The big day for the “mother of battles” has arrived! Today’s 3rd stage is the “royal” of this year’s event, a real racing “jewel” for the PPC International Cycling Tour of Greece 2024. With a length of 159.7 kilometers and an altitude of 4,528 m, the route from Karditsa to Velouhi has no to envy the smallest of the respective stages of the three great Tours (France, Italy and Spain).
The athletes will start at 12:20 noon outside the Municipal Stadium of Karditsa and will initially make a counterclockwise circle that will lead them to the eastern part of Lake Plastira, the rare natural beauty of which will travel around the world through television. transmission. Immediately after, they will enter Evrytania for a while, return to the Prefecture of Karditsa, to then leave Thessaly behind them and now move to Central Greece, for a while to Fthiotida and then to the Prefecture of Evrytania.
We will have a big battle for the jersey of the mountains, since in this stage there are four climbing sprints, which give 35 points to the athlete who will pass all the peaks first (out of the total 64 that will be given in the entire Tour in this rating). In more detail, the 1st category climb in Tsouka will precede and in the second half of the stage, the athletes will first pass through Lipouhi and Tymfristos (both 2nd category sprint climbs), to reach Karpenisi, from where the long difficult – out of category – finish uphill in Velouchi (12 km with an average gradient of 8.52% and the highest at 15.3%!).
The climb to Velouchi will of course be the climax of the stage and there we expect action, attacks and reversals from the contenders for the blue jersey. The high racing spectacle will be combined with the unique images of the natural wealth of Evrytania, with its dense forests, rivers, springs, waterfalls and perfectly preserved traditional settlements, captivating the viewers in every corner of the world!
Velouhi or Tymfristos has an altitude of 2,315 m (16th highest peak in Greece, 4th in Central Greece), but the end of the stage is located at Diavolotopos, at an altitude of 1,858 meters, where the ski center operates, the first in Greece to be established by private individuals half a century ago, in 1974.
The identity of the 3rd stage
Karditsa – Karpenissi (Velouhi), 159.71 km
Points of interest
km 0: Start / Karditsa (Municipal Stadium)
km 27.4: Sprint climb 1 – Cat. 1 / Tsouka
km 50: Intermediate sprint 1 / Zaimi
km 60.9: Intermediate sprint 2 / Loutro (intersection)
km 101.2: Sprint climb 2 – Cat. 2 / Lipouhi
km 132: Sprint climb 3 – Cat. 2 / Tymfristos
km 159.71: Sprint climb 4 – Out of Class (HC) / Velouchi
km 159.71: Termination / Velouchi (Ski resort)
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