144 is such a tame stage until you reach the yellow kite. Indeed it could probably be argued that it’s a downhill stage from fourteen miles to the end, but the climb from thirteen to fourteen miles makes this a really testing stage. If you are riding in a group, expect the group to splinter all over the climb.
The rollout from Rechnoy begins a long left hander that runs for a mile and a half. The start of it is downhill which makes for a rapid kick off, but the road soon goes uphill onto a lumpy straight that runs until the five mile mark near Markovo. A second sharp rise then kicks in at Staraya Zaimka but it’s short lived, and once you reach the subtle left hander at Novozaimka, the lumpy ascent has become a lumpy descent.
All that changes as the road arrives at the junction to Zonovskoye, some miles to the north at thirteen miles: you’re presented with a four hundred foot climb over the course of just one mile. It’s straight, it’s steep and it’s brutal. However by the time you reach the edge of the forest on the northern side of the road, the climb peaks at just over a thousand feet of elevation, by far the highest elevation of the stage. The descent soon gathers pace but by the time the road enters the forest proper, it’s starting to ease off into something more leisurely. The road continues to run alongside the trees on its northern edge for the rest of the stage however, although the last five miles are pretty much lumpy flat, which is code for not entirely flat and not entirely up or down: however if pushed, I’d suggest that the last couple of miles are more up than down.
Distance: 25 miles / 40 kilometres
Ascent: 958 feet / 292 metres
RGT Magic Road: dfjHtbM3Kx24
Max elevation: 1025 ft
Min elevation: 431 ft
Total climbing: 958 ft
Total descent: -868 ft
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