Gran Fondo Tre Valli Varesine, live.

The noon gate at Montegrino

A gran fondo on closed roads around Varese, over the Alpe Tedesco and the Ardena, where a single checkpoint at midday decides which route you finish.

The 10th Gran Fondo Tre Valli Varesine is ridden on Sunday 4 October 2026, with start and finish on Via Luigi Sacco in Varese, in front of Palazzo Estense. In 2026 it is also the UEC Gran Fondo European Championships and a qualifier for the 2027 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships, and it follows the course of the 2018 Gran Fondo Worlds in Varese. All roads on the route are closed to traffic. Riders choose the Gran Fondo of 126 km and 2,120 m or the Medio Fondo of 101 km and 1,610 m; on Saturday a 22 km time trial starts from the Ippodromo.

Both routes leave through Induno Olona and the Valganna, climb the Alpe Tedesco, drop to Porto Ceresio and climb again from Brusimpiano to the Santuario della Madonna di Ardena. At Bosco, in Montegrino Valtravaglia, the routes split: anyone passing after 12:00 must take the Medio Fondo. The Gran Fondo goes on through Luino, Germignaga and Porto Valtravaglia to Castelveccana and back up to Brezzo di Bedero, and the two rejoin at Mesenzana. From there it is Valcuvia, Brinzio, the hairpins of Gemonio, Gavirate and Lago di Varese to Schiranna, and a last climb into Varese.

Riders start in age-group waves from 09:00 to 09:40, so a family on Via Sacco rarely knows when their rider actually set off, or whether they made the noon gate. With Livebib the rider shares a link to their own broadcast; family open it in a browser, with no account or app, and see the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate that updates as the ride goes. In the Valganna tunnels or the valleys, where the phone can lose signal, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated instead of freezing.