San Fernando   

San Fernando is the capital city of the Colchagua province in Chile, it’s a very beautiful city located in a fertile valley, most known for its rodeos. But once every year, the rodeo horses stay in their stables, and the inhabitants prepare themselves for the San Fernando cycling race.

Although it is not as big or prestigious as other cycling races in Chile, like the Ruta de Santiago de Chile and the Copa Ciclista ...

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San Fernando is the capital city of the Colchagua province in Chile, it’s a very beautiful city located in a fertile valley, most known for its rodeos. But once every year, the rodeo horses stay in their stables, and the inhabitants prepare themselves for the San Fernando cycling race.

Although it is not as big or prestigious as other cycling races in Chile, like the Ruta de Santiago de Chile and the Copa Ciclista de Copiapó, the race distinguishes itself from these other Chilean races by its many ascents and descents. Often being branded as ‘the hardest Chilean cycling race’, the race starts on the edge of the city of San Fernando, and goes all the way up to the Andes mountain range, finishing at the top of the beautiful Alto de los Lirios.

Even though the race is relatively short (only 99km), it remains very tough because of the many climbs, and each year, many participants fail to reach the finish. During the final climb up the Alto de los Lirios, only the best climbers remain, and the riders have to push themselves to the limit if they want to have a shot at winning the race. This means the San Fernando is always a very beautiful victory in a riders palmarès, because the wins are always fiercely contested.