The sixth annual international Campagnolo GFNY Championship NYC was held Sunday, May 15, 2016. The world’s most international cycling event brought riders from 93 countries to the world’s capital. It was the highlight of GFNY World races around the globe, now held in Argentina, Colombia, Cozumel-Mexico, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico City and Uruguay.
Cool temperatures made for good racing conditions despite the occasional wind gusts. 85% of the 5,000 riders tackled the difficult 100 mile course with 8,500 feet of climbing from NYC to Bear Mountain and back to Fort Lee, NJ. The remaining 15% opted for the 50 mile GFNY Bear from NYC to Bear Mountain.
Men’s Race
Local racer Gavi Epstein (Lupus Racing) attacked in the opening miles and established a lead of 3 minutes on a peloton that at times was as big as 150 riders. By the time the race hit Haverstraw at mile 30, Mike Margarite (NYC, Team Weather Channel) and Enrique Quinones from Colombia went on the pursuit. Margarite caught and dropped Epstein during the assault on Bear Mountain while Quinones fell back.
Behind, the big group fell apart due to several attacks up Bear. A chase group formed, including Colombians Corredor, Montana, Trujillo, as well as Hamon (FRA), Pichetta (ITA) and Cruz (DOM). Trujillo did most of the work because the other Colombians thought they had a rider of their team – Quinones – up the road. As a result more riders caught up from behind and the group swelled to 13 by mile 70.
New Yorker Allan Rego (Lupus Racing) and Pichetta attacked but it was too late: Margarite had a lead of 6 minutes established and won the men’s race in 4:30:25. The chase group was left to battle for the remaining podium spots. Rego took second in 4:36:51, Cruz completed the full NYC podium sweep in 4:36:58, cracking a two-year Colombian dominance and keeping the crown in town for the first time ever. The defeated Colombians took it in stride and already look forward for a revenge in 2017.
Women’s Race
The story of the women’s race was one of the total domination of defending champion Camila Cortes from Bogota, Colombia. Despite fracturing her elbow three weeks ago in a crash caused by a motorbike during training, she took the lead from the gun and never looked back. Cortes finished in 4:51:21, beating second place Marcella Toldi from Brazil by over 20 minutes. Canadian Heather Low was third in 5:19:06.
We joined the Race in New York – look forward to Issue #002 for all details!
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Words & Photos: GFNY
