Just when you think these things can't get any more crazy...

http://www.breckepic.com/race-course.html

Distance: About 200 miles. Total vertical? Just shy of 40,000 feet. Find a spandex-clad Europhile if you need to know how many K that is.

OK, I'll translate from backwards-thinking yank speak: 320km and 12,000m vertical. You have 6 days to complete that. The last day is 75km and 3000m vertical climbing.