Gran Fondo Isle of Man weekend attracts record entry

Chris Lawless will be defending the title he won last year

More than 1,100 riders of all levels are set to take part in a major cycling event in the north of the Isle of Man.

It includes a record entry for the 137km Gran Fondo Isle of Man, which is a qualification round for the 2023 UCI Gran Fondo World Series.

The two-day event, which starts on Saturday, features a range of races including a 1km family-friendly ride, 32km and 72km races and a time trial.

Manx professional cyclists taking part include Becky Storrie and Tyler Hannay.

Island resident Chris Lawless has also been announced as a last-minute entrant to defend the title he won in 2022, when Mark Cavendish was among those who took part.

Becky Storrie will be taking part in Sunday's main event

Storrie, who is riding for Team dsm-firmenich, said cycling on the Isle of Man was "hard" and would provide a good challenge.

She said: "You've got all elements to battle with, usually the weather, it's usually very windy, it's known for being wet at times.

"It's got all sorts of terrain, which is what I love about it, It's got a lot of variety."

The races, which are in their eighth year and is based around Mooragh Park in Ramsey, are held on closed pubic roads.

Tyler Hannay was runner-up in the 2022 event

Hannay, who is riding for Saint Piran and was runner-up in the main event last year, said that element of the event made it special.

"You get to ride on roads that maybe you wouldn't get to ride on a day-to-day basis, and at speeds maybe you wouldn't get to on a day-to-day basis also," he said.

Organiser Paul Phillips said from next year the Isle of Man event would be the only closed road mass participation Gran Fondo in the British Isles, which was "a real point of difference".

He said the event had "grown consistently every year" since it began and with competitors from 14 different countries travelling to the island to take part he was "really happy" with this year's participation.

Accessibility was a "real priority for us" when putting the programme of events together and has contributed to its success, he continued.

Paul Phillips said maintaining accessibility for all levels of ability was key to the events

"It is unique and special the type of challenge that this event, this route, the closed roads, the high level of organisation that goes into it for amateur cyclists - which is what it's primarily aimed at - is unusual," Phillips added.

"We would prioritise accessibly alongside the elite element of our event. So the elite element is the bit that grabs the headlines, but for us we prioritise and are as focussed on providing safe accessibly cycling basically to anyone with a bike.

"So the only barrier is a bike, there's no other barrier.

"There will be something in our event over the course of the weekend that you can do, and I think that's really important and that's why we've seen such strong numbers over the years of local participation as well.