April 1 is the date marked on the calendar for the closing of entries for the GFNY, the foundation stone of the biggest amateur cycling events around the world, and which in 2024 comes hand in hand with an innovation that aims to become the standard for Grand Tours worldwide: the Grand Prix New York City.
Since its inauguration in 2011, the GFNY has delivered on its promise to turn anyone who participates into a professional for a day. The event that takes place on the third Sunday of May in the Big Apple is today the “mother” of some thirty events around the world that bear the stamp of the GFNY franchise in places as dissimilar as Malaysia, France, Colombia, Mexico, Indonesia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay and the United States.
For May 19 of this year, the GFNY organization headed by Uli and Lidia Fluhme has set the goal of turning into reality the dream of every amateur to not only feel professional for a day but to share with teams and professional cyclists a historic peloton that emulates what happens year after year in the great marathons of the world where the elite and the amateur category are combined without problems.
A unique event that in the words of Uli Fluhme: “Aims to revolutionize cycling, where amateurs and professionals traditionally compete in separate events. Having the pros race on the same course as the amateurs, just a few minutes before them, will bring fans closer to their idols and enhance the event experience for riders, spectators and sponsors.” According to Fluhme himself, the GFNY and the Grand Prix New York City signify the future of professional cycling, which is increasingly in need of advertising and television exposure.
The Italian ProTeam squads: VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè and Corratec-Vini Fantini, which competed in the Tour Colombia, head the list of participating teams for the 1st edition of the Grand Prix New York City. The list of confirmed teams is completed by the continental category teams: Trinity Racing (UK), Project Echelon Racing (USA), Hustle Pro Cycling (Canada), Skyline – Cadence Pro Cycling (USA), Novo Nordisk Development (USA) and Mito Q – NZ Cycling Project (New Zealand).
Five teams from the elite category also make up the list of 25 squads that will be taking part in the first edition of the Grand Prix New York City: Cannondale Echelon p/b 4iiii (Canada), CLN-Wiawis (Switzerland), CS Velo Racing (USA), Team California (USA) and the local New York team: Team Jaminson, the last squad announced by the organization.
“We have home race advantage and we’ll make the most of it,” said Team Jaminson director Ross Baldwin. “Against a peloton as high level as this one, the goal is to get a top 10 to represent local cycling.”
“We wanted one of the Wild Cards to go to a New York City team,” noted GFNY executive director Uli Fluhme. “So we chose Team Jamison because they have been supporting GFNY since its inaugural edition and have always been a determining factor in the final outcome.”
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico