23.05.2026, Nowy Targ, Poland

ENTER THE No.8 RACE
BECOME A VOLUNTEER

Race Through Poland is a one-stage, self-supported, long-distance bicycle race in which the main objective is for riders to make their way from start to finish through the four control points located in the heart of Central and Eastern European mountain ranges.

The No.8 edition will focus fully on the Western Carpathians, where our riders will encounter challenges, extreme beauty, and the thrill of the mountains. We will discover both the highest and the lowest, the heart and the outskirts. The roads and ranges we love, the climbs and forests we’re scared of, and the race that brings fulfilment to what we seek in adventure riding.

START

Nowy Targ, the Royal Free City, the capital of Podhale (Polish Highlands), and the natural gateway to the highest Carpathians. A town of contrasts, with its proud highlander’s character but also post-communist blocks of flats standing side by side, where old mountain traditions meet the sound of traffic and weekend markets. The legendary marketplace, once the beating heart of trade between Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, still gathers people from both sides of the mountains for wool, cheese, tools, and stories.

From here, next to the highest-located airport in Poland, the opening parcours leads our riders straight into the heart of the Western Carpathians. A gentle mix of cycle routes, short gravel sections, and a set of quiet secondary roads. All that framed by impressive views of the High Tatras and spiced with a couple of classic, and unforgiving climbs of the region, will take them across the border to Slovakia - deep into the shadow of the Tatras and further down into the Poprad Valley, where the first real decisions begin: which way to go next and how to shape the route that will carry each rider through the race.

This will be the start of Race Through Poland No.8. Sunrise, 5:00 AM, 23.05.2026! DETAILS CONTROL POINT 01

The first control point of Race Through Poland No.8 is not just a location. It’s a crossroad of decisions where five different parcours meet, each revealing another face of the Beskids, a six-hundred-kilometre-long Carpathian mountain range. Here, in the quiet settlement of Kudłacze, a small mountain hut marks the moment when the first real shapes of the race begin to emerge. Some riders will arrive after sunset, finding the door open and warm light inside. Others will come too early, or maybe too late, greeted only by silence and the stamp waiting at night.

But the CP1 parcours are much more than just roads leading here. One reaches deep into the Low Beskid, the most remote range in Poland, through Magura National Park, land of wolves and bears, where fading villages sleep between dark valleys and the night feels heavier than anywhere else. Another follows the gentle Poprad River Gorge, a short Slovakian section and a moment of calm through the gap of the Sądecki Beskid, before the climbing returns. Then comes the Island Beskid, familiar to many, but this time only a taste of its steep madness that riders of previous editions still remember. Just one or two over 20% ramps are left as a reminder of its cruel character. Next is the parcours that crosses the Maków Beskids, modest and human, where centuries of mountain life shaped quiet hamlets clinging to the slopes - the northern gate to the Carpathians, where Kudłacze itself awaits. And the fifth, fully paved yet far from easy, skims along the steep foothills of the Żywiec Beskids, with Babia Góra, the mountain queen of the region, watching from afar. She is a promise and a warning of what might come next.

Five parcours, one control point. The first real convergence of Race Through Poland No.8! DETAILS CONTROL POINT 02

The second control point of Race Through Poland No.8 lies at the very top of the White Carpathians, exactly on the western edge of the mountain arc that stretches across almost half of Europe. This is where the Carpathians begin, welcoming the world of the west into their embrace.

The parcours starts far below the range, in Slovakia, and takes riders through the quiet, rolling hills of the Biele Karpaty Protected Landscape Area, a region of meadows, forests, and old orchards shaped by centuries of coexistence between nature and people. It’s one of the richest corners of Slovakia, home to rare orchids, butterflies, and birds that have vanished elsewhere. The route follows the smallest paved roads, where you can hear the streams and feel the calm rhythm of this gentle land. Once you’re on it, it flows and takes you in fully, swinging just below Veľká Javorina, the highest peak here at 970 meters above sea level.

Eventually, riders will reach it, but how they get there will be entirely up to them. The final decisions will be made at the top of the range, with the control point waiting in the hotel just below the summit. A race section, where riding brings pure pleasure, and decisions a thrill. DETAILS CONTROL POINT 03

The Western Tatras rise steeply above the valley, closing the horizon with rugged ridgelines and snow-capped peaks that seem almost too high for this part of Europe. This is where the race reaches its wild, demanding, and untamed character.

Riders will climb deep into the Žiarska Valley, under the watchful eyes of marmots, chamois, and brown bears, to reach the control hidden just under the top of the highest Carpathians. But this will be far from over. From there, the road turns south, towards the Low Tatras, a mountain range that is “low” only by name. Their ridges will stand like a wall between riders and their road ahead, forming a natural barrier that will test not only their legs but also their minds. It will be the only way forward, the path that leads to the second parcours of this stage, winding through the southern slopes and narrow mountain passes. Tarmac roads filled with pure and untouched nature. Getting here will be a struggle, but riding through it will be pristine joy.

The race can definitely be lost here, and adventure will be the one who takes over. DETAILS DETAILS CONTROL POINT 04

The Volovec Mountains open a new territory on the Race Through Poland map. Mountainous, green, and surprisingly close to the city of Košice, Slovakia’s second-largest city. Despite lying only a short distance from it, this range feels worlds apart: quiet, steep, and full of small, twisting mountain roads that reveal how close wilderness can be to civilisation.

Our parcours start nearly at its highest point, Kojšovská hoľa (1246 m a.s.l.), standing above the valleys and villages of eastern Slovakia. Wide panoramas stretch across the horizon, towards the Low Tatras, whose ridges seem to grow naturally out of the Volovec range, connecting east and west in one continuous mountain arc.

Each rider will have to decide how to reach the summit, choosing their own route and testing their navigation skills. A challenging but flowing section will follow, as this parcours captures the spirit of the region: mountain roads just above a big city, silence within reach of noise, and the unexpected harmony between raw terrain, gentle gravel, and a perfect tarmac. These roads are popular for the local riders, but still a blank spot for most of those who race across Europe.

From here, the finish line will be the next stop. FINISH

The last dance of No.8. A pleasure of riding and a return to the place where it all began. The final stretch of the race is about contemplating what has just been achieved. A tribute to an adventure of about 1800 kilometres across the Western Carpathians. Don't get us wrong, there will still be some climbing, but every ascent here exists for the beauty of it!

Riders will cross Spiš, a region forever tied to the High Tatras, an entrance hall to their snowy peaks, which will accompany them almost all the way, appearing and disappearing on the horizon like a silent farewell. A road often ridden and deeply admired by our race director, with the most favourite moments chosen to highlight the beauty of this land. It is here where the parcours turns back to Poland and joins the Spiš Loop, one of the most beautiful cycling routes in this part of the Carpathians, leading straight to the finish line in Nowy Targ.

A finisher stamp, a warm meal, highlander hospitality, and the applause and stories of other riders will be waiting. Our race community will gather once more to celebrate the sport, the adventure, the challenge, and the connection with nature. Everything that bikepacking racing gives us. DETAILS

Race history:
#rtpl7
#rtpl6
#rtpl5
#rtpl4
#rtpl3
#rtpl2019
#rtp2018

mail: race@racethroughpoland.pl

We are powered by:

©Race Through Poland