Due to the long journey to Tierra del Fuego, the start time for the next stage has been postponed until noon.
So, under the blue sky of yet another stunning Patagonian day, because of the snow that covers every spot of this area, the racers start once again on their MTB’s specially equipped with studded steel tires for better traction on snow and ice patches. The route entails a gravel road covered in snow and ice from Vicuña to Pampa Guanaco, from there onto a smaller road also covered in snow and ice through patagonian forests to the vicinity of Lago Blanco, in the middle of Tierra del Fuego, from which the Trekking section begins along the coast, making it back to the Forests after a few kilometers, in a very cold environment.

The last phase of the day is on MTB cycling back to the Vicuña area, but this time at dusk, after 16:30 hrs with subzero temperatures.

Current Time Stage 4° - MTB - Trekking - MTB
place	stage time (hr:min:seg)	team
1º	4:24:48	1-LIDER /Al AIRE LIBRE
2º	4:36:33	6-GNC
3º	4:47:28	10-TURISMO RUNNER-ROCKFORD
4º	5:37:40	7-ARMADA de CHILE
5º	5:58:57	2-QUETRO
6º	6:20:20	3-TUTRAVESIA INDÓMITA
7º	6:26:10	4-INACAP-BUFETE INDUSTRIAL
8º	6:40:45	5-SOIJEN

The racers take off on their Mountain Bikes heading south from Vicuña towards Lago Deseado, it’s 40kms away, 5kms of which are mainly uphill gaining over 550 meters. In this area of Tierra del Fuego the steppe disappears, instead sub Antarctic forests take their place; they disappear here and there leaving peat bogs in the valleys that are over 600m in altitude. Here the terrain is composed of rocky grounds and many guanaco trails which are covered in snow this time of year. The ascent is slow due to the slope, ice and cold.

Once at the top of the hills the racers begin a trek along the edge of the mountain heading East, only 6 km back and forth until the next CP, at the beginning of this section team 10- TURISMO RUNNER – ROCKFORD didn’t assist a photographer that had taken a nasty fall that required some first aid, for this they were penalized with one extra hour. The view from the top is astounding you can see the northern part of the Cordillera de Darwin, part of the land of the Karukinka Park of the WCS – Wildlife Conservation Society. In this section it is advisable to wear snow shoes, because in numerous places the accumulation of snow doesn’t allow normal passage.

After the trekking, teams get back on their bikes and start pedaling for the remaining 10 km. descending all the way to the next camp ground on the west shore of the spectacular Lago Deseado. In this place the sun never shines directly during this time of year, because it is located at the very bottom of a deep valley.