The route for stage 6 on January 10, lead from Arica to Calama, Chile. After the competitors moved south to Iquique via a liaison of 291 km, they started the 454 km long special stage through the Atacama Desert.
This special stage was divided into two parts, the first half and second half, and the competitors drove on paved roads as a neutralized zone in the middle section from the 229 km point to the 326 km point. The road surface for this special stage consisted of plenty of a powdery soil called "fesh- fesh", including sand dunes of a considerably difficult level in the first half. The second half of the route consisted of a speed hill climb through in a relatively high altitude of 3,000 m. The bivouac in Calama where the competitors arrived via a liaison of 22 km after the special stage is also located at the foot of a mountain at an altitude of 2,200 m. The plan for stage 7 on January 11 takes the competitors towards Salta, Argentina across the Andes Cordillera. Tomorrow will be a long day, where the competitors will have to pass through highlands at an altitude of over 4,900 m in the liaison.