Where is the Experiència d’Aran - EXP decided?
On the two climbs after Arties, up to Santet Escunhau and on to Tuc de Meddia, with half the effort already done. The climb to Santet Escunhau is the biggest of the race: 558 m in 2.6 km, very steep on average. Kilometre for kilometre, the leg from Arties that holds it is the hardest of the course. Past the aid station the ground keeps rising, steep all the way to Tuc de Meddia, the high point of the loop. Over the whole course, about a quarter of the distance climbs steeply and as much descends steeply. Hardly any of it is flat.
Before Arties the climbs are shorter, but each one is steep. The first leg, from Vielha to Casarilh, is the longest of the four. It climbs steeply to Plan de Viàs and drops very steeply into Casarilh. The next leg rises to Tèrres dera Vila and comes down again, steep both ways, before a gentle drop to Arties. By then half the work is done.
From Santet Escunhau, the climb to Tuc de Meddia is the last big one: 553 m in 3.3 km, steep. From the top the course falls back to Vielha in one go. It is the biggest descent of the race, 1,246 m in 6.4 km and very steep on average. That last leg, Santet Escunhau to the finish, carries a bigger share of the effort than any other. The finish in Vielha is the foot of that long descent.
The three aid stations, Casarilh, Arties and Santet Escunhau, split the loop into four legs. At the time-limit pace you reach Casarilh at 09:50 on Sunday and Arties at 11:40. At that pace you reach Santet Escunhau at 13:10, with the last climb and the long descent still ahead. The time limit for the whole loop is 7:15.
Organiser's distances and heights; Pendio's shares and clock.