Prestigious cycling event returns to Merced next month. Here’s what to expect
Former Tour de France and other professional cyclists will take part in a cycling event that will return to Merced in March.
For the second consecutive year, the Gran Fondo Hincapie Race will come to Merced with about 500 cyclists expected to take part in the ride, scheduled for March 15.
Among the expected participants is George Hincapie, who competed 17 times at the Tour de France during his 19-year professional career. Another big name expected to attend is Iván Domínguez, a former gold medalist at the Pan-American Games and former winner of the MERCO Cycling Classic, a race held in Merced from 1993 through 2013.
Local business owner and cycling enthusiast Doug Fluetsch played an instrumental role in bringing the Gran Fondo Hincapie Race to Merced. Fluetsch organized the MERCO Classic for 20 years.
“Eventually we’ll build this to what MERCO was, where we had other community events going on,” Fluetsch said. “We are still in the early stages where we’re just focusing on the ride and the race part of it.”
“The long term goal is to have more of a multi-day event,”Fluetsch added. “We’ll have a downtown race like we used to have with MERCEO on Sunday, and then this gran fondo on Saturday, two different types of races.”
The Gran Fondo Hincapie Race is more of a ride than a race. Gran fondo means “big ride.”
The Merced event is the first stop of the 2025 Hincapie season with other events this year scheduled in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Arkanansas and South Carolina.
“Although you can race it for time and you can go hard and try to win, it’s really sort of a cycling festival for everyone,” said Rich Hincapie, president of Hincapie Sports. “We want people to enjoy the day. We want people to not be intimidated.”
The event starts at 8 a.m. near the El Capitan Hotel, which is hosting many of the participants. According to Fluetch, M Street and South Bear Creek Drive will be closed at the start of the event as the cyclists make their way out of town.
There will be three rides participants can choose from that range in distance and difficulty.
For the more advanced cyclists there is the Gran route, which is 81 miles that starts in downtown Merced and takes riders through country trails and roads up to Mariposa, with an elevation climb of 4,940 feet and almost half of the course unpaved.
The Medio route is 60 miles and features about half the elevation climb through Merced County than the Gran. For beginners, there is the 6.5 mile Piccolo ride that travels along Bear Creek to McKee before returning back to the starting point downtown.
Rich Hincapie said they came to Merced last year because they were looking to host an event on the West Coast.
“We knew a couple of people in Merced that we met with and we decided to launch our first gravel event, which was super successful last year,” Hincapie said. “The weather and the roads were great and the community is very welcoming. We just kind of fell in love with the place and just decided to keep it going.”
Fluetsch said the main focus is on the riders as they try to build the event, but there will be food and entertainment near the start and finish area downtown.
Fans are encouraged to enjoy the post-ride festival on Saturday, which will feature food, live entertainment, podium awards, giveaways and drinks alongside the hundreds of other riders which will include pros, celebrities, weekend warriors and first-time riders.
Merced mayor Matthew Serratto says its a great opportunity for the city to host the event.
“There’s an economic impact, which is much appreciated,” Serratto said. “Our hotels are full, restaurants are full, and it’s a prestigious event. So to be able to host a high level event and to do it well, is great. Everybody last time raved about the course, the beautiful ride up through the green foothills. It was nothing but good, positive energy the whole time. I think our city did a really nice job hosting it.”
