Above per Sticky Bottle.
Anyone know, or any speculation as to, where and when?
Saturday April 7. Wild Atlantic Way.
no details available yet
I'd say it will be a loop of Connemara, leaving the city along the coast and then a loop somewhere around Carna.
Pretty sure there was a sportive a few years back with similar route.
I'm curious about this. Is it amateur only, or will there be ex-pros? Can anyone register to do it, or are there qualifying criteria?
There usually opened to anyone and ridiculously over priced.
I wonder will Audax Ireland be annoyed at one of their big events having it's name pinched? That said they might get a load of accidental entrants on the back of it.
Will it be total road closure like in France? Hmm doubtful
The closest comparison may be the Isle of Man Gran Fondo which was held in July last year and may give a better indication of what can be expected.
You are probably looking at a minimum of an €80 entry fee. I see Gary Nugent is involved and he is very experienced in organising cycling events in this country so I wish them well.
In fairness, if it's closed roads they probably are not cheap to get and marshal!
Matteo if he rides will win it, id guess its right up his street
Still nothing more about this event. Seem to be cutting it a bit fine.
Any news on this yet?
Ireland is not on the calendar for April 2024, although the link to the WAW Gran Fondo above is still active
Looks like its back on, but maybe in Sligo?
EDIT: There's a site as well
Could only see mention of total elevation but no distances. Presume it's all on-road too?
Big launch...but with no routes 👎️
Maybe I'm missing something but am I right in guessing that the main attraction of this kind of event is the fact it's on closed roads. Can't for the life of me figure out why else I would be getting excited about it.
Routes are up. The main event is from Sligo town out to Ballisodare, following the WAW to Enniscrone, then cutting across through Bunniconlon, Lough Talt, Tubbercurry, Ballymote, Riverstown, Ballygawley and back into town.
It's a good route although the Ox Mountain 4 Passes sportive is a better one.
Few tough little climbs on that route eg Dromore West watertower hill
Yep it's just you.
I'm no climber, but that amount wouldn't frighten me too much. Looks flatter than my surrounding area!
Anyone have a link to the route(s)?
You'll see the four routes are on the website when you scroll down https://www.granfondoireland.ie/
Tangentially related, l'etape is coming to Ireland, Sept in Kerry
First I've heard of that and I'm living in Killarney,. Website is a bit sparse on detail... who are they?
Its run by/in conjunction with ASO, the crowd that run the Tour de France. I did the one in France last year, was a seriously professional setup and great day out, doing one of the TDF stages a week before the professionals.
They appear to be branching out and running sister events in other countries the past few years, this is the first time they've done something in Ireland
Yeah I did 2 Etape du Tours back in 2002 and 2004 ish so familiar with the ASO one. Just didn't see much on the site referencing them. When I filled out the register inerest form though I could then see it looks to be run by Elite events, so same crowd as Ring of Beara etc. It did mention ASO there too but they are probably just licencing their branding?
some seriously good climbing in Sligo, lovely quiet roads too and generally the surfaces are ok. Narrow roads however so wouldn't suit a big peleton
It does look like its under license from ASO
Route sounds interesting as they're tackling the Ballaghbeama Gap. Hopefully price won't be ridiculous.
