It’s New Zealand’s biggest cycling event, attracting 6000 riders plus bikes and 9000 supporters from around New Zealand and at least 20 other countries into Taupo for a high-energy weekend of events. Thousands of riders participate in the event’s most popular category, the 160-km Round the Lake – a one-lap ride around Lake Taupo – but this is just one of 14 categories on the schedule.
The around-the-great-lake course inspires cyclists of all levels, from top professional and endurance road cyclists through to mountain bike enthusiasts, weekend and occasional leisure spinners, competitive business relay teams and family groups on shorter loops.
Over the full 160km route, cyclists circumnavigate New Zealand’s biggest lake – the beating heart of the volcanic central North Island is a gigantic crater left by an ancient eruption. The classic route is an up-hill, down-hill on-road journey that’s a visual feast of lake shores, forests and rural farmlands and played out before crowds of enthusiastic roadside spectators.
