Tour of the Dragon is not a road bike race or a classic mountain bike race, nor is it a gravel grinder, because it doesn’t fit into any of the categories defined by the UCI. Since the distance of the race is 286km, we would categorize it as an ultra-marathon mountain bike race on roads that happen to be extremely challenging.
Tour of the Dragon starts in Bumthang and travels 268 km over 4 mountain passes before finishing in Thimphu. It’s one of the toughest one-day mountain bike races in the world.
Here are two articles written by two participants.
1. Slaying the Dragon
Text by SCOTT YORKO and photography by JUSTIN BASTIEN
2. American Traveler Conquers World’s ‘Toughest Bike
Race’ in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan
Ian O’Sullivan