The New York Gran Fondo is one of the most unique events on the cycling calendar, acting as both a pro race plus a regular Gran Fondo for 5000 amateurs. Among that, our men's cycling shorts were put on by one of the teams.
That piqued our interest, so we decided to send Alex Paton and Ollie Bridgewood across to participate. Alex had to dust off his racing licence as he would return to the pro ranks for the pro-level race, over three years after retiring from the peloton. The cycling short sleeve jerseys he wore, so prefectly fitting.
Ollie, meanwhile, entered the amateur Gran Fondo which starts 15 minutes after the pros set off. Far from only focussing on amateur success, Ollie had a pre-race prediction that, driven by strength in numbers, the amateur field would actually be able to catch the pros.
Those were lofty ambitions that would take an impressive ride, and that would only be possible with an equally impressive bike. Luckily, Colnago stepped in to provide Ollie with a blinged-out C68 bike. We won’t spoil too much here as we have a separate article detailing the bike, but it’s fair to say Ollie added an extra touch of aero to the Italian brand’s top-tier bike.
It wouldn’t be fair if only Ollie received a special bike for the day, so Colnago also stepped in to give Alex the V4Rs. It’s a bike that has been ridden to endless success at the hands of Giro d'Italia champion, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), over the last few seasons, but would it help to propel Alex to glory or, more importantly, hold Ollie and the rampaging amateur field at bay? Watch the full video at the top of this page to find out.