Taiwan’s King of the Mountain Challenge returns this month
Taiwan is gearing up for the 2019 Taiwan KOM (King of the Mountain) Challenge, which kicks off on 25 October.
As one of Taiwan’s most unique pro-am sporting events, the cycling road race is also a big tourism draw.
Both amateur and professional cyclists alike line up for one of the world’s toughest mountain road races on Taiwan’s east coast.
It begins at sea level by the Pacific Ocean and winds its way up the Taroko Gorge to the summit of Mt. Wuling at 3,275 metres.
Although the Taiwan KOM Challenge is open to non-professional riders they do need to be experienced and reasonably fit to take it on.
Previous competitors include Tour de France winners Cadel Evans and Vincenzo Nibali, former World Time Trial and Olympic silver medalist Emma Pooley, and former World Tour rider and media star Phil Gaimon.
"A magic climb up. For me, I found the fatigue and the altitude to be the biggest challenge. You’re really riding up on the side of these precipices which is quite incredible," said Cadel Evans.
The 90km-long Taiwan KOM was voted by French cycling magazine as one of the world’s top ten most difficult road races.
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