Nestled in the eastern range of the Andes mountains at 2800m, GFNY Tunja starts at the historic city center of Tunja, at Plaza Bolivar. A race start in such a powerful, significant, historic place will give you goosebumps.   

The course heads out through Tunja's quaint colonial streets lined with pre-Hispanic architecture for the first few kilometers. The race starts with a slight uphill, to 3000m, providing you a good warmup for the rest to come.  

You then head out to the Boyaca countryside known for its beautiful green hills and densely forested mountain slopes. Don’t worry yet as the route is relatively flat with several downhills for another 40 kilometers, to 2100m.

Once you reach the lowest section of the course, at Sáchica, the courses split: the medium route riders climb back to the finish, and the long course riders head out to race a fast and flat 45km-long out-and-back section, following the Sutamarchan River valley. The thin air will provide less wind resistance, get into a good group and enjoy! Soak in the beauty of the nature and quaint villages of Boyaca, like Sáchica, Sutamarchán, Tinjacá and Ráquira.

Hopefully you’ve been pacing yourself well. From Sáchica, both long and medium route riders are climbing back all the elevation you descended at the start of the race. This 22km-long HC-category climb with 1000m of ascent (from 2100m to 3000m, plus a 90m descent) is going to be a test of your endurance, strength and willpower. The maximum incline of 15% and average of 5% is going to be a challenge at altitude. Your reward: the awe-inspiring views.

The final 10km are flat and downhill, but the descent is gentle, so it will be a working descent with your group. The final climb to Tunja’s historic city center & the GFNY Tunja finish line will make your quads burn, but the finisher medal and post-race celebrations will feel even more earned.

LONG COURSE IS A COMPETITION: Only the finishers of the long course are eligible for category rankings and Overall and Podium awards. If you want to race and be ranked in your category, you must complete the long course. Top 10% of finishers in each age group earn a spot in the Qualifier Corral at every GFNY World event.

MEDIUM COURSE IS NOT A COMPETITION: The riders of the medium course will be provided their start-to-finish time, but will not be ranked by finish time. All finish times will be listed in alphabetical order.

This is the first ascent that you will encounter. The start of the climb is at 2,817m altitude but when you reach the top you will be at about 2,952m; covering 5 km with an average gradient of 3%; It is a regular ascent, so we recommend that you measure your strength because the race is just beginning. During the journey it is very likely that you will be cold, wearing a jacket or windbreaker is a good idea, try to keep it on since the decent will be a little cold. The road is also quite wide so you will have enough space to overtake your rivals, if you can gain an advantage on the ascent it is very likely that you will maintain it on the descent, the road conditions allow you to ride quickly and safely.

The climb begins after the Boyaca Bridge, a place full of history and surrounded by green mountains at the geographical limit of leaving Tunja and going to Samaca. At this point the road becomes a little narrower, with irregular terrain and several curves. This section has short climbs but if you take advantage of the downhill sections you can gain speed and gain some time. 

The wind in this mountain pass will be your biggest challenge, after completing more than 50% of the race, already with over 90 kilometers in your legs, this 9km climb with an average slope of 4.5% and a maximum of 15% will be the longest and most challenging climb of the entire route. You should take this opportunity to eat and hydrate yourself very well kilometers before facing this ascent, we suggest you do it on the road from Raquira to Sachica, so your body will make better use of the glycogen and carbs on the climb. The trick to this climb is to take the curves with power and determination, they are the points where the wind will be strongest against you.  You can take ease in knowing that the top of this climb the route becomes flat for the next 8km.

This will be the last climb of the race. At 5.6 km with an average slope of 5.1% and a maximum of 11.2%, it is a demanding ascent without breaks. Once you exceed the first half of the ascent the landscape will take your breath away, well if you have time to enjoy it. To crown the final climb you will have to face the last 2km with everything you’ve got, be very cautious of your competition as the curves of the road will not allow you to see some of your rivals. Once you see a straight line of road this will be the sign that you have crowned the last climb, but don’t hold back now as the finish line is 10km away in Plaza Bolivar.