Granfondo Yunnan

27/11/2024

Watch our recap videos of the 2024 edition on YouTube or our website.

https://www.granfondoyunnan.com/news/2024/11/27/watch-our-2024-event-videos-

Mangshi：https://youtu.be/Ml7cH14HYLk
Tengchong：https://youtu.be/ZeMrvOdvWYE
Fengqing: https://youtu.be/xMRnY5ZrKCM
Puer：https://youtu.be/NyD71wWFybM
Xishuangbanna：https://youtu.be/62guGcTl9_A
Full stages：https://youtu.be/wHHgwX6nN3A

2024 Colorful Yunnan Granfondo Cycling Festival will be held from Nov.2nd to Nov.9th, in Dehong Mangshi, Baoshan Tengchong, Lincang Fengqing, Pu’er Simao an...

11/11/2024

A few snapshots of Saturday's final stage in Xishuangbanna:

11/11/2024

Stage 5 in Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, took place on wet roads initially, but the sun immediately came out to join the riders on their final 162km long challenge of this year's event. A four-man-breakaway coloured most of the race, until the first group of chasers caught up with some 30km to go, including yellow jersey Chen Hao. He underlined his competitive dominance by riding away on the last real climb of four, albeit in two attempts (see videos). Li Si also once more took top honours in the women's competition.

1800 people signed up for this final stage in Xishuangbanna, nearly 1500 for the long distance category. It was the first time our event concluded in this tourist city by the Mekong river, close to the border with Laos.

08/11/2024

Stage 4 of this year's event in Pu'Er carries the title "The Coffee & Tea Ride", but who could have thought that that was exactly what it would turn out to be. Heavy rain had been striking the Pu'Er area for days, causing mudslides here and there and generally creating unsafe road conditions for a cycling competition. However, the event's race director decided not to cancel the event, but to neutralise the race and just 'let them ride'. The more than 1300 participants were permitted to ride the full 106km course at their own pace, as long as within the cut-off times. No race, no results, no podium ceremonies. The decision was praised by the participants with applause upon announcement and 95% of the riders would later complete the Pu'Er stage successfully.

There are of course no changes in the general classification and age group rankings.

The final stage takes place in Xishuangbanna on Saturday with the weather forecast much more positive again.

05/11/2024

Stage 3 in Lincang/Fengqing - 156km with 3300 elevation gain: again victory for Chen Hao and Li Si, confirming their lead in the general classification as well. The men’s mountain race was entirely coloured by Wang Jin, however. He attacked in the first kilometre of Lucky Dragon Mountain at km 24 and rode solo in front for 125 km! But his “Poggy Attack” did not fully succeed as he ran out of steam on the final slopes of the last mountain and got caught by 7 others. In the fast descent to the finish, Chen Hao and Yang Qian Bin opened a small gap and sprinted for victory. Wang Jin still got fifth at least.

03/11/2024

Stage 2 - Tengchong: photo gallery

03/11/2024

Stage 2 - Tengchong, 113km - 2000 Hm. The second stage of this year's Granfondo Yunnan had the same winners in Chen Hao and Li Si, both wearing the event's yellow leader jerseys. While Li Si was again a class on her own, Chen Hao had to sprint against Yang Qian Bin for victory. Wu Bao Chao, the Chinese "Arnaud De Lie" came third 1'47" later in what was a beautiful day of cycling through scenic areas such as Simola and D**g Shan. The latter mountain was a brand new addition for this year's Tengchong race, an Alpine-like climb with majestic views as you near the summit.

Obviously, Chen Hao and Li Si also keep their lead in the General Classification. USA's Joel Bruner today scored a great 7th place, 4'09" behind the winner. He is the first non-Chinese so far this year. So-called "foreigners" have more success in the age groups, with Singapore-based Briton Dan Smith winning his second stage in the 50+ male category, and Belgium's former judo champion Heidi Goossens, who took part in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, doing the same in the female 50+ category. Malaysia's Cheam Dow Wei also took another third place in the 40+ AG, and so did Britain's Konstantina Koulama in the women's 50+. Italy's Vittorio Tentori took second in the AG 40+ today, which proves his podium in last year's Tengchong race was no coincidence.

1038 starters for the long distance category today, 905 finishers within the cut-off time. This was unthinkable ten years ago here in China. The level has gone up big time!

02/11/2024

A few snapshots from Stage 1 in Mangshi today.

02/11/2024

Stage 1 in Mangshi: Chen Hao wins a 9-men sprint after 113 km across Jiangdong mountain. Yang Qian Bin and Wang Jin join him on podium. First non-Chinese rider is USA’s Joel Bruner, 2’24” behind in tenth. Last year’s overall female winner Li Si again started with a victory. She finished more than six minutes ahead of Cheng Qiao Rou .

Over 1300 participants took the start in Mangshi, of whom 80% on the long distance course.

30/10/2024

The 11th edition of Colourful Yunnan Granfondo Cycling Festival begins this Saturday with the first of five new stages in five different cities. Participants in the long distance category will ride 650 kilometres in total over challenging and mountainous terrain in southern and southwestern Yunnan. Despite a late opening of registration, the event was again sold out in less than 24 hours with approx 1300 people signing up for the full tour, and several hundreds more for one or more stages.

