The Tour de Taiwan will open Sunday with close to 200 riders from 31 countries set to cycle a total of 670.3 kilometers around Taiwan over five individual stages, according to the Chinese Taipei Cycling Association (CTCA).
The 192 riders representing 23 teams will cover 83.2 kilometers in the first stage consisting of eight loops in Taipei from Taipei City Hall to the Jing Fu Men roundabout and back.
Stage 2 of the annual professional road race will cover 120.59 kilometers as the cyclists make their way from Taoyuan to Jiaobanshan Park on the hilly Northern Cross-island Highway. Along the way they will face one of their two toughest climbs in the race.
The riders will travel in a southwest direction along Expressway 61 through Guanyin and Xinwu, then head southeast on Expressway 66 through the Yangmei and Pingzhen areas and on to the Shihmen Reservoir through Daxi before arriving at Jiaobanshan Park.
In Stage 3 on Tuesday, the riders will cover 154.5 kilometers from Hsinchu to Taichung through Miaoli.
The longest stage will be Stage 4 on Wednesday, covering 169.43 kilometers in 1.5 loops around Nantou County. It will feature another of the toughest climbs in the race near Shuan Zhang Temple.
The riders will start at Nantou County Hall, then cycle through Jiji, Shuili, Yuchi (near Sun Moon Lake), and Puli before heading east toward Caotun, then back toward Nantou County Hall, Jiji and Shuili and finishing at the Xiangshan Visitor Center near Sun Moon Lake.
On the last day of the race in Stage 5 on Thursday, the riders will cover 146.44 kilometers and face some of the biggest climbs in the race.
They will start from the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum in Dashu District in Kaohsiung, head north to Qishan, Meinong, Liugui, and Jiaxian, before heading back south through Shanlin, Qishan, Dashu, Yanchao, Nanzi, and Zuoying and finishing at Kaohsiung National Stadium.
