2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, Stage 2

[BillytheKid]

Montrose to Mt. Crested Butte Tuesday, August 21 99.2 miles/159.6 km

The same finish as last year's Stage 2, but a much different route. Starting at Montrose two climbs open the stage with the second, Blue Mesa Summit, looking to be a surprising sharp climb for this race. The race route also follows the Black Canyon of the Gunnison which will provide for a much more scenic route than that from Colorado Spring Last year. A high plain from the descent of Blue Mesa and then a long drag up to the Mt. Creste Butte finish where the last three kilometers tore apart the field last year. Look for an aggressive break again today with the real GC battle beginning on the final climb.

The finish at Crested Butte

Live Streaming; http://radioshacktourtracker.usaprocyclingchallenge.com Start; 10 am MST, 12 pm EST, Possibly 11:20 MST for earliest coverage.

General Classification after Stage 1
1 FARRAR, Tyler (GARMIN-SHARP) 4:42:48
2 BAZZANA, Alessandro (TEAM TYPE 1 - SANOFI) + 0:00
3 CARUSO, Damiano (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE)
4 RODRIGUEZ, Fred (EXERGY)
5 SUTHERLAND, Rory (UNITEDHEALTHCARE)
6 MANNION, Gavin (LIVESTRONG-BONTRAGER)
7 REIJNEN, Kiel (TEAM TYPE 1 - SANOFI)
8 CANDELARIO, Alexander (OPTUM p/b KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES)
9 HORNER, Christopher (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN)
10 CASTIBLANCO CUBIDES, Jorge Camilo (EPM - UNE)

Chris Horner on racing at altitude; http://bcove.me/hkc6wudg

 

[Animal]

The scenery is 100 times better than the Vuelta so far!

I love Crested Butte. Ridden off road round there a bit.

 

[Animal]

Late break! Will they make it?

 

[Animal]

No..........

 

[CobbleStoner]

The scenery is 100 times better than the Vuelta so far!

I love Crested Butte. Ridden off road round there a bit.

wow, I guess you missed the TTT in Pamplona through the bull ring, 100 times is alot, you make the best GT (Vuelta) of the year sound like Qatar or Oman. I love Spain, especially the Basque Country

 

[Deagol]

BillytheKid,

Thanks again for starting the thread !

The pic above is the top of Monarch Pass, from last year, so we won't be seeing that today. the climb up Cerro I have never done on a bike, but have driven it several times. I remember it being "kind of long".

Blue Mesa should be nice, with the Dillion Pinnicles to the north (not sure if we will see that from the coverage). I'm guessing there will be a break that will get pulled back on the way from Gunnison to Crested Butte, but who knows?

We probably won't see the actual Black Canyon of the Gunnison, unless we get some wide-angle helicoptor shots. It should make for some nice scenic shots as the peloton crosses the reservoir..

 

[BillytheKid]

BillytheKid,

Thanks again for starting the thread !

The pic above is the top of Monarch Pass, from last year, so we won't be seeing that today. the climb up Cerro I have never done on a bike, but have driven it several times. I remember it being "kind of long".

Blue Mesa should be nice, with the Dillion Pinnicles to the north (not sure if we will see that from the coverage). I'm guessing there will be a break that will get pulled back on the way from Gunnison to Crested Butte, but who knows?

We probably won't see the actual Black Canyon of the Gunnison, unless we get some wide-angle helicoptor shots. It should make for some nice scenic shots as the peloton crosses the reservoir..

Thanks for the correction on the photo.

 

[BillytheKid]

wow, I guess you missed the TTT in Pamplona through the bull ring, 100 times is alot, you make the best GT (Vuelta) of the year sound like Qatar or Oman. I love Spain, especially the Basque Country

This is obviously not a GT, but yesterday's stage surprised me. The six abandons tells that it was ridden at a desperate pace.

A lot of those riding here are tunning up for WT points in a couple of weeks at Montreal and Quebec. I don't really think you can compare the Vuelta to this race. Both offer something, but a Grand Tour is a GT and the Vuelta is especially intersesting this year.

 

[Deagol]

This is obviously not a GT, but yesterday's stage surprised me. The six abandons tells that it was ridden at a desperate pace.

A lot of those riding here are tunning up for WT points in a couple of weeks at Montreal and Quebec. I don't really think you can compare the Vuelta to this race. Both offer something, but a Grand Tour is a GT and the Vuelta is especially intersesting this year.

Well, someone erroneously compared the USAPCC to the Enoco tour..

I agree, yesterday's stage was better than expected. I think it would actualy have been better if they finished in the Telluride Mountain Village or the pass, rather than town. I wantd the break to succeed

 

[BillytheKid]

Well, someone erroneously compared the USAPCC to the Enoco tour..

I agree, yesterday's stage was better than expected. I think it would actualy have been better if they finished in the Telluride Mountain Village or the pass, rather than town. I wantd the break to succeed

Yes, that's a nice short uphill from what I understand. I still would like to see a Mesa Verde, Hesperas, Purgatory, Coal Bank, Molas and a Red Mountain top finish stage, but that might have had yielded 25 DNFs to start.

 

[Deagol]

Yes, that's a nice short uphill from what I understand. I still would like to see a Mesa Verde, Hesperas, Purgatory, Coal Bank, Molas and a Red Mountain top finish stage, but that might have had yielded 25 DNFs to start.

