Dali - Dali   

The city of Dali is located in Yunnan province in south west China and is home to the Bai and Yi, two of the fifty-five minorities in China. The province as a whole is quite remote, being on the footsteps of the Himalayas to the North, but is popular for tourists wanting to visit the old town of Yangshuo and Tiger Leaping Gorge. Teams wishing to take part in the race must access Dali via the 4 hour drive on the Hangrui Express...

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The city of Dali is located in Yunnan province in south west China and is home to the Bai and Yi, two of the fifty-five minorities in China. The province as a whole is quite remote, being on the footsteps of the Himalayas to the North, but is popular for tourists wanting to visit the old town of Yangshuo and Tiger Leaping Gorge. Teams wishing to take part in the race must access Dali via the 4 hour drive on the Hangrui Expressway from Kunming, the capital of the province.

The race itself is a picturesque circuit of Erhai Lake followed by some steep climbs and a long downhill into the city centre. As the race starts at the airport, riders can glance across Erhai Lake to the western shore where the finish line is located in the centre of Dali. For 50km the route winds its way around the north of the lake taking in a couple of medium difficulty climbs, with the Zhaojia mountain being an early test of who has the legs. With half the race gone, the riders pass by the outskirts of Dali and once again catch a glance of the finish line.

The second half of the race is where the difficulty ramps up as riders now face two grueling laps of the Provincial Country Road loop. After heading out of town south on the Hangrui Expressway riders turn right to face the brutal climb of Diaocao Mountain. The climb is only 8km long but with gradients in excess of 20% and the road narrowing to 3 metres wide in places, this is likely to be the place where the selection is made. Riders then face a false flat of around 5km across the top of a mountain ridge, where high winds are likely to sap the legs of any unprotected riders. The final tests are the twin peaks of the Wafang and Qingshuiqing climbs which, whilst not as steep or long as the Diaocao, will still be a challenge with 120km in the legs. After summiting the Qingshuiqing, riders now face the daunting, twisty 10km downhill down to the sprint at finish line in Dali.

Riders wanting to win this race must have good climbing legs, no fear on the narrow descents and, at 2000 metres above sea level, be able to perform in the high altitude. One early winner of the race was trackstah07 rider Erskine Pettis, whose win here in Season 14 was one of the results that thrust him into the limelight as one of the best downhill riders in OCM.