Show Notes
Now reporting on the 12th day of racing, the finish line is becoming busier with each passing day. Riders arrive from what we hope has been the adventure of a lifetime through the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. On the final loop, riders skirt around Karakol, passing just by the finish before being sent once more into the wilds. The route follows the Karkara river along the Kazakh border and out into the striking Eshkilitash valley before returning at last to Karakol via Chon pass (3860m).
It’s a huge mountain to climb, though the gradient is kind, and if they glance back over their shoulders, they’ll see a wall of jagged, snow-capped peaks etched against the sky. It’s here that we meet many of our riders, cresting the final pass before the descent toward Karakol.
We also hear from our women's podium of Leanne Bentley, Sami Sauri and Meaghan Hackinen.
Riders featured in this episode: Jono Elliott — Cap 99 Ciaran Lundy — Cap 305A Carlotta Schumacher — Cap 31 Felipe Duque — Cap 70 Stephen Hurdley — Cap 183 Niels Ihrman — Cap 143 Leanne Bentley — Cap 116 Sami Sauri — Cap 174 Meaghan Hackinen — Cap 132
Click here to Dotwatch the race
Follow us on Instagram for daily visual updates
Production and hosting by Mel Webb Sound design by Ben Crannell Music by Batyrkan Cover image by Stephen Shelesky
Thanks to our race partners Albion, Pertex, Tailfin, Styrkr and Julbo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from The Mountain Races Podcast
Day two of the inaugural Taurus Mountain Race, and the field has well and truly spread out. A night of thunderstorms has left riders scraping peanut-butter mud from their tyres. Some slept on mosque verandas, in goat sheds and under concrete shelters. Others found a warm welcome from strangers, including a Syrian refugee family offering tea, dry clothes and a litter of kittens. We catch riders pushing up the hike-a-bike before CP1, chat with others as they head back out from the checkpoint, and follow them through the cedar forests and up onto the yaylas.
The first Taurus Mountain Race gets a baptism of rain, with 100 millimetres forecast for the first 24 hours. In places the track has turned to thick, sticky mud. We hear from riders as they settle into the adventure ahead.
We begin our race coverage in Antalya, where the Taurus Mountains rise straight out of the Mediterranean, for registration day at the inaugural Taurus Mountain Race. Riders trickle in throughout the day outside The Beaver, a coffee shop on the beachfront boardwalk, collecting trackers and race caps while storm clouds gather over the mountains. With the route only revealed 48 hours ago and 100mm of rain in the forecast, the mood is equal parts excitement and nerves. We hear from first-timers and old friends from past Mountain Races, ahead of what will no doubt be an exciting first edition.
Not long now until the start of the inaugural Taurus Mountain Race…
The clock has finally wound down. After more than fourteen days, 2,060 kilometres and 38,000 metres of climbing, the 2026 Silk Road Mountain Race comes to an end on the shores of Issyk-Kul, at the finish line at Hotel Zeto. Riders roll in sun-weathered, filthy and running on empty — five spokes gone and a wheel rebuilt in Bishkek, blistered hands from one last descent of sand and cobbles, a phone broken on day two, a mascot named Beaker who's been everywhere and never had a wash. We greet them as they arrive on the final day of racing.