organized. Nice routes. They tend to change from year to year. Especially the French edition so you have to consider particular edition if it suits your needs.

[Requiem84]

Did the M312 this year. Organization learned its lesson from the 2023 failure. Drink and food stations were much better organized.

But still, some of my friends basically had to stop cycling at the start of the climbs in the beginning as it's just so incredibly busy. It gets better after 60km or so, but be prepared to feel like you are driving in Paris traffic hour.

(Still I would recommend this GF to anyone).

[octav]

I did some years ago the Maratona and also Solden.
Maratona for sure has the most scenic views, but Solden feels more like a race.
For Maratona, if you go for the 1st time you leave from far behind, so basically after 60km you have more space to move.
But both are beautiful, I am thinking for something in France for next year.

[BenCousins]

Look at the UCI Fondo events

[tiz92]

I did almost all of them competitevely.

Of course Maratona or Ötztaler if you get a starting place is a much. Very nice races are also: Kitzbüheler, Sportful, Granfondo BGY, Nove Colli or also Marcialonga.

I highly opt for Sportful and/or Marcialonga. Both are alos in the Dolomites so insanely beautiful, organized extremely well and its easy to a get a starting place and they dont cost much.