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2021 UCI World Championships Flanders - The Big Reveal

men-elite-road-race.webp
 
This looks very exciting!
So to stay in this women's terminology, can a 'real Flandrien' elaborate on this route? How hard are the different circuits really?
In Leuven they will do lot of the same route/climbs they also do in the "Poeske Scherens" Grote Prijs Jef Scherens.
They will also do Overijse, which is the region where the Druivenkoers and Brabantse Pijl are held.

Generally the three races i mentioned aren't as long (185-195km), so after 270k it should offer quite a test.
If i were to pick one guy, i would definitely say Mathieu van der Poel. If it comes to a sprint, it's a long stretch of probably 3% uphill. Finish is 300 meters from my front door.
 
In Leuven they will do lot of the same route/climbs they also do in the "Poeske Scherens" Grote Prijs Jef Scherens.
They will also do Overijse, which is the region where the Druivenkoers and Brabantse Pijl are held.

Generally the three races i mentioned aren't as long (185-195km), so after 270k it should offer quite a test.
If i were to pick one guy, i would definitely say Mathieu van der Poel. If it comes to a sprint, it's a long stretch of probably 3% uphill. Finish is 300 meters from my front door.

Prepare the party please. Will you be the DJ?
 
I'm afraid this could be the last race in Sagan's ROAD RACE career (it probably won't be if he wins). Thankfully, it should suit him very well but whether he can get back to a necessary level for a rider with his name is doubtful.

Fixed that for you. However, it's good that it's actually on such profile next year, because, If sagan has good spring next year, his won't even be thinking about ending the RR career even if he didn't win the the WCRR. If his spring is lame though, he will probably be decided to quit it during the summer, and actually the WCRR could save his RR career more than it could end it.
 
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Oh, that's definitely better than I thought. From the video thing I was thinking they were going to be doing the Flandrien circuit twice then just returning to Leuven for the GP Jef Scherens, so the Flandrien circuit would just be cool visuals >100km from home, but unfortunately a gimmick that didn't have any real impact on the race. As a result I had some reservations and wasn't sure about what to expect. Seeing it laid out like this is much more reassuring and opens up a lot more possibilities from a racing point of view as the Leuven climbs aren't likely to be especially selective on their own on the level of field that would race the Worlds, having the second lap of the Flandrien circuit with the more significant climbs and the cobbled ones at a position in the race where the thinning out will really start to happen (~200k, when the balance tends to shift toward the real endurance element) at that point, plus then a couple of laps in Leuven after the selection has already been made, which have multiple platforms for attacks and introduce a much more tactical element. With the way the race is structured here I like it a lot more than the video's course description suggested to me.

I assume therefore from the distance that the women's race will basically be the exact same race but stopping at the 157km mark, which places all of the Flandrien circuit obstacles at the exact same distance from home as they are for the men. That would definitely seem to be the logical way to do it - how about the espoirs? Do we know how theirs is goinig to work? I assume another lap or two of the Leuven circuit before going out to the Flandrien circuit once and then two laps of Leuven to finish, same as the other races?
 
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Moskesstraat is a nice addition to the route. A climb really comparable to the cobbled hills in the RVV. Steep and with nasty cobble stones. But I'm a bit disappointed that this climb is the only part really with cobblestones (ok, the sint-Antoniusberg as well, but those cobbles are not so difficult at all) in the race. There are some more options in that area, that could have made the "Flandrien circuit" more interesting. But still on average an entertaining route. You have to race to make a difference as the climbs itself are not to difficult. But with the most difficult hills some 60+ km from the finish, the repetion of the hills, and the very small and hilly roads in Leuven itself, seems a boring race highly unlikely.
 
Moskesstraat is a nice addition to the route. A climb really comparable to the cobbled hills in the RVV. Steep and with nasty cobble stones. But I'm a bit disappointed that this climb is the only part really with cobblestones (ok, the sint-Antoniusberg as well, but those cobbles are not so difficult at all) in the race. There are some more options in that area, that could have made the "Flandrien circuit" more interesting. But still on average an entertaining route. You have to race to make a difference as the climbs itself are not to difficult. But with the most difficult hills some 60+ km from the finish, the repetion of the hills, and the very small and hilly roads in Leuven itself, seems a boring race highly unlikely.
Sint-Antoniusberg has two wide asphalted lanes. In a diminished group, there will be plenty of space to avoid the cobbles.
If they really wanted to boost tourism in Leuven, while including nasty cobbles, they should pass through the Groot Begijnhof :tearsofjoy:
 
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The climbs in the center of Leuven are really short. Few hundred meters. They can only be selective in case people are already dead.

that's actually the nice part of the route. The classic guy's not trusting on their sprint, should already force a split on the smeysberg-moskesstraat-bekestraat. If the peloton is already split into several parts by the time they enter the local circuit in Leuven, those climbs are hard enough to attack, but they are not difficult enough to compelety split the peloton into bits and pieces if they softpedaled the Flanders circuit. Really great circuit for riders like MVP, van Aert, Sagan.

But considering the enormous amount of cobble stone sectors in that part of Belgium (way more than in the area of RVV), only Moskesstraat is somewhat underwhelming. Well, I still think the route is interesting and offers enough possibilities for great racing, but it could even have been more spectacular
 
This is the actual historic center of Leuven, only 200 meters removed from the city hall. It's a midievel city, so many narrow streets and plenty of turning. The most selective climb in the city is probably Wijnpersstraat.

yes, I know the city reasonably. The surprise was more in the fact that they actually included those narrow streets. Normally they would avoid those little streets and the bondgenotenlaan would have been the maximum possible.

I guess Mechelsevest (impossible to combine in the circuit with Wijnpers) and Keizersberg are about the same level in terms of difficulty and steepness?

Inside the local circuit in Leuven they used most of the options possible indeed. But in the Flanders circuit they are more options, some options with cobbles could have been:
-Lazendelle
-Wijmingenstraat
-Mommaertsstraat
-Hertstraat
-Postweg
-Hengstenberg
-Solheide
-Groeneweg
-Speelberg
-Koxberg
-Meilaarsveld
-Schapenheide/ bertembos
-Oliestraat
-Rue de Mollendael

Maybe some of them would be a little bit to small with the full peloton, but the Sint-Antioniusberg is that as well.

And those are the once that are literally in the area of the circuit. If they make the circuit a bit bigger into the direction of Walloon part of Brabant options of cobblestone climbs are endless
 
First, I am thrilled Moskesstraat is going to feature in the Worlds - it was my local hill coming of age, nice and steep with nasty cobbles, good as a launching pad near the top - the other hills may be a bit underwhelming given the options out there, but overall the route is better than I expected. Heart says Stuyven will win (local boy) but I am afraid it is going to be gefundenes Fressen for MvdP... now I only hope Covid and travel restrictions will be done by then, so I can get myself out there.
 
First, I am thrilled Moskesstraat is going to feature in the Worlds - it was my local hill coming of age, nice and steep with nasty cobbles, good as a launching pad near the top - the other hills may be a bit underwhelming given the options out there, but overall the route is better than I expected. Heart says Stuyven will win (local boy) but I am afraid it is going to be gefundenes Fressen for MvdP... now I only hope Covid and travel restrictions will be done by then, so I can get myself out there.
It's an oversized CX circuit without the dirt. It's tailor made for Mathieu. Tons of short climbs, one after another, twisting, turning... A long range attack could also work, for a guy who can keep a high pace over these small climbs... Hmm, but who, but who.

But i think it's going to be a small group going to the finish.

I think the fight for positions everytime they pass through the center of Leuven, might be more demanding and exhausting than the actual climbs in the center themselves.
 
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It's an oversized CX circuit without the dirt. It's tailor made for Mathieu. Tons of short climbs, one after another, twisting, turning... A long range attack could also work, for a guy who can keep a high pace over these small climbs... Hmm, but who, but who.

But i think it's going to be a small group going to the finish.

I think the fight for positions everytime they pass through the center of Leuven, might be more demanding and exhausting than the actual climbs in the center themselves.

Yes, they are a little short, though I cursed them plenty of times as a student on my bike; it would have been nice if they did more of the Overijse/Huldenberg stuff closer to the finale, or maybe even some of the hills near Wavre (though that would probably not have worked given the 'Flanders2021' banner). It could indeed become an epic MvdP versus WVA duel, but more likely they will neutralize one another and one of the Great Danes will snatch the victory again... Ala and (blargh) Matthews are also not to be overlooked (Sagan may be retired by then ;)).
 

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