Every summer on day 61, the downhill and climbing oriented teams will gather on Gran Canaria for one of the most challenging races of the division 8 calendar: the Trofeo de las Nieves. The race, which is 87 kilometres long and crosses the island from south to north, will bring the riders extreme heat and strong winds from the Atlantic.
The race starts in the town of Maspalomas, in front of the historical Faro de Maspa...
Read moreEvery summer on day 61, the downhill and climbing oriented teams will gather on Gran Canaria for one of the most challenging races of the division 8 calendar: the Trofeo de las Nieves. The race, which is 87 kilometres long and crosses the island from south to north, will bring the riders extreme heat and strong winds from the Atlantic.
The race starts in the town of Maspalomas, in front of the historical Faro de Maspalomas, the oldest operational lighthouse of the Canary archipelago. The riders will leave Maspalomas using the GC-60, climbing the "easy" flank of the Pico de las Nieves. The climb to the peak, which lies at 1949 metres above sea level, is 44 kilometres long. The total elevation is a little over 2200 metres because of a few downhill patches, which makes for an average gradient of 4.7% percent. The climb will lead the riders to a military base on the summit. This is usually where the real battle begins, as they commence the descent.
After a very steep and technical 1,5 kilometres, the riders enter the GC41, where the riders will face both long, straight roads and sharp hairpins. This is where small gaps usually start to form between those who fear going down and those who live for it. The lower they get, the stronger the Atlantic wind gets, so the small, aerodynamic downhillers usually have an advantage here. The parcours of the race doesn't get flat untill the riders enter Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with only 1,5 kilometres to go. They enter the Avenida de Canarias for the final sprint, which is a straight line of more than a kilometre, where the champion, who usually is a mixture of a downhiller and a sprinter, will be determined.
