Claro Ride Brazil 2010 Preview: Six Days, 565 Kilometers, 33,000 Feet of Climbing.

by Jason Sumner via Brazil Add this one to the bucket list

The first annual Claro Ride Brasil kicks off Sunday in Mucuge, Bahia.  The six-day mountain bike stage race starts at noon local time with a 13km prologue.

Monday brings the event’s hardest day, an 86-mile ride from Mucuge to Rio de Contas, total climbing 11,000 feet. All told, racers will take on 565km challenge with over 33,000 feet of climbing.

The race is set within Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina, a 1520-square kilometer national park that’s considered among Brazil’s top scenic sights. Most of the Claro Brasil Ride racers are Brazilian amateurs, but there’s also a handful of pro-level international teams from Europe and the U.S, including Topeak-Ergon’s Jeff Kerkove and Sonya Looney. The race is modeled on the world’s other great mountain bike stage races, such as La Ruta in Costa Rica, BC Bike Race in Canada and South Africa’s famed Cape Epic.

Follow Pro Coed team racers Brian and Jenny Smith' s Blog

Images from pre-race setup and course preview. All images courtesy Claro Ride Brazil: