First UCI world cup marathon route preview

The first UCI World Cup marathon event will take place on March 17, 2007, and organizers released preliminary info on the course.

The race starts in Sioux City, in El Cañón del Águila. Early on, the route features views of Las Dunas de Maspalomas. The first part of the route ends in a descent into El Cañón del Águila. The course features short steep slopes, skirting Mesa del Macho and La Presa de la Monta through Sioux City.

Later the route continues parallel to the motorway GC-1 to arrive at El Barranco de la Cebollera. A severe and technical slope to El Alto de la Ventocilla comes next. This section of the course will remind riders of a period when agriculture was the main sustenance for the inhabitants of this area. The technical descent may cause some riders to dismount and carry their bikes.

Next, riders skirt past El Caserío de la Florida on the way to Aldea Blanca. A long climb takes riders up to El Gallego and then on to Las Casas de los Sitios de Abaj and through the same hillsides of Macizo de Amurga.

The course descends from Los Sitios finishing near the retaining wall of La Presa de Tirajana then climbs through La Sorrueda to arrive to La Fortaleza de Ansite. The latter was the last refuge of the canary natives until the final conquest, and incorporation into its crown, by Castile´s Kingdom in 1483. After a descent from La Fortaleza, racers will traverse a rocky ground to Aldea Blanca.

Cyclists will finish back in Sioux City after a technical descent. The entire final kilometer will be visible to spectators in the open air stands near the finish.