The Slovakia Cycling Tour kicks off in Banská Bystrica on the Hron River. After the expected neutralized kilometers through the city, across the SNP Square and along Mestský Park, the racing starts in a northwestern direction.
Following the Bystrica River till Dolný Harmanec, the road starts climbing Prie?ny vrch, eventually going uphill for 8 kilometers before going downhill again to Tur?ianske Teplice.
The ...
Read moreThe Slovakia Cycling Tour kicks off in Banská Bystrica on the Hron River. After the expected neutralized kilometers through the city, across the SNP Square and along Mestský Park, the racing starts in a northwestern direction.
Following the Bystrica River till Dolný Harmanec, the road starts climbing Prie?ny vrch, eventually going uphill for 8 kilometers before going downhill again to Tur?ianske Teplice.
The next 155 kilometers will be mostly flat and, with the final climb in mind, the flat specialists will be trying to distance the featherweight climbers on the long flat roads for a chance to start climbing with enough of an advantage. From Tur?ianske Teplice the peloton heads north to Martin and then east to Ružomberok, where the race passes Liptovská Mara, a 22-square kilometer water reservoir that was created as a prevention against floods, inundating nine villages.
Heading further east, the profile stays relatively flat until Vysoké Tatry, where the real fun begins. In the finale, the riders will face the steep climb to the Sliezsky dom. This hotel is situated on Velické pleso, a beautiful mountain lake in the High Tatra Mountains. However, after 6.7 kilometers of climbing at an average gradient of 9.7%, it’s doubtful the riders will have energy left to admire the scenery.