Wow! Here’s a stage with not a moment’s peace. The rollout is downhill and fast (for seven miles) so that’s guaranteed to be a thrash. Then there’s a pig of a climb that goes on for three miles before another big descent takes you all of the way back down to the same elevation you were at nine miles before. Another testing up and down number then kicks in before arguably the steepest gradient of the stage will burn legs on the way up to the finish. If you intend to hold onto a wheel, nothing about this stage could be described as easy.
But first up, some geography: a mile into the stage, you cross from Kemerovo Oblast into Krasnoyarsk Krai, the federation bearing the name of the third-largest city in Siberia (after Novosibirsk and Omsk). Comprising half of the Siberian Federal District, Krasnoyarsk Krai is the largest krai in the Russian Federation.
At the border, the road enters the forest, where it remains until twelve miles. Kashtak passes by at four miles, followed by Bol’shekosul’skiy at eight miles. On leaving the forest, there’s a short clearing before a second forested section delivers you to Bogotol’skiy Zavod at seventeen miles: in reality, the road actually passes between there and Bogotol which sits a mile to the north of the highway. The road then curves left before a swinging right hander leads you into the six mile left hand bend that makes up the approach to the finishing line. There’s a left/right/left wobble in the middle, at the point where the steepest climb kicks in, but to all intents and purposes, the last few miles are on a long left hander.
At the top of the steep climb, at twenty miles, the road heads back into the forest, and it remains in the trees all the way to the line.
Distance: 24 miles / 38 kilometres
Ascent: 699 feet / 213 metres
RGT Magic Road: WP9m6NPOXPnz
Max elevation: 1013 ft
Min elevation: 742 ft
Total climbing: 699 ft
Total descent: -537 ft
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