The town of Santa Clarita is obviously in a party mood. Both today’s and tomorrow’s stages leave this city of over 200.000 inhabitants.
In stage 6 riders are heading for the ski resort of Mountain High, located at an altitude of 2.100 to 2.400 altimeters, making it the highest peak in the 2014 Tour of California. The arrival place debuts in the race.
Upon leaving Santa Clarita the route directly goes up and after 45 kilometres Bouquet Canyon is crested. The ‘official’ part of the climb is 15.2 kilometres and the average gradient is 3%. The terrain keeps rolling and 75 kilometres later Mount Emma is crested after a 16.2 kilometres climb at 2.6%.
After descending the remainder of the race is 40 kilometres and, apart from a short descent, it’s all going uphill until Mountain High, the highest point of the 2014 Tour of California. However the tricky climbing only starts with 24 kilometres left – from 1.097 altimetres it goes to 2.264 altimetres without a break. This is a vertical gain of 1.167 meters, meaning an average gradient of 4.8 %. Not super steep but for sure super long.
The stage starts at 20:35 CET and the finish is expected around 01:00.
Tour of California 2014 stage 6: Images and more
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