Welcome to the 100th anniversary of the Road Cycling World Championships!
Time: September 2021
Place: Flanders, Belgium (Antwerp-Leuven)
Current Champions:
This is the joint race thread for the road races:
Men's Junior RR, Friday 24 (121,4 km) Leuven-Leuven
Men's Under 23 RR, Friday 24 (160,9 km) Antwerp-Leuven
Women's Junior RR, Saturday 25 (75 km) Leuven-Leuven
Women's Elite RR, Saturday 25 (157,7 km) Antwerp-Leuven
Men's Elite RR, Sunday 26, (268,3 km) Antwerp-Leuven
Profile and course for the men's elite:
Profil and course for the grown-up women:
The route is a bit complicated, I quote the cyclingnews article:
"The main circuit is a 15km loop around Leuven characterised by punchy, twisting city-centre streets. There are four short categorised climbs and at least 20 tight corners to be negotiated. The other circuit is dubbed the ‘Flandrien loop’, nearly 50km in length and taking the riders out towards the bigger climbs. It tackles six in total, starting with the Smeysberg, then hitting the Moskestraat and the S-bend in Overijse. After the Bekestraat, it’s the Veeweide and the Smeysberg again before a flatter path back towards the Leuven circuit.
While the junior categories will eschew the Flandrien loop and stick to the Leuven circuit, the elite men and women, plus the U23 men, will all do various combinations of both.
The elite men’s road race features a lap of the Leuven loop, then a lap of the Flandrien loop, then four laps of the Leuven loop, another Flandrien loop and, finally, another two-and-a-half laps of the Leuven loop.
The elite women’s road race features just one lap of the Flandrien circuit. They’ll similarly do a lap of the smaller circuit on entry to Leuven before heading out of town, but when they return, there will be just two-and-a-half laps of the Leuven circuit before the final throws for the line."
You're good?
Well, what I understood is that they are riding around Flanders, they all will finish somewhere in Leuven, and these are the climbs in close up:
I'm quoting a bit from the amateur's race advertising:
"...a wall appears in front of you: the Smeysberg. The climb promises to be one of the deciding factors of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships. With an average gradient of 8.84% at 700 metres and a maximum of up to 16% you will soon feel why.
For the participants in the longest distance, the Moskesstraat will follow three kilometres later. The completely renewed climb has an average gradient of 8% at 550 metres, which makes it a very difficult climb. Try to have some energy left at the end of the Moskesstraat, because the last stretch can reach a maximum of no less than 18%.
... Bekestraat (439 m - 7.5% average - 15% max.). For the time being, this is a relatively unknown climb for the public, but that may soon be about to change. Bekestraat is a real calf muscle killer, tailored to the explosive cobblestone eaters with another power explosion in the legs."
It is said that the race resembles more the Brabantse Pijl than the Tour of Flanders... what'd ye think?
Anyway, no question that the "real Flandriens" are among the favourites for this race. The weather, last time I checked, looks to be mild, though, with around 20° and probably no or only light rain.
Time: September 2021
Place: Flanders, Belgium (Antwerp-Leuven)
Current Champions:
This is the joint race thread for the road races:
Men's Junior RR, Friday 24 (121,4 km) Leuven-Leuven
Men's Under 23 RR, Friday 24 (160,9 km) Antwerp-Leuven
Women's Junior RR, Saturday 25 (75 km) Leuven-Leuven
Women's Elite RR, Saturday 25 (157,7 km) Antwerp-Leuven
Men's Elite RR, Sunday 26, (268,3 km) Antwerp-Leuven
Profile and course for the men's elite:
Profil and course for the grown-up women:
The route is a bit complicated, I quote the cyclingnews article:
"The main circuit is a 15km loop around Leuven characterised by punchy, twisting city-centre streets. There are four short categorised climbs and at least 20 tight corners to be negotiated. The other circuit is dubbed the ‘Flandrien loop’, nearly 50km in length and taking the riders out towards the bigger climbs. It tackles six in total, starting with the Smeysberg, then hitting the Moskestraat and the S-bend in Overijse. After the Bekestraat, it’s the Veeweide and the Smeysberg again before a flatter path back towards the Leuven circuit.
While the junior categories will eschew the Flandrien loop and stick to the Leuven circuit, the elite men and women, plus the U23 men, will all do various combinations of both.
The elite men’s road race features a lap of the Leuven loop, then a lap of the Flandrien loop, then four laps of the Leuven loop, another Flandrien loop and, finally, another two-and-a-half laps of the Leuven loop.
The elite women’s road race features just one lap of the Flandrien circuit. They’ll similarly do a lap of the smaller circuit on entry to Leuven before heading out of town, but when they return, there will be just two-and-a-half laps of the Leuven circuit before the final throws for the line."
You're good?
Well, what I understood is that they are riding around Flanders, they all will finish somewhere in Leuven, and these are the climbs in close up:
I'm quoting a bit from the amateur's race advertising:
"...a wall appears in front of you: the Smeysberg. The climb promises to be one of the deciding factors of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships. With an average gradient of 8.84% at 700 metres and a maximum of up to 16% you will soon feel why.
For the participants in the longest distance, the Moskesstraat will follow three kilometres later. The completely renewed climb has an average gradient of 8% at 550 metres, which makes it a very difficult climb. Try to have some energy left at the end of the Moskesstraat, because the last stretch can reach a maximum of no less than 18%.
... Bekestraat (439 m - 7.5% average - 15% max.). For the time being, this is a relatively unknown climb for the public, but that may soon be about to change. Bekestraat is a real calf muscle killer, tailored to the explosive cobblestone eaters with another power explosion in the legs."
It is said that the race resembles more the Brabantse Pijl than the Tour of Flanders... what'd ye think?
Anyway, no question that the "real Flandriens" are among the favourites for this race. The weather, last time I checked, looks to be mild, though, with around 20° and probably no or only light rain.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram