Holy schmoley. Either the camera work sucked and I couldn't catch the strain on the faces of the chase, or that was one of the most blatantly gifted wins I've ever seen. Eeeks!
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Thanks!
It has been some fun racing so far. The start in my hometown was like a 4 day bike festival. That was a good time.maxmartin said:
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Same overall time as TJ, but they count back the placings in the stages to break a tie. And CVV moved just ahead in this finish. This happened yesterday too.SafeBet said:
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I think.
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great win for Danielson! 
http://usaprocyclingchallenge.com/stages/2012/stage-4
The last climb tomorrow is around 4.1km long and average gradient of 5.04%
BillytheKid said:
http://usaprocyclingchallenge.com/stages/2012/stage-4
The last climb tomorrow is around 4.1km long and average gradient of 5.04%
How did you figure that grade %? Sounds more like 7.5% based on what I could find.MajorTom said:great win for Danielson!
http://usaprocyclingchallenge.com/stages/2012/stage-4
The last climb tomorrow is around 4.1km long and average gradient of 5.04%
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On further review..... I think youre right.
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MajorTom said:great win for Danielson!
whoops! yeeh, great win, i was holding my breath! so close!
well done!
dgodave said:
Yeah
The climb starts 4.1km before the finish. Elevation at the start of the climb is 2266.3 meters and 2472.8 meters at the finish line.
the first part of tomorrow's stage will be good, and after they get off Hwy 82 and onto Hwy 24 northbound, it will be lame...
I am tired of these flat finishes that negate the time gaps that could have been for those who earned them on the climbs. Tomorrow probably won't do much to help that. Tennesee Pass could be described as a "false-flat" almost. Beaver Creek is all about the money, that's why the stage will finish there.
OK, maybe I'm being too negative, but .... maybe not
BillytheKid & I were discussing other route options, particularly a Mt Top Finish on Red Mt Pass. While that could be great, a finish into Ouray down the North side of Red Mt would have been far less likely for the field to come together as it did on today's stage. There is no flat run-in to town, it's literaly right there. But, Ouray doesn't have the money of telluride or Beaver Creek, or Breckenridge ...
I am tired of these flat finishes that negate the time gaps that could have been for those who earned them on the climbs. Tomorrow probably won't do much to help that. Tennesee Pass could be described as a "false-flat" almost. Beaver Creek is all about the money, that's why the stage will finish there.
OK, maybe I'm being too negative, but .... maybe not
BillytheKid & I were discussing other route options, particularly a Mt Top Finish on Red Mt Pass. While that could be great, a finish into Ouray down the North side of Red Mt would have been far less likely for the field to come together as it did on today's stage. There is no flat run-in to town, it's literaly right there. But, Ouray doesn't have the money of telluride or Beaver Creek, or Breckenridge ...
Seriously?!? Not to take anything away from the effort Danielson put in on the day, but that chase looked like it was soft-pedaling to the line. No attacks out of the chase as they neared town too? Whas BMC THAT blown? Just weird.
Impossible. Not nearly enough room for all the finish facilities. Would be a great climb though.Deagol said:
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A descent to Ouray would be mad. But Ouray is pretty small a town to generate the kind of crowds they want. I think.
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They also rode tons of miles above 9000' elevation. There could have been some cooked riders saving it for a finish where they can actually get some time.twisted pairs said:
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dgodave said:
Yes, that was sort of my point to Billy the Kid (not enough room, trampling, etc).
RE Ouray crowds: yup most of the crowds would not be locals, that's for sure. Ouray isn't that hard to get to, so many would come to watch. Heck, no one lives on the summit of Cottonwood or Independence, but they had crowds there, especially last year. They are actually having a canyoneering festival in Ouray this week or last week and people come from all over for it.
Nice job by Tommy D.
As to all the griping about how the course's or finishes don't measure up, remember, they have to get the race established and on a good financial footing before they can get too adventurous. Plus, with a 7 day race, if they had long MTF in the early part or middle of the week there's a good chance someone would get such a big gap that the race would be over after that stage. Then a bunch of guys would gripe about that.
If I remember both climbs well, the last climb up to Beaver Creek has the potential to be a bit more selective than Crested Butte but the real fireworks will be on Flagstaff. We'll have to see what gaps it produces, maybe enough that the final ITT won't make a difference. Or maybe not.
The race is only in it's second year. Give it time to mature and enjoy it for what it is. Personally, I think it could easily go to 8-10 stages with one or two genuine MTF's on something like Red Mtn Pass or Loveland, or even better, Guanella Pass from Georgetown. For now though, they need to keep the sponsors happy and build new ones, otherwise, no race at all.
As to all the griping about how the course's or finishes don't measure up, remember, they have to get the race established and on a good financial footing before they can get too adventurous. Plus, with a 7 day race, if they had long MTF in the early part or middle of the week there's a good chance someone would get such a big gap that the race would be over after that stage. Then a bunch of guys would gripe about that.
If I remember both climbs well, the last climb up to Beaver Creek has the potential to be a bit more selective than Crested Butte but the real fireworks will be on Flagstaff. We'll have to see what gaps it produces, maybe enough that the final ITT won't make a difference. Or maybe not.
The race is only in it's second year. Give it time to mature and enjoy it for what it is. Personally, I think it could easily go to 8-10 stages with one or two genuine MTF's on something like Red Mtn Pass or Loveland, or even better, Guanella Pass from Georgetown. For now though, they need to keep the sponsors happy and build new ones, otherwise, no race at all.
9000ft said:
The Tour of Utah has had good courses from year one. Producing years of bad courses with bad racing is no way to establish a race.
Thats because Utah kept the whole race within spitting distance of a major metro area.BroDeal said:
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I do like how they spread the Pro Challenge across the state of CO. But that does make it challenging to find good starts and finishes where people will actually show up.
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So far we have average courses, and good racing, I'd say.
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dgodave said:
Although most of the good racing has been a result of Garmin riding like lunatics.
BroDeal said:
Utah is a great race, but it doesn't have near the financial backing of the USPCC.
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