Mangshi in Dehong will kick off the cycling festivities as the ‘peacock city’ already did back in 2018 and 2019. Then there was a short TT and a ride to the Myanmar border in Ruili, now there is a brand new 113km stage going around Mangshi and including the ascent and descent of Jiangdong mountain. Besides tea, climbing mountains is the key theme of this year’s Granfondo Yunnan , as every stage features significant elevation gain. There are no sprinter stages in the long distance category, which is entirely due to the mountainous surroundings of each host city. On paper it is therefore the most technical and toughest edition of the event, and the gold finisher certificate - for riders who complete all five long distance stages within the cut-off time - will be a hard-earned one with a considerable amount of bragging rights attached!

Mangshi is followed by another returnee to Granfondo Yunnan, namely Tengchong. Again a brand new course, based on last year’s Epic Tengchong race organised separately. This takes riders to the beautiful flower town of Simola. Upon returning to the city centre, however, there will be a right-turn taking participants to a new section that includes the ascent of the magnificent D**g Shan mountain. A perfect road with amazing views along the climb.

The first two stages are spicy in their own right, but nevertheless can be regarded as a warm-up for the Queen’s Stage of this year’s GF Yunnan in Fengqing, which follows the first rest day. Fengqing in Lincang enters Granfondo for the first time. A true mountain challenge of 156km and 3300 hm with two long ascents and descents and fantastic scenery. Lucky Dragon Mountain is first, a long climb on a rather narrow mountain road with the steepest sections in the middle. It is the most technical stage that is likely to see most DNFs of the week.

After a welcome second rest day, stage 4 takes place in newcomer Pu’Er-Simao for a 106km long hilly ride through various big tea plantations. Perhaps the easiest stage of the week, but should still not be underestimated either as there is 1400 metres of elevation gain to be conquered. Pu’Er is the most famous tea area in Yunnan, and riders will have time to enjoy a few cups before heading to the fifth and final host venue of this year’s event: Xishuangbanna.

Popular on the backpack traveller’s trail for a long time, Xishuangbanna-Jinghong is a solid substitute for Lijiang as the event's finish venue and will surprise many who have never been there before. However, the last stage of 162km is a tough one and will test everyone’s physical and mental resilience with a rollercoaster of 2500 hm, of which the most difficult part lies in the first half.

The event will be concluded with a podium ceremony and local performances in the city itself. Plenty of nightlife in Xishuangbanna, so if there’s something left in the legs, participants can dance the night away!

Last year, the general classification for men was won by Li Peng Chen, and by Li Si for women. The latter features again on the start list this year.

https://www.granfondoyunnan.com/news/2024/10/30/mangshi-kicks-off-most-mountainous-granfondo-yunnan-ever

20/09/2024

GF YUNNAN 2024 - The 5 Stages from 2 to 9 November.

15/08/2024

The 2024 Granfondo Yunnan has a brand new programme with new stages in and around three new cities, too. The Prologue TT in Mangshi is the only race that has not changed, but it’s been five years since we went there last. Dehong-Mangshi, Baoshan-Tengchong, Lincang-Fengqing, Pu’Er-Simao and Xishuangbanna-Jinghong from 2 to 9 November 2024.

Registration will open end of this month.

The 2024 Granfondo Yunnan will see a completely different programme for the first time since the covid pandemic. On the race schedule are a Prologue TT and five genuine stages for a total distance of 600+ km (long distance category), similar to the 2018 and 2019 editions. The event will start in Deh...

15/04/2024

Our 2024 edition takes place from 2 to 9 November. As in 2018 and 2019, we start with a Prologue Time Trial in Dehong-Mangshi, followed by five new stages in Mangshi, Baoshan/Tengchong, Lincang/Fengqing, Pu'Er/Simao and Xishuangbanna/Jinghong. Total distance will be over 600 km, and elevation gain will be considerable given the natural mountainous terrain of southern Yunnan province.

All details of the stages will be released soon. As always, event registration is expected to open in June.

Note that China is now offering visa-free travel for several countries for up to 15 days, including countries in the EU.

To get to Mangshi in the southwestern corner of Yunnan, you might wish to use Guangzhou (Canton) as your entry point to China coming from outside Asia. Guangzhou has direct connections to Mangshi with China Southern. If you're in Asia, you can of course also look at provincial capital Kunming in order to reach Mangshi. Kunming has direct international connections with a.o. Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Stay tuned for more updates.

The 2024 Granfondo Yunnan will see a completely different programme for the first time since the covid pandemic. On the race schedule are a Prologue TT and five genuine stages for a total distance of 600+ km (long distance category), similar to the 2018 and 2019 editions. The event will start in Deh...

13/01/2024

Provisional event dates for the 11th Granfondo Yunnan: 2-9 November 2024, with a brand new race programme. Envisaged are a prologue TT and five long distance stages in and around five cities. It's Yunnan - prepare for some elevation gain, too ;-)

Watch our latest long video teaser of last year's 10th anniversary edition now on YouTube:

Granfondo means long distance or great endurance in Italian. Today, it is the universal term for a long-distance and mass participation cycling event, which ...