Dear registrants and friends of the Granfondo Axel Merckx,

On Friday August 20th, B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, reintroduced stronger restrictions to the Interior Health region to curb the higher incidence of COVID-19 in areas near and within the Interior region (including the Okanagan and Penticton). Among these restrictions is a cap of 100 people for organized outdoor events. Furthermore, non-essential travel into the Interior region is discouraged. As Dr. Henry suggested, the displacement of many residents due to recent wildfires has also made containing COVID-19 especially challenging in the Interior region and has put increasing pressure on local health agencies. According to Interior Health, these restrictions will be in effect until the end of September and until the region experiences lower COVID-19 case counts and increased vaccination rates.

After reviewing our options over the weekend and in consultation with the City of Penticton, we regret to announce that the 10th Granfondo Axel Merckx Okanagan (scheduled for Sept. 19th, 2021) has been cancelled.

We were hopeful that the 2021 event would be a celebration of our progress along the road to recovery. However, as of today, we have been left with no choice but to cancel. We make this decision with significant consideration, acknowledging that many of you were also registered for the 2020 event, have trained exhaustively, booked hotels and have already planned your trip to the South Okanagan for mid-September.

We now look to 2022 to host the next edition of our world class event.

All entries will be rolled over/deferred with no penalty to our 2022 event on Sunday, July 10th in Penticton, B.C. Additional details and instructions on how to transfer your entry to the 2022 edition will be circulated over the next few weeks.

The Granfondo Team