Grinduro is well known among gravel riding fans world-over for creating the perfect Party-to-Race ratio and for 2023, Shimano are going to be joining the party as global presenting sponsor.
Grinduro combines the best elements of a mountain bike enduro with a gravel grinder-style road race. But the magic really happens when you add great food, an art & bike festival, high-quality music and camping in an epic location.
The Shimano GRX range of gravel-focussed components and wheelsets are perfectly suited to the challenging and fun courses that the Grinduro Global Series has become recognised for. The brand will also support with its range of pedal systems, cycle apparel and eyewear.
What exactly is Grinduro? It’s a combo of a gravel grinder road race and mountain bike enduro. The routes are a mix of everything from pavement, gravel and singletrack. While Grinduro is held in enduro format, with four stages ridden in race mode, the rest of the tour can be enjoyed without time pressure. It's both beautiful and challenging. With a well-balanced mix of paved and unpaved, flat and hilly, fast and technical, social and competitive.
“Grinduro upended traditional bike racing when it launched in 2015 and we’re still buzzing on its unique formula. The format, the festival, the terrain… it’s an experience unlike any other. Some of the best days of my life have been spent under that purple banner, and I’m looking forward to making new friends and seeing new places at this year’s events.”
Each round of the six-event series has a distinctive look and feel but has one thing in common - they're all about trying to find the perfect mix of racing and partying. There are three days of organised events at each location - a Friday afternoon prologue, all day riding (with timed stages incorporated for anyone who wants to the put the pedal to the metal) on the Saturday and a gentle 'hangover' ride on the Sunday morning.
Shimano will attend all the rounds of the series, showcasing their full range of gravel specific products to the Grinduro audience, but also offering riders the opportunity to hang out with the team, meet with Shimano Gravel Alliance ambassadors and of course, join in with the Grinduro afterparty with some unique rider activations.
For 2023, the Grinduro World Series includes rounds in six different countries across the globe:
• It kicks off in the forests of Germany on May 5th-7th
• Then west to the sunshine and big mountains of California on May 19th-21st
• It stays in the USA with round 3 in the woods of Pennsylvania on June 16th-18th
• Then back across the Atlantic to the hills and sheep farms of Wales on July 7th-9th
• Next up is a trip to the sunshine and beaches of coastal Italy on September 8th-10th
• Finally, the grand finale in the mountains of Japan on October 7th-9th
