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    Dantak Open Mountain Bike Race

    རི་བོ་ཇིཀྲུ་ཌེཀ
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    Bhutan's DANTAK Open Mountain Bike Race is being run for the seventh consecutive year in April 2017. This event again promises to attract a strong field of Bhutanese and international cyclists seeking to test themselves against the best. The race slogan is “Challenge Your Limits” and the 88 km course does indeed test competitors' grit: the average elevation is 2,230 m (7,321 ft) and tops out at 2,395 m (7,859 ft). The overall elevation gain is 3,774 m (12,382 ft) — at one point the uphill grade hits 29% — and the elevation loss is 3,745 m (12,287 ft). About a third of racers are not able to finish the race. It's all all-out sprint, and last year's winner crossed the finish line in just 2 hours and 38 minutes. The course starts in capital city Thimphu at the National Stadium and heads west to the halfway point near Paro, where racers reverse direction to end back at Clock Tower Square in Thimphu. There is no entry fee and all age groups are welcome. At the Clocktower Square celebration on the same day, prizes worth Nu 300,000 are presented to the top three finishers in the men's and women's open categories, as well as to the winner and runner up in the veterans (ages 55+), and children's (age 10–17) categories. In 2016 the race was flagged off by HRH Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangc...

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