The virtual version of the Granfondo Stelvio Santini took place on the indoor cycling platform ROUVY on last Sunday with Wolfgang A. Pappler and Laura Arango emerging as overall winners in the Stelvio time trial.

The top six ranked cyclists – three men and three women – will all receive a Santini Cycling Wear kit while the two winners will also receive free entry to the 2021 Granfondo Stelvio Santini.

Sunday, June 7 2020 supposed to have been Granfondo Stelvio Santini day but, as we are all only too well aware, all sporting events have been canceled. So instead, a virtual version of the race was hosted on the indoor cycling training app ROUVY. The event featured only the Stelvio Pass climb with around 2,000 competitors from 60 nations competing on the 20-kilometer climb from Bormio to the legendary mountain ridge. Of these 2,000 cyclists, 153 were women.

2020 Granfondo Stelvio Santini on ROUVY
2020 Granfondo Stelvio Santini took place on the indoor cycling platform ROUVY

The challenge was open for 24 hours with two live races also held in the course of the day – one at 11:00 CET and the other at 20:00 CET, the latter to give American cyclists the opportunity to take part. Amateur riders also got to go head-to-head with a long list of pro athletes and special guests. Vincenzo Nibali and Elisa Longo Borghini of Trek-Segafredo, Christine Majerus of Boels-Dolmans, and triathletes Giulio Molinari and Kyle Buckingham all lined out on the 11:00 CET start grid. Also alongside them was Ruby Isaac, the young British influencer who did the Cancano Lakes climb for charity last year.

Lining out for the second live race at 20:00 CET were Kiel Rejinen of Trek-Segafredo, Carol Ann Kanuel of Boels-Dolmans, and triathlete and world champion Mirinda Carfrae.

Naturally enough, the big names will not figure in the final classifications which were reserved for amateur cyclists only.

The virtual 2020 Granfondo Stelvio Santini on Rouvy podium

The three male and three female athletes that clocked the fastest times on the Stelvio climb in yesterday’s ROUVY challenges will all receive prizes. The names of 10 competitors were also drawn from a virtual hat, and they too will be getting various prizes put up by Santini Cycling Wear and the event’s other partner companies.

The two winning cyclists are Wolfgang A. Pappler from Austria who covered the 20-kilometers and 1,500-meter elevation change of the Stelvio climb in a time of 1:03:26 and 30-year-old Laura Arango of the Bicicleteros Team from Colombia who crossed the finish line in 1:13:53.10.

The two winners and the second and third-placed male and female cyclists will receive a Santini Cycling Wear kit while the winners will also be presented with two free entries each for the 2021 Granfondo Stelvio Santini.

The classifications, which are are available to users who accessed the site, can be viewed on rouvy.com

For further information: granfondostelviosantini.com

M. Özgür Nevres

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