Sherry Bike Marathon 2027: date, distances and registration

Plan your race pace

The 2027 JJP Sherry Bike will take place on Saturday, April 17, in Jerez de la Frontera, in the Spanish province of Cádiz, with routes of 68.7 and 48.8 kilometers. Registration is open, according to the organizer’s announcement. Both cycling races will start and finish at Alameda Vieja, forming part of a weekend that continues on Sunday, April 18, with the JJP Sherry Maratón running events.

The longer race, named Sherry Bike Maratón, will start at 8:30 a.m.; Sherry Bike Media will begin at 9 a.m. Both distances will accept mountain, gravel and electric bikes, although the regulations define the electric category specifically as E-MTB, with assistance limited to 25 km/h. The supplied information does not include entry fees or elevation gain for the cycling routes, and neither should be replaced with estimates.

The setting explains much of the event’s character: a city closely associated with wine and a network of tracks extending into the vineyards of the Jerez wine region. Organizer TerraIncognita Global SL brings cycling and running together under one event umbrella, but on different days and different routes. Sharing a landscape does not make the races interchangeable: each category has its own timetable, requirements and demands.

In cycling, marathon describes the competition format rather than the standard distance of a running race. The 68.7-kilometer longer route substantially exceeds the 42.195 kilometers associated with a running marathon. The same applies to the Media category: its 48.8 kilometers are not the equivalent of an athletic half-marathon. That distinction matters when choosing an entry and arranging travel to Jerez.

The two options differ by 19.9 kilometers, but distance alone does not explain their difficulty. Surface conditions, gradients, weather and the time each rider needs all play a part. Without confirmed cycling elevation figures in the available documentation, their difficulty cannot be compared precisely, nor can elevation data from the following day’s running races be applied to them.

The finish for the longer event will remain open until 5 p.m., providing an eight-and-a-half-hour window from the start. The Media finish will close at 3 p.m., six hours after that race begins. These final finish-line deadlines do not replace intermediate cutoffs: the regulations require riders to reach each checkpoint before it closes to remain in the competition.

Alameda Vieja will be the shared start and finish location for both cycling races. For visitors traveling from the Valencian Community or elsewhere, that provides a reference point for race day, although bib collection will take place at a separate venue. Registration and the start are separate, a logistical distinction that particularly affects anyone arriving in Jerez on the morning of the race.

Bibs and participant bags will be distributed at IFECA, on Paseo de Sementales in Jerez de la Frontera. On Friday, April 16, the listed collection hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The organizer also provides Saturday morning bib collection, with separate windows for the two distances and little time between collection closing and each race starting.

For Bike Maratón, Saturday collection will run from 6:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.; for Bike Media, it will run from 6:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. In each case, collection closes just 15 minutes before the corresponding race starts. The published schedule does not include transfer time to the start, so collecting a bib at the end of the window does not guarantee a comfortable arrival at Alameda Vieja.

Each bib is personal and nontransferable and must remain clearly visible on the front of the bicycle throughout the route. It may be collected by the entrant or by another person carrying express authorization and a copy of the entrant’s identity card or passport. Participants must be at least 18 on race day, complete registration correctly and pay the applicable fee.

Registration has been announced as open, but the available material does not specify prices, entry limits or a sales deadline. It also does not establish exactly which services each fee includes. The lack of a confirmed price prevents a reliable entry-cost estimate; accommodation, travel and any optional extras are separate expenses and should not be confused with the race fee.

The regulations provide for a refund of 50% of the amount paid for withdrawals requested at least 30 days before the event. They also describe cancellation insurance purchased during registration, associated with a 100% refund, with requests submitted at least 15 days before the race. These are published cancellation conditions, whose scope must be read alongside the insurance policy’s specific terms rather than treated as an unconditional guarantee.

Accepted refunds will be processed within 30 days of the request being approved, according to the regulations. Once an entrant withdraws, the place returns to the organizer and may be allocated to the first person on a waiting list, if one exists. That process does not permit private transfers of race entries: transferring a bib remains expressly prohibited under the participation rules.

The sporting categories distinguish between mountain bikes without motor assistance, gravel bikes and E-MTBs. The presence of electric bikes does not mean that every powered vehicle is eligible: the regulations specify assistance limited to 25 km/h. This threshold applies to electric assistance and should not be confused with an overall race speed limit. Each bicycle must fit the category in which it is entered.

Allowing gravel bikes broadens equipment choices, but does not itself establish that the entire course has an easy surface. Mountain and gravel bikes handle stones, uneven ground and loose dirt differently. Without a complete, up-to-date technical description of every section, course accessibility cannot be guaranteed, nor can the shorter option be assumed suitable for every level of experience.

The regulations say the route will be marked with tape and event-specific signs, and that a route guide will be published on the event website. Every participant must complete the entire course and pass through all checkpoints. Following a saved navigation file does not replace the official route if the organizer introduces changes; weather or force majeure may affect both the course and the timetable.

The relationship with the landscape also has a regulatory dimension. Littering results in disqualification, and participants must respect crops, livestock and private property. Vineyard tracks are part of a working landscape, not merely a sporting backdrop. The obligation to keep the course clean applies to wrappers, containers and any other waste generated during the ride, which must be deposited in designated receptacles.

