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Elevation of the Worlds 2022 course?

According to the organizers there will be 3945 meters of climbing on the World Championship race course. But when I look at the course profile, I can't find all those meters. My assessment is that there are around 150 meters on the circuit (x 12), and that would leave more than 2.000 vertical meters to be found on the first 60 kilometers. Which seems totally unrealistic.

But I don't have the exact course file to judge from, only the pdf from the official site. So maybe there are important details I have overlooked.

Can anyone say more about this?
 
According to the organizers there will be 3945 meters of climbing on the World Championship race course. But when I look at the course profile, I can't find all those meters. My assessment is that there are around 150 meters on the circuit (x 12), and that would leave more than 2.000 vertical meters to be found on the first 60 kilometers. Which seems totally unrealistic.

But I don't have the exact course file to judge from, only the pdf from the official site. So maybe there are important details I have overlooked.

Can anyone say more about this?

I don't know about this incidence but I recall a Giro stage where it was up and down all day and you could see it was obviously around 4500 metres, yet the official number was 6000 metres.
 
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They're taking into account every bit of road, not just categorized ascents.
Probably right. Apart from Keira and Mt Pleasant the rest of the course is mainly flat or false flat There are no other small hills apart from a short drag coming from the Keira circuit onto the city circuit. The top of Keira over to the top of Kembla is false flat with a some downhill. The descent of Kembla flattens out before the final plunge.
 
According to the organizers there will be 3945 meters of climbing on the World Championship race course. But when I look at the course profile, I can't find all those meters. My assessment is that there are around 150 meters on the circuit (x 12), and that would leave more than 2.000 vertical meters to be found on the first 60 kilometers. Which seems totally unrealistic.

But I don't have the exact course file to judge from, only the pdf from the official site. So maybe there are important details I have overlooked.

Can anyone say more about this?
Apart from the two climbs and descents it's basically a flat course. No surprises or uncategorized stuff in between. The approach to Mt Pleasant is mostly false flat and starts to kick up before the main climb.
 
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In older days, this would have been a Oscar Freire course.

That Mount Pleasant climb seem just about long and tough enough for puncheurs like Van der Poel and Ala to gain just enough time to stay clear to the finish. Both Ousley and Pleasant seems like climbs that Van der Poel really can fly if he is in top shape.
 
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Saw the same climbing on another site as 54 m not 80 metres for Mt Ousley but the real damage will be done on Mt Pleasant anyway. A shame that Mt Keira is basically wasted and couldn't have been used closer to the finish. Would have liked to have seen see at least two laps of the loop circuit...........oh well.
 

Thanks, but it doesn't quite make sense. If you look at the course profile and the road map, there is no way that both climbs on the circuit can be that big. After Mt Ousley, you don't descend all the way back to the coast - there is only a short descent before you hit Mt Pleasant.
 
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According to the organizers there will be 3945 meters of climbing on the World Championship race course. But when I look at the course profile, I can't find all those meters. My assessment is that there are around 150 meters on the circuit (x 12), and that would leave more than 2.000 vertical meters to be found on the first 60 kilometers. Which seems totally unrealistic.

But I don't have the exact course file to judge from, only the pdf from the official site. So maybe there are important details I have overlooked.

Can anyone say more about this?

Very, very good point! The discussion about that is long overdue.

For some time, it was „Worlds 2022 in Australia will be Dutch team vs Ewan - only question is if Dutch ride for Jakobsen or Groenewegen!“.

Then, some mentioned the course even includes hills and could be harder than expected.

Now, they claim to have an amount of vertical meters compareable to a GT mountain stage, or LBL and Il Lombardia.

I ask myself: what‘s so wrong with „admitting“ to to have a flat or slightly hilly course?

I honestly don‘t know. „4000 vertical meters“ seem to be absolutely necessary, it seems.

Hmmm… Maybe they want to try to prevent a start of Pascal Ackermann… ;-) Seems to be the only explanation, to me :)
 
Very, very good point! The discussion about that is long overdue.

For some time, it was „Worlds 2022 in Australia will be Dutch team vs Ewan - only question is if Dutch ride for Jakobsen or Groenewegen!“.

Then, some mentioned the course even includes hills and could be harder than expected.

Now, they claim to have an amount of vertical meters compareable to a GT mountain stage, or LBL and Il Lombardia.

I ask myself: what‘s so wrong with „admitting“ to to have a flat or slightly hilly course?

I honestly don‘t know. „4000 vertical meters“ seem to be absolutely necessary, it seems.

Hmmm… Maybe they want to try to prevent a start of Pascal Ackermann… ;-) Seems to be the only explanation, to me :)

Organizer profiles for whatever reason consistently have higher vertical gain numbers than other sources. La Flamme Rouge which uses Google Maps data has the route at 3300m. Roughly 50% more than RVV has in a similar distance.

