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A WC in the mountains?

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jordan5000

jordan5000

Sep 1, 2011
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I was wondering if any World Championships have been done in the mountains, if not why? I've always wondered what it would be like to see the best climbers battle it out for a whole day, rather than just 1 or 2 mountain passes like in the grand tours. Would a mountainous WC be too difficult or would it limit the amount of contenders too much? My ideas for one would be either the dolomites or something similar to stage 18 (I think) in this year's tour. Please share your thoughts, thank you.
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
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jordan5000 said:
I was wondering if any World Championships have been done in the mountains, if not why? I've always wondered what it would be like to see the best climbers battle it out for a whole day, rather than just 1 or 2 mountain passes like in the grand tours. Would a mountainous WC be too difficult or would it limit the amount of contenders too much? My ideas for one would be either the dolomites or something similar to stage 18 (I think) in this year's tour. Please share your thoughts, thank you.
Click to expand...

stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia 2011.
 
hrotha

hrotha

Jun 10, 2010
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The closest thing in recent history was Duitama in 1995. I'm not sure if this profile is 100% accurate, but here it is:
499b7f99fcd94fe5c595f0af7610a17do.png


Note people like Gianetti, Puttini and Konyshev, who weren't climbers but could climb well enough if their life depended on it, all had a great ride that day.
 
Tank Engine

Tank Engine

Jul 16, 2011
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The WC was in Chambery in 89 or sometime round there on a similar course. Konyshev and Claveyrolat were in a break and only got caught by LeMond, Fignon and Kelly close to the end. LeMond won and Konyshev managed to beat Kelly in the sprint. Great race.
 
Eric8-A

Eric8-A

Nov 11, 2010
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A climbing course will make for an interesting WC. But it kind of seems like there are people that want to see ***edited by mod *** in a rainbow jersey given the courses lately.
 
gregrowlerson

gregrowlerson

Aug 6, 2010
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I am not a big overall cycling fan (mainly TDF and also Giro, Vuelta), but I think that the WC road race could alternate every few years. Course might suit Cavendish, then Sagan, then Rodriguez, then Contador, etc. As long as any rider who is top quality over a 5 year period gets at least one genuine shot at being the WC.

On the race itself though, I'm not so sure that it's really required in the sport - certainly not every year. There already seems to be a 'World Championship' for each kind of rider. What's the point of having it if it is great prestige to win an Ardennes classic, or on Zoncolan, or on Alp du'ez, or on the Champs-Eyleysess?
 
S

Swede1

Jun 7, 2011
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Timmy-loves-Rabo said:
10 loops of this anyone?

Monte-Zoncolan-Ovaro_profile.jpg
Click to expand...

Haha that would be the most epic race ever!! I'd like to see poor old McEwen on the 10th time up the Zoncolan after he said he had a real chance at winning... :p
 
WillemS

WillemS

Aug 6, 2011
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A world championship doesn't always have to consist of just one local circuit. In Valkenburg they regularly have some kind of preliminary course, next year's is 100Km. (I didn't yet check out the parcours, so I don't if it has a lot of Dutch twisting and turning and/or dangerous traffic points).

I would love to see a World Champs doing a few Sella Ronda's (what's the plural of Ronda in Italian?). It would be amazing to see three or four of these:

SellaRondaBike2006_object_7601.jpg


Would be hard, though.
 
Tuarts

Tuarts

May 25, 2010
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gregrowlerson said:
I am not a big overall cycling fan (mainly TDF and also Giro, Vuelta), but I think that the WC road race could alternate every few years. Course might suit Cavendish, then Sagan, then Rodriguez, then Contador, etc. As long as any rider who is top quality over a 5 year period gets at least one genuine shot at being the WC.

On the race itself though, I'm not so sure that it's really required in the sport - certainly not every year. There already seems to be a 'World Championship' for each kind of rider. What's the point of having it if it is great prestige to win an Ardennes classic, or on Zoncolan, or on Alp du'ez, or on the Champs-Eyleysess?
Click to expand...
Just stick to watching your GTs... :rolleyes:
 
A

analo69

May 11, 2009
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3300 m of climbing is not much. As far as I recall this year in Copenhagen has roughly 2000 m and Varese, 2008 had 3555 m and Mendrision, 2009 had 4,655 m.
 
jordan5000

jordan5000

Sep 1, 2011
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analo69 said:
3300 m of climbing is not much. As far as I recall this year in Copenhagen has roughly 2000 m and Varese, 2008 had 3555 m and Mendrision, 2009 had 4,655 m.
Click to expand...

I assume you're referring to meters ascended, if so that's quite a bit when you consider that would be 3 times as much as the ascent of Mount Ventoux, or are my numbers way off?
 
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