This is the third last full stage in Russia, a journey that began in that vast country back on stage 67. The route will look exactly the same after stage 238, but symbolically, it will have changed. The stage begins heading south west but once it reaches Lake Gusinoye, it changes direction, first of all heading south before reversing to a largely south easterly tack. Effectively, the stage is a big looping left hander of a curve.
The rollout is initially flat and passes through Gusinoozersk after just two miles, midway along a flat introduction to the stage. There’s a short rise at four miles as the A165 approaches the forest but the real climbing doesn’t start until the road actually enters the forest at six miles. That signals the start of a three mile, six hundred foot climb up to 2700ft and the the highest elevation of the stage at nine miles. Once you’re over that, with the 3400ft Mount Buraksin away to your left, a long eleven mile descent swings into action: it drops down a thousand feet to twenty miles at Novoselenginskoye where the route hangs a right hander. That signals a flat run to the crossing of the Selenga river, which by this time is much smaller than it was a few stages ago closer to Lake Baikal.
Once across the river, the road inevitably starts rising again, although it’s not severe, and the climb is short enough to give you a downhill run to the finish line at the end of a series of snaking bends.
Distance: 25 miles / 40 kilometres
Ascent: 948 feet / 289 metres
RGT Magic Road: TFgpBtqY9coo
Max elevation: 2695 ft
Min elevation: 1773 ft
Total climbing: 946 ft
Total descent: -1352 ft
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