Outside assistance is restricted to the locations designated by the organizer, corresponding to official aid stations. Riding alongside people who are not entered is also prohibited. Individual assistance outside an aid station’s permitted area may bring a 15-minute penalty for a first offense and disqualification for a second. Help from family or supporters cannot be improvised anywhere on the course, even when intended to meet an immediate need.

Penalties distinguish between course deviations and significant shortcuts. Leaving the route without gaining a substantial shortcut carries a 10-minute penalty; a substantial shortcut brings 30 minutes for a first offense and disqualification for a second. Missing a checkpoint results in exclusion. These are sporting penalties under the regulations, not financial fines, and reinforce a central principle: completing the distance means following the prescribed route.

The organizer recommends a charged mobile phone, sun protection, sunglasses, food reserves and capacity to carry at least one liter of fluid. Cycling equipment recommendations also include puncture-repair supplies. This is presented as recommended technical equipment, not a mandatory list that can be expanded by interpretation. The available documentation also does not establish that one liter will be sufficient in every weather condition or for every finishing time.

Aid stations will provide food and drinks that vary by location, and a bib will be required to use them. However, the supplied information does not give the distances or specific closing times of the cycling aid stations. Published running-marathon details do not describe Bike support. Applying them to a different discipline would create a false impression of precision about where riders can replenish water or energy.

The cycling-day bag drop will be in the start area at Alameda Vieja and will operate from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. One detail stands out: it closes at the same time as the Media finish, but two hours before the longer race’s finish closes. The available information does not explain later collection for riders finishing Bike Maratón after 3 p.m., leaving this logistical point subject to clarification by the organizer.

Medical assistance and safety teams will be coordinated with Spain’s 112 emergency service by race management. Medical staff may prevent a participant from continuing if they consider that person unfit to do so, and may order evacuation. When withdrawing, notifying the organizer is mandatory: leaving without reporting it may cause a participant to be considered missing and unnecessarily trigger a search operation.

Withdrawals must be reported at checkpoints, and evacuation transport will be available at aid stations designated as withdrawal-control locations. If an injury or accident prevents a rider from reaching one, the regulations provide for contacting the organizer through its emergency telephone number. The supplied documentation does not contain that specific number, so it cannot be reproduced or replaced with a general contact as though the two served the same purpose.

Results will include male and female overall categories for MTB, gravel and E-MTB. Only MTB will have the listed subcategories of under-23, elite and masters 30, 40, 50 and 60. The regulations provide trophies for the top three in the relevant categories. This age-group and awards structure should not automatically be extended to gravel or electric bikes, whose subdivisions are not set out in the same way.

On Sunday, April 18, the sporting movement changes from pedaling to running. JJP Sherry Maratón will offer marathon, half-marathon and Promo events, with walking options in the latter two and Nordic walking in Promo. For readers focused on running, Sunday is a separate race day from Bike. Sharing the event name does not establish combined registration or a bib valid for both disciplines.

The running marathon is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. at Alameda Vieja and return there after following streets through Jerez and tracks among the vineyards. Its description refers to the classic 42.195-kilometer distance, while the general event listing rounds the route to 42 kilometers and gives 552 meters of elevation gain. That information alone does not establish official course certification for marathon performance records.

The running half-marathon is listed at 21 kilometers with 241 meters of elevation gain, also starting and finishing at Alameda Vieja. Promo is advertised as a 14-kilometer route, with 136 meters of ascent and 197 meters of descent. However, its aid-station table places the finish at 14.6 kilometers, a discrepancy that should remain visible rather than presenting both figures as exactly equivalent.

Promo is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. in the Macharnudo area, identified as an estate in the general listing and as a castle in the description. It will finish at Alameda Vieja, with a free shuttle announced from there to the start between 8:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. Unlike the cycling events, this running route is point-to-point, making the transfer part of its particular logistics.

Wine tourism runs through the weekend’s presentation, but that does not make every tasting a sporting recommendation. Some running aid stations list wine and local products; the supplied information does not confirm that offering for Bike. In any case, alcohol does not replace hydration and is not a recovery tool. Wine’s cultural appeal and the needs of an endurance event belong to different spheres.

For regular runners who use cycling as complementary training, Jerez brings both disciplines together over one weekend without requiring participants to combine them. Riding 68.7 or 48.8 kilometers on Saturday can affect Sunday’s effort, especially when followed by a running marathon. The existence of two race days does not establish a combined challenge as an official format, nor does it guarantee recovery between events.

The event’s identity lies in that contrast between city and countryside: starting in an urban setting and heading toward tracks through cultivated land, with wine-growing heritage as the backdrop. There is no need to turn this into a promise of universal accessibility. Distances, cutoffs and rules define Sherry Bike as an endurance event with specific conditions, even as its presentation highlights the scenery and tourism experience.

The 2027 edition already has a confirmed date, location, cycling distances and start times. Entry fees, cycling elevation gain, detailed Bike aid-station information and some operational arrangements remain unspecified in the supplied material. Separating confirmed facts from outstanding details allows a clear assessment of the event: two routes on April 17, a running day on April 18 and one landscape explored at different speeds and with different demands.