Haha, yes. There were sure a lot of DNFs yesterday, seems like a lot for the first stage. The course you describe has mega climbing, too- and finishes at altitude.

 

[BillytheKid]

Haha, yes. There were sure a lot of DNFs yesterday, seems like a lot for the first stage. The course you describe has mega climbing, too- and finishes at altitude.

I rode the Iron Horse many times and once did a ride from Mesa Verde to Purgatory. I've never climbed the Red Mountain Pass, but we use to ride back to Durango from Silverton after the Iron Horse. The Gila was next weekend after that race in those days. The nice thing about the Iron Horse is that even if you got blown out the back you could then sit up and look at the great vistas.

 

[Deagol]

I rode the Iron Horse many times and once did a ride from Mesa Verde to Purgatory. I've never climbed the Red Mountain Pass, but we use to ride back to Durango from Silverton after the Iron Horse. The Gila was next weekend after that race in those days. The nice thing about the Iron Horse is that even if you got blown out the back you could then sit up and look at the great vistas.

I raced the Iron Horse the first year (I think ??) they had a colligiate catagory. My times in practice were the same as my race time. I remember (it's been a lot of years, now) being frustrated by the slow pace up the valley. I thought it would have been faster with the pack. I think I froze to death on the downhill into Silverton.
On a different occasion, I drove a Suburban up to Silverton for someone riding the train and had my road bike in back. I wanted to ride back to Durango from there. I got caught in a cold rain on Coal Bank and had to sneak into Cascade Lodge's hot tub to avoid dying of hypothermia. One year we had a ton of snow over the winetr and I was up snowshoeing on Molas just a few weeks before the race. Great memories....

I've climbed Red Mt Pass, both sides a few times. The North-South ride is harder than the South-north side.
One year, a friend and I MT biked from red Mt Pass over Black Bear Pass (approx 13K ft altitude) into Telluride. It rained on us as we got to about Breidal Veil Falls. In Telluride, we looked back up the box canyon and the mountains were white with snow. My car was stranded up on Red Mt and we had to call my GF in Durango to get rescued.

Most amazing mountain scenery I have seen in my life, in person or photos. I may be biased, though....

 

[BillytheKid]

I raced the Iron Horse the first year (I think ??) they had a colligiate catagory. My times in practice were the same as my race time. I remember (it's been a lot of years, now) being frustrated by the slow pace up the valley. I thought it would have been faster with the pack. I think I froze to death on the downhill into Silverton.
On a different occasion, I drove a Suburban up to Silverton for someone riding the train and had my road bike in back. I wanted to ride back to Durango from there. I got caught in a cold rain on Coal Bank and had to sneak into Cascade Lodge's hot tub to avoid dying of hypothermia. One year we had a ton of snow over the winetr and I was up snowshoeing on Molas just a few weeks before the race. Great memories....

I've climbed Red Mt Pass, both sides a few times. The North-South ride is harder than the South-north side.
One year, a friend and I MT biked from red Mt Pass over Black Bear Pass (approx 13K ft altitude) into Telluride. It rained on us as we got to about Breidal Veil Falls. In Telluride, we looked back up the box canyon and the mountains were white with snow. My car was stranded up on Red Mt and we had to call my GF in Durango to get rescued.

Most amazing mountain scenery I have seen in my life, in person or photos. I may be biased, though....

The first year I rode the Iron Horse in was snowing atop Coal Bank.
But it was OK. Cold, but doable. I will have to start a Race War Stories thread in General.

Livestream; http://radioshacktourtracker.usaprocyclingchallenge.com Possibly 11:20 MST for earliest coverage.

 

[BillytheKid]

Some kind of huge break going clear.

 

[cineteq]

Some kind of huge break going clear.

Are you the only soul watching the race? I'll check it out later.

 

[BillytheKid]

Are you the only soul watching the race? I'll check it out later.

I doubt it, but few posting yet. Big splits from the beginning. Groups all over. It's on.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I doubt it, but few posting yet. Big splits from the beginning. Groups all over. It's on.

That's how the stage is set up.
After the early 2 climbs, things will settle down on 50 miles of pretty much nothing that follow, before the final climb.

Can't see Levi repeating his stage win of last year, seeing he's left his rocket fuel back at the Shack.

 

[Rocksteady]

I love that we are able to see the break being formed. Shows how hard they are working to get in the break.

Fun to watch.

 

[Afrank]

Nibali in the break again! He must really want a win in this race.

 

[Rocksteady]

Nibali in the break again! He must really want a win in this race.

except he lost 2 mins yesterday.

I'm sure he would like a stage win though.

 

[Afrank]

except he lost 2 mins yesterday.

I'm sure he would like a stage win though.

I meant a stage win.

 

[BillytheKid]

Nice to see the starting kms as said. How does a break form? Not easy.

Voigt up there again. He must have the most miles at the front for the year of any rider.

 

[RedheadDane]

Quote from OPQS Twitter:

Names: Frank, Infantino, Voigt, Baldwin, Howes, Lewis, Nibali, Cooke, El Fares, Zabriskie, Agnoli. #USAPro

Didn't Zabriskie have enough yesterday?

 

[User Guide]

Man the commentators are mellow by well certainly P+P standards
I like the tour tracker/stream too.
More smaller races should do something similar.
Are you listening ToB and womens racing