Climbers classic.

[phanatic]

I had always imagined the one day races grew out of the daily commute, and the stage races were more like a getaway scenario. I mean who wants to spend just one day in the mountains; it doesn't seem the same as a day in the city or in the country. On that note, it is probably best to have classics in populated areas, or you get all the crazies like on Huez getting wasted and bored and messing with the riders, blocking the road, etc. Remember the Alpe ITT? On a more tolerant note, much of the excitement in mountain stages comes from the GC dynamics. It is hard to imagine a Fuenta De '12 or Galibier '11 in a one day race.

 

[huge]

Re: Re:

You do know that mountain races don't need to be an MTF, and that riders are legally allowed to attack before the final climb, right?

Really?

 

[Orvieto]

Isn't the Classica San Sebastian considered a climber's race? If that's not what the OP had in mind I'm curious what the idea is. Are you looking for something in the high mountains with a mountain top finish? Are you expecting something on which the big GC climbers would duke it out for the win?

 

[Bavarianrider]

 

[staubsauger]

Classique les Alpes ain't it?

Immediately thought about it when I read this Fred.

 

[roundabout]

Ah, but it doesn't have 6 first category climbs nor finishes uphill

But earlier editions were slightly longer and a bit harder if I recall.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Melcior Mauri won a GT. If the parcours fell right and he'd worked for it, dropping weight etc. like 2012 Wiggins, 2009 Cancellara could have done.

The Peace Race was a stage race which was often settled by cobbles, though it was hardly set out to be as such, as it wasn't about cobbled sectors along the lines of Roubaix.

Anyway, Giro di Lombardia IS a climber's classic, at least on its stronger routes. The 2015 one is a climber's classic, after all Madonna del Ghisallo and Muro di Sormano, not really aimed at puncheurs, though those that survive of course have the chance in the later ones. Look at the winners' list in recent years. Martin is a climber. Purito is a climber. Zaugg is a climber. Gilbert isn't, but Cunego is. Bettini was once 7th in the Giro so he's no climbing scrub. Bartoli is less a climber, but he once won a Giro mountain stage and has dozens of hilly Classic race podiums in his palmarès. Di Luca's a GT winner. Rumsas podiumed the Tour. Pretty good climbing output.

Elsewhere, San Sebastián is a classic climbers can win, especially on the new version with the Bordako Tontora climb (which I'm not fond of). The Spanish used to have a few "Subida a..." one-day races finishing on a medium sized climb. Subida Al Naranco is the longest running, though the nearest to a puncheur race; Subida a Urkiola finishing on a 6km @ 9% climb is very much a climber's race. The Subida a Arrate was a famous one-day race that expanded into the Euskal Bizikleta which in turn merged with the Vuelta al País Vasco.

There used to be the Classique des Alpes and the Clásica a los Puertos as well of course.

 

[Sciocco]

I'd like to see a 225km+ classic with four+ consecutive high mountains with a downhill finish.

 

[jsem94]

GP Miguel Indurain anyone?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

GP Big Mig isn't really that mountainous though, it's a whole bunch of smaller climbs. The likes of Eraul really aren't much bigger than anything you'd find in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Amorebieta, likewise.

Here was my idea for a real mountain classic, culled and re-done from an old unpublished route - this is a one-day race I thought up called the Memorial José María Jiménez (I found it a bit sad that Vandenbroucke and Pantani have memorial races, but Chava didn't; to be a real tribute to Chava it would really have to be a climbing race, too), starting in Ávila and ending in his hometown of El Barraco. The biggest, baddest climb of the day finishes just over 50km out, and the last real climb, the first 4,5km of Los Aguilones, is 28km out but with the final climb only having fairly shallow ramps, and the idea of the earlier climbs being to make it hard to manage and domestiques to be at a premium, these are still the best options to attack from.

 

[armchairclimber]

I reckon something which takes in the climbs of the Ronde Van Calderdale sportiv would be a corker... you could add a few other steep cobbled climbs from neighbouring counties. Shibden Wall featured in the 88 Tour of Britain....it's a beast, but probably even worse is Trooper Lane http://realyorkshirecrit.co.uk/2014/04/24/trooper-lane-anatomy-of-a-cobbled-climb/

So it's not for alpine climbers but tough hardnuts with great bike handling and the ability to recover between multiple killer efforts. It would bring massive crowds too.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Giro dell'Emilia is another classic that climbers nearly always win.

 

[Sciocco]

I like the profile LS.

I always think of something like this when I think of a mountain classic:

Take the above and have a descent finish off the Gardeccia, sounds awesome.

 

[bassano]

Re:

I like the profile LS.

