Just a brief route description: Stage 1 After a brief neutral zone on the Letlhabile Road, the route turns to travel through rural farm land. This section of road can be narrow at sections before opening up onto the western channel road. From here the route leads into wide district roads, with only one further turn throughout the stage. In spite of the small undulations, the road surface is very well maintained, which should result in a very fast first section. Even though there is some 350m of climbing in the stage, it mostly comprise of gradual undulations that seems to fly by as one travels to the end of the stage at Thabaledi Game Lodge. Stage 2 Stage 2 continues the same trend as stage 1, with well-maintained road surfaces, but with some thicker sand sections that may catch unexpected riders off guard. The climbs of 570m over the length of the stage are surprisingly easy to manage, due to the well-groomed district roads. The tarred road crossing at 90km should be approached with caution. Riders will travel along the tar rood towards the left (Leeupoort) to cross a bridge before crossing the road to enter the Rooiberg Conservancy. The initial part of the conservancy road, up to the end of stage 2, is tarred and fast. Even though this section leads up to the highest point of the stage, the nature of the road surface mitigates the climb and one typically does not realise the magnitude of the climb. This section should be approached with extreme caution, as support vehicles will be traveling along the same section of road. All riders should stay as far left as possible, and obey all national road regulations. The stage ends at the Koekepan Pub and Restaurant in the small town of Rooiberg. The following 200 odd kilometres traverses various conservancies, with abundant wildlife. Stage 3 This stage leaves Rooiberg on a tarred road that change to gravel just outside the town. Once out of town the road quickly deteriorates into a very rocky surface with a lot of loose stones. As most riders will start stage 3 at around sunset, it is important to ensure proper tire pressures, and riding lines for this section to minimise sidewall damage. The rocky section is completely rideable, and stretches for about 6km. Shortly after the road surface normalises, rider turn towards Mabalingwe. This section is fairly corrugated with interspersed pockets of thick sand. This will set the tone for the rest of the stage. The last 40km of the stage comprises of an unrelenting climb of over 290m. This stage ends at the L’Abri Fountain Brewery and marks the halfway point at 165km. Stage 4 The first part of stage 4 will be familiar to many mountain bikers who have cycled around the Bella-Bella area. After leaving L’Abri, riders briefly travel on the same road as the support crew before following the Mabalingwe Nature Reserve fence road towards the Waterberg Lodge. Riders will traverse two long climbs of around 10km each before descending some 250m over 30km towards the small town of Alma. The last 15km continue over short undulations to eventually end of the stage at Alma Primary School. The stage presents with just over 400m of vertical ascent. Stage 5 Stage 5 starts of mostly flat and fast with a predictable road surface, but also presents with over 640m of climbing through the stage. Leaving checkpoint 4, riders will travel along fast flat district roads for about 20km before turning towards the Waterberg Mountain range. Riders hug the cliff face of the primary Waterberg range, where they will continue traveling alongside it to Rankin’s Pass Police Station. From here the climbing for this stage starts, negotiating Jan Trichardt pass to the top of Bakker’s pass. The last 6km of the stage will see riders descending some 450m down a twisty, rutted Bakker’s pass towards Kwaggasvlakte and the end of the stage at Marakele Caravan Park. Stage 6 Leaving Marakele Caravan Park towards Thabazimbi, riders will descend a further 100m, with only 35m of climbing over the entire stage. This will result in a well-deserved flat, fast last stage towards the finish at Bosveld Akademie in Thabazimbi.
