A completely successful two days in Crete was the start of the PPC Cycling Tour 2023 and today, Thursday, May 4, the race is transferred to the mainland, with the 2nd stage (of medium difficulty), 178.3 kilometers long and 1,825m. altitude difference.
The start will be given at 12:30 noon in “golden” Mycenae and the peloton will cross the Peloponnese diagonally (from NE to SW), to finish at the mouth of the Messinian Gulf and the beach of Kalamata.
On the route, the cyclists will encounter the most difficult climb of this year’s event (Achladokampos, 1st category), but also the highest rated point (761 m in Vigles), which means that there will be a battle between the contenders for the blue jersey, but also to those athletes who aim for the orange jersey of the mountains. Let’s say here, that the stage will pass through Megalopolis, where twenty years ago, in 2003, Vassilis Anastopoulos became the first and only Greek cyclist in the modern history of the Tour of Greece to win the blue jersey.
For one more day, Greek history will make its presence felt, since the peloton, after the absolute center of the Mycenaean civilization, will pass through Argos with the imposing castle of Larissa, the Tiryns of Heracles with its “cyclopean” walls , the beautiful Nafplion with its medieval castles (Palamidi and Bourtzi), neoclassical buildings and its unique architecture, Mylos and Tripoli, points-stations in the revolution of 1821, Megalopolis with the largest theater of antiquity according to Pausanias, Ancient Messina with its excellently preserved monuments and finally, Kalamata with the legendary “castle of Izabo” (estimated time of arrival at the Pier of the Port of Kalamata, Pharae Palace Hotel, 16:45 – 17:15)
Points of interest
– Km 0: Start / Mycenae
– Km 34.5: Intermediate sprint 1 / Mills
– Km 55.8: Sprint climb 1 – Cat. 1 / Achladokampos
– Km 79.9: Intermediate sprint 2 / Tripoli
– Km 105.6: Sprint climb 2 – Cat. 2 / Vigles
– Km 129.5: Sprint climb 3 – Cat. 3 / Paradise
– Km 178.3: Termination / Kalamata
– Chm 15: Tiryns
– Chm 22: Nafplio
– Chm 113: Megalopolis
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