Anyway, the route is far far too hard for Ewan and any other pure sprinter. Far more numerous climbs than MSR, and much steeper than the Poggio and Cipressa. The race will likely be won by one of: Alaphilippe, WVA, Pidcock, MVDP, Pogacar, Valverde or Roglic. Most pure sprinters if they turn up will probably DNF. France will probably light it up early like last year (helped by the addition of Sivakov to their squad) with 0.8KM at 10%, a few hundred metres of descent then 1KM at 9% each loop (separated by ~2KM of descending + 13KM of flat). Won't take many laps moderate-hard pacing on climbs like that where drafting is fairly limited to send the sprinters way out the back.
 
Organizer profiles for whatever reason consistently have higher vertical gain numbers than other sources. La Flamme Rouge which uses Google Maps data has the route at 3300m. Roughly 50% more than RVV has in a similar distance.

Anyway, the route is far far too hard for Ewan and any other pure sprinter. Far more numerous climbs than MSR, and much steeper than the Poggio and Cipressa. The race will likely be won by one of: Alaphilippe, WVA, Pidcock, MVDP, Pogacar, Valverde or Roglic. Most pure sprinters if they turn up will probably DNF. France will probably light it up early like last year (helped by the addition of Sivakov to their squad) with 0.8KM at 10%, a few hundred metres of descent then 1KM at 9% each loop (separated by ~2KM of descending + 13KM of flat). Won't take many laps moderate-hard pacing on climbs like that where drafting is fairly limited to send the sprinters way out the back.
Matthews should be able to survive this, as should GvA and possibly Trentin but they need it to not be raced too aggressively.
 
Matthews should be able to survive this, as should GvA and possibly Trentin but they need it to not be raced too aggressively.

We have to remember that last year Matthews entered the World's with a full TDF chasing the green jersey and a full Vuelta chasing stages which is far from optimal and he had no team mates with 60kms to go - Haig is a very decent back up as he is decent in one day races.
 
As for how hard the route is and what that means for sprinters, consider some results over the years:

2019 Harrogate: Kristoff won the sprint for 7th
2017 Bergen: Sagan won in a bunch sprint of 29 riders, ahead of Kristoff, Gaviria, Matthews, Trentin
2015 Richmond: Matthews won the sprint for 2nd, ahead of Kristoff (4th)
2014 Ponferrada: Kristoff won the sprint for 8th, ahead of Degenkolb, Bouhanni
2012 Valkenburg: Degenkolb won the sprint for 4th
2010 Geelong: Hushovd won in a bunch sprint of 25 riders, ahead of Breschel, Davis, Freire, Feillu

An attacker can win here, a select group of attackers can stay away too, but make no mistake there will be a bunch sprint either for the win or close to it, containing sprinters. This route is easier than Geelong and Ponferrada, harder than Bergen. There's plenty of road after the climb to chase on (similar to Bergen, more than in Geelong), likewise for sprinters to regain contact after every lap.

Philipsen, Ballerini/Nizzolo, Demare, Pedersen, Kristoff etc. can win here in a bunch sprint. I think it makes sense for attacking nations to have a sprinter here as well as backup. And I think that could spill over to a scenario where a group of attackers are caught because some purely sit on.
 
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As for how hard the route is and what that means for sprinters, consider some results over the years:

2019 Harrogate: Kristoff won the sprint for 7th
2017 Bergen: Sagan won in a bunch sprint of 29 riders, ahead of Kristoff, Gaviria, Matthews, Trentin
2015 Richmond: Matthews won the sprint for 2nd, ahead of Kristoff (4th)
2014 Ponferrada: Kristoff won the sprint for 8th, ahead of Degenkolb, Bouhanni
2012 Valkenburg: Degenkolb won the sprint for 4th
2010 Geelong: Hushovd won in a bunch sprint of 25 riders, ahead of Breschel, Davis, Freire, Feillu

An attacker can win here, a select group of attackers can stay away too, but make no mistake there will be a bunch sprint either for the win or close to it, containing sprinters. This route is easier than Geelong and Ponferrada, harder than Bergen. There's plenty of road after the climb to chase on (similar to Bergen, more than in Geelong), likewise for sprinters to regain contact after every lap.

Philipsen, Ballerini/Nizzolo, Demare, Pedersen, Kristoff etc. can win here in a bunch sprint. I think it makes sense for attacking nations to have a sprinter here as well as backup. And I think that could spill over to a scenario where a group of attackers are caught because some purely sit on.
There's only 6km after the climb?

I think what has changed more is that the puncheur field has become much stronger in the last 5 years or so with Alaphilippe, VdP, Van Aert and even Pogacar. I also think gradient is pretty important for these sorts of hills, and it's definitely a harder main hill than Ponferrada or Geelong.

And I also think that Richmond and Valkenburg show how important proximity to the finish is.
 
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There's only 6km after the climb?

I think what has changed more is that the puncheur field has become much stronger in the last 5 years or so with Alaphilippe, VdP, Van Aert and even Pogacar. I also think gradient is pretty important for these sorts of hills, and it's definitely a harder main hill than Ponferrada or Geelong.

And I also think that Richmond and Valkenburg show how important proximity to the finish is.
1.1 km at 7.7 % is now harder than 1.1 km at 9.3 % because the former has a few hundred meters that are steeper?!
 
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