CRC 506 Gran Fondo Costa Rica was one of the great new events in the UCI Gran Fondo World Series 2023 calendar which boasted a big peloton of 700 riders in its first edition  starting in the capital city of San José to arrive next to the Pacific Ocean in Puntarenas.

Starting in the National Stadium of Costa Rica in San José, the CRC 506 Gran Fondo has a 127.6km course which starts at an altitude of 1100m above the sea to arrive at sea level, but the course also has a lot of positive climbing totalling 1700m of elevation.

The National Stadium where the start is located is home to football, athletics and other sports events, but also live performances. After the start, riders leave the city from the northwest with a first 30km going down to an altitude of 600m.

Next is a 10km climb going from 670m back to over 1000m for an average gradient of 3% but with peaks up to 12%.

The middle section of the course has undulating roads before reaching the highest point of the day after 75km to then start the descent towards the beautiful peninsula of Puntarenas at the Pacific. The last 20km towards the finish are flat again.