Although I’m more than happy to call this a dead heat between climbing and descending, when you look at the stage profile on paper, it definitely gives the impression of being a climber. What saves it, however, is the gorgeous fun descent from fourteen miles that balances the books: without that you most definitely would have been snookered by all the climbing. The stage is another that heads south through eastern British Columbia, making its way between the Prophet River and the Klua Lakes Protected Area.
The rollout is south east and steeply uphill for a mile: indeed the climb is a continuation of the run to the line on stage 544. From one mile to seven miles, the road is practically straight and lumpy flat: there’s a dip in the road at seven miles which offers respite on the way down, but the climb back up the other side is the start of a more substantial (and lumpy) seven mile climb to the highest elevation of the stage at fourteen miles.
At the eleven mile mark, Route 97 hangs a long right to avoid having to climb directly up the ridge on the northern edge of the Klua Lakes Protected Area. The change of direction takes the road back towards the Prophet River but a mile or so from the water, the road bears left and runs parallel to the river for the final four miles, crossing over Adsett Creek in a dip at nineteen miles en route.
The main feature of the back end of the stage is the spectacular three mile descent off the summit at fourteen miles to the left hander at seventeen miles where the road flattens out before descending further down to the creek. After regaining the hundred feet that were lost down to the creek, the last mile of the stage is lumpy flat on a straight run to the finish line between the river and the protected area.
Distance: 21 miles / 34 kilometres
Ascent: 856 feet / 261 metres
RGT Magic Road: WHHPqRFeGUTg
Max elevation: 2420 ft
Min elevation: 1936 ft
Total climbing: 817 ft
Total descent: -818 ft
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