Our Team

Lidia Fluhme

GFNY co-founder and President Lidia Fluhme is the creator of world's most spectacular start line in cycling, George Washington Bridge. She did not accept 'no' as an answer back in 2010, no matter how often it was voiced. Without the start on GWB, GFNY would not exist. Ever since, Lidia is making sure that you get to ride on closed roads or with police moderated traffic. The 7-time Ironman Hawaii finisher, NYU business school graduate and former Wall Street banker loves a really challenging granfondo, preferably in Italy. She has written a very helpful guide on How To Tackle A GFNY

Uli Fluhme

GFNY co-founder and CEO Uli Fluhme is making sure that all GFNY events are true granfondos in the Italian tradition: you get to have the right of way at each intersection, will be timed start to finish and your result will be based on your time. Uli is a former Wall Street attorney but it is his 20 years of granfondo racing that led to GFNY. He continues to race the toughest granfondos around the world, including all GFNY events. Some of his many visions and ideas make it into GFNY. If he's not working on growing GFNY or racing his bike, Uli is lobbying hard for antidoping. He's a no holds barred voice since 2000 and was key to implement in- and out of competition testing at GFNY. You can discuss antidoping with him on Twitter @ulif.

Marc Benkert

Marc and Uli lived in the same student dormitory in Constance. During that time, Marc the amateur cyclist and Uli the triathlete, often went on joint training rides, which frequently proved challenging—especially when Uli set his sights on climbing the Swiss mountains.

Marc spent five years in Australia, where he embraced a more relaxed approach to racing and organizing races. Upon returning to Germany, he began organizing local amateur bike races and volunteered for many years with the Württemberg Cycling Association. In his professional life, Marc works as a Software Engineer and contributes to organizing various aspects of GFNY events in Germany.

Matthias van Aken

Matthias is an Elite rider from Belgium who now focuses on racing granfondos because he gets to travel the world. After doing several GFNYs, he joined our team to oversee the GFNY social media, share what you post and keep you motivated and excited. He’s also coordinating our amazing ambassadors, leading GFNY Camps, helping create GFNY videos and much more.

Santiago Sevilla

Santiago is Ecuadorian with a passion for sports and cycling from a young age - and a masters degree in Sports Business at NYU.

For GFNY, he provides global race director services to many of our events so chances are you bump into him at various GFNYs. After living in NYC and Mexico, he is now based in Ecuador.

Luis Lemus

Gruppo airs in Spanish and English (language alternates each week) and is hosted by former pro cyclist Luis Enrique Lemus Dávila, who was the Mexican National Road Champion in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. During his 7 years on the Pro Tour circuit, Luis crossed the globe traveling from race to race. Luis provides an insightful look into cycling, sport travel and GFNY racing from all angles.

Talía Schürmann

I’m sure you’ve seen Talia, our co-host of the GFNY Gruppo TV show. She's a Mexican-Swiss living in Aguascalientes with a Fashion Design Degree from IED Barcelona, one of the best design schools in the World. Hence, she wears more hats in GFNY than just being the co-host of the show!

Of course Talia is passionate about cycling and loves spending time in the mountains because she grew up in a small mountain town.

Flavio de Luna

Flavio de Luna is a former pro cyclist. After retiring, he started working as a videographer but has never stopped enjoying training and racing. He joined GFNY as part of the video team, so you can see the whole GFNY experience through his camera.

Alejandro Rosas

Our multitalented Alejandro is behind the camera of GFNY GRUPPO - and also produces the show. You see him at GFNY expos and races with his camera and drone to get the best shots of the weekend action.

Alejandro is a dad, seasoned skateboarder and owner of a black belt in taekwondo.

Caroline Lindsay

If you’ve reached out to us, chances are Caroline replied to you. She’s a bilingual Peruvian-British and GFNY rider herself so she can help you with any GFNY question you may have.

Caroline has a degree in Architecture and a Master's Degree in Interior Design from Universidad de Salamanca in Spain. She is also a sports teacher and personal trainer qualified in Barcelona.

Sponsors