Is pro racing coming to New York City? New event planned for 2024

New York City has flirted with the Giro d’Italia grande partenza a couple of times over the past decade to no avail. However, in 2024 cycling might finally get its New York City moment with the 1.2 Gran Premio New York City appearing in the newly-published UCI calendar for next season.

The race is currently set for May 19, 2024, at 1.2 level, which is the lowest classification and would mean ProTeams, Continental teams and national teams could enter, but not WorldTour teams.

More information about the race is currently sparse, but trace back along the paper trail and the details show how a one day race might happen in New York.

The organiser, Gran Fondo New York (GFNY), has been putting on large scale, mass participation events in the New York City area for 11 years. GFNY also put on large ‘gran fondos’ for cyclists around the world with 30 events in 15 countries.

The event’s calling card is to offer the chance for riders to “be a pro for a day,” through the event by offering a “true gran fondos in the Italian tradition: you get to have the right of way at each intersection, will be timed from start to finish, and your result will be based on your time,” according to their website.

Quietly, the group has been working to bring professional cyclists into the mix at the ‘GFNY World Championship’ in New York since 2014, as one of the founder said in a Tweet to a complaint from a GFNY rider, as reported by Bicycling earlier this year.

“This has been in the making since 2014 and involves many government agencies and the federations. It all came together this week. I understand change is difficult for most but I promise we will continue working relentlessly to provide the best possible experience.”

“GFNY was never a century ride but coincidentally 100 miles long (half the riders call it 162km). Eg in 2012/2013 it was 110 miles and last year 103. There are many rides that specifically offer 100 miles.”

Additionally, the race would use the road closures and infrastructure associated with its GFNY to run the pro race, which would start the same day and start minutes ahead of the gran fondo.

“An actual pro race minutes ahead of the amateurs will bring GFNY a step closer to integrating professional racing in a mass participation race,” Fluhme told Bicycling. Running and triathlon have shown the power of this format where all athletes get to race against their heroes. It’s time for cycling to follow this successful model at select races.”

One note: the race won't actually run in New York City. Traditionally, the start of the GFNY rolls over the George Washington bridge, but will be run on roads on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. While the parcours heads up river and into the state of New York, the city itself will not feature like it does in the New York City Marathon.