I always think of something like this when I think of a mountain classic:

Take the above and have a descent finish off the Gardeccia, sounds awesome.

Yeah, this stage was one of best in last years on GT´s

 

[roundabout]

There also used to be this

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trofeo_dello_Scalatore

 

[PremierAndrew]

I assumed this thread was about tomorrow's race looking at the title. I definitely wouldn't want a one day race that has a cat 1 summit finish. But a hard mountain with about 15km of descent and a bit of flat is definitely something that ought to be on the calendar

 

[Scarponi]

On the note of everyone knowing it would come down to 5 riders on a hard mtf, isn't that In general what most roubaixs, San remos, liege and fw come down to almost always the same 10 guys

 

[Red Rick]

I think lots of Cat 2's would make the racing and amounts of winners less predictable. Maybe a cat 1 or HC climb far from the finish, I think some of the Giro stages of this year would make excellent one day races.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re:

There also used to be this

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trofeo_dello_Scalatore

Or this one on the outskirts of Paris


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophee_des_Grimpeurs

p.s. I couldn''t initially get the link to work, due to the accent in the official address.

 

[Gigs_98]

I'm one of the persons who would love to see climbers classics. IMO the fact that the number of big favorites is what makes the race interesting. The this years lombardia for example. Many teams will work until civiglo is reached, because from there on pure climbers and classic specialists both have chances. Now lets say they do a real high mountain stage with numerous mountains. Everyone knows that at the end the best climber wins, or maybe someone like Valverde who sprints very well but thats already very unlikely. Trek would have Mollema but no reason to work for him, Jumbo has Gesink but no reason to work for him, Garmin has Talansky and Martin but no reason to work for them,... But what will they do then? Well I think that would mean that second tier riders would go early because they know that they don't have a chance against Froome, Quintana, AC, and maybe Nibali and Landa. Moreover such a race ofc. has to be hard enough that it can't simply be controlled by one team over the whole distance. Take this one for example:

Okay that one is maybe a little bit overkill, but do you really think on such a stage the sky, movistar, astana and saxo train will easily roll over the stage and it will come down to the final climb? I don't, and thats why would like to see how such a race would unfold, at least one time. Maybe it would be lame but I think it would be extremely entertaining (however I see the point that pure climbers already have gt's so they don't really need classics too, I just think the racing would be good)

 

[SigurdJ]

Re: Re:

Come on, who wouldn't love a GT in which you have an equivalents of PR, RVV, Lombardia, LBL, 2 medium mountain stages, 2 high mountain stages, 2 long time trials, etc? Even if it is just 14-15 stages spread across 3 weeks due to some travel required.
Would be awesome to watch

I would love to watch a GT where Sagan / Degenkolb / Matthews has equal chanse of winning as Contador / Nibali.
I guess Valverde would win by a large margin, but it would still be awesome.

 

[jsem94]

Well. That would be a race. Incredibly difficult to control such a race. If many teams show up with strong rosters, they can shake up the race early on by putting strong climbers on the attack early on.

 

[barmaher]

I love most of your routes, Gigs, but that is ridiculous. What is it, 7000m of vertical gain? Over 243km. Come on!

 

[BigMac]

Re:

I love most of your routes, Gigs, but that is ridiculous. What is it, 7000m of vertical gain? Over 243km. Come on!

Make three stages out of it and it would give a nice race. From Morzine to Cluses, Cluses to Beaufort, Beaufort to Tignes.

 

[42x16ss]

I'm one of the persons who would love to see climbers classics. IMO the fact that the number of big favorites is what makes the race interesting. The this years lombardia for example. Many teams will work until civiglo is reached, because from there on pure climbers and classic specialists both have chances. Now lets say they do a real high mountain stage with numerous mountains. Everyone knows that at the end the best climber wins, or maybe someone like Valverde who sprints very well but thats already very unlikely. Trek would have Mollema but no reason to work for him, Jumbo has Gesink but no reason to work for him, Garmin has Talansky and Martin but no reason to work for them,... But what will they do then? Well I think that would mean that second tier riders would go early because they know that they don't have a chance against Froome, Quintana, AC, and maybe Nibali and Landa. Moreover such a race ofc. has to be hard enough that it can't simply be controlled by one team over the whole distance. Take this one for example:

Okay that one is maybe a little bit overkill, but do you really think on such a stage the sky, movistar, astana and saxo train will easily roll over the stage and it will come down to the final climb? I don't, and thats why would like to see how such a race would unfold, at least one time. Maybe it would be lame but I think it would be extremely entertaining (however I see the point that pure climbers already have gt's so they don't really need classics too, I just think the racing would be good)

You're a lunatic, I'd love to see that

Even Zomegnan wouldn't suggest something like this!