Every summer, the top sprinters and cobblers of division 2 gather in the far east of Uzbekistan, close to the Tajik border, in Samarkand. The city is listed on the Unesco Heritage List as Samarkand: Crossroads of culture, and that's where the name of the race comes from.
The race starts in Dasthikazy in Tajikistan, and follows the valley of the Zeravshan river. The first 100 kilometres are flat and almost without turn...
Read moreEvery summer, the top sprinters and cobblers of division 2 gather in the far east of Uzbekistan, close to the Tajik border, in Samarkand. The city is listed on the Unesco Heritage List as Samarkand: Crossroads of culture, and that's where the name of the race comes from.
The race starts in Dasthikazy in Tajikistan, and follows the valley of the Zeravshan river. The first 100 kilometres are flat and almost without turns, the only particularity being crossing the borde after 50 kilometers.
The riders enter Samarkand from the east, taking the Panzhakent road. They take a right on the ko'chasi Sadriddin Ayniy, taking them on a loop around the city centre of 13 kilometers which the riders have to complete three times. This loops includes several cobble patches, and passes the Davlat archeological site, the mausoleum of Go'r Amir, and the many other historical sites of one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia.
When the riders have completed the loop for a third time, they re-enter Panzhakent Road which takes them to the finish on the Registan, which was the central square under the reign of the mighty Timurid dynasty. The square is framed by three imposing Islamic schools called masradahs. The name Registan means sandy place, and often, the square is indeed somewhat dusty, which makes the final sprint both dangerous and extremely spectacular.
Despite the long flat roads and relatively few cobble patches, the race is feared by the riders and considered one of the toughest on the calendar, as it is ridden in late july when the average temperature is around 35 degrees celsius.
