General News Thread

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I assume that's the final climb of stage 2 aight?

 

[johnymax]

Here you can see the profiles. Scroll down... http://forodeciclismo.mforos.com/30984/11580026-previo-euskal-herriko-itzulia-2016/?pag=3

They are also up on PCS: http://www.procyclingstats.com/race.php?id=163655&c=6&stat_id=199

Too bad the quality of the profiles is poor as always.

 

[Scarponi]

Eduardo Sepulveda who rides for Fortuneo-Vital Concept, was close to the finish line when he was struck by a barrier blown into his path by strong winds during the La Drôme Classic. The Argentanian believes he will be out for around three months

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Lotto-Soudal will ride Paris-Nice in this <3

 

[johnymax]

Stages for the Tour de Suisse are known: http://www.procyclingstats.com/race.php?id=163712&c=6&stat_id=199

Meh...I don't like the 3 MTF in a row which are basically all the same. With a lot of flat before the last climb all the action is expected to be in the final kms. Also the second ITT should have been longer.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

I like stages 8 and 9. That's a nice ending.

 

[BigMac]

Lack of early GC stages and three MTF's in a row is a no-no as mentioned above. Any profiles for Amden? Is that the Rettenbachferner on stage 7? Ew.

 

[roundabout]

Lack of early GC stages and three MTF's in a row is a no-no as mentioned above. Any profiles for Amden? Is that the Rettenbachferner on stage 7? Ew.

the one on the bottom until the turn to Arvenbüel

http://cyclingcols.com/col/VorderHohi

 

[Alexandre B.]

Terrible news.

Romain Guyot, 23 years-old and member of Vendée U, passed away this morning after an accident with a truck.
http://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/la-roche-sur-yon-85000/cyclisme-le-vendee-u-perd-un-de-ses-espoirs-4070927

 

[StephenC2020]

Re:

Terrible news.

Romain Guyot, 23 years-old and member of Vendée U, passed away this morning after an accident with a truck.
http://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/la-roche-sur-yon-85000/cyclisme-le-vendee-u-perd-un-de-ses-espoirs-4070927

Tragic! Rest In Peace Romain.

Yet another sobering reminder of the dangers of our sport.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Very sad news, rest in peace

 

[BigMac]

Grr, horrible news. Thoughts to family and friends.

Lack of early GC stages and three MTF's in a row is a no-no as mentioned above. Any profiles for Amden? Is that the Rettenbachferner on stage 7? Ew.

the one on the bottom until the turn to Arvenbüel

http://cyclingcols.com/col/VorderHohi

Thanks round.

Totally awful parcours then.

 

[May0maniac]

Carì on stage 5 is a hard climb, 11.9km at 7.7% (according to quaeldich.de).
With Furkapass and Gotthard earlier in the stage it's a pretty hard stage.
The ITT on stage 8 is pretty short, only 16.8km, but they already screwd things up by putting it right after the Rettenbachferner (They could put a climb before Rettenbachferner).
Stage 9 is also way harder than expected and probably the best road stage of the whole race. It's a race for the cllimbers, it should be perfect for someone like Superman Lopez.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Carì on stage 5 is a hard climb, 11.9km at 7.7% (according to quaeldich.de).
With Furkapass and Gotthard earlier in the stage it's a pretty hard stage.
The ITT on stage 8 is pretty short, only 16.8km, but they already screwd things up by putting it right after the Rettenbachferner (They could put a climb before Rettenbachferner).
Stage 9 is also way harder than expected and probably the best road stage of the whole race. It's a race for the cllimbers, it should be perfect for someone like Superman Lopez.

I think its overall a very good route. 2 decently hilly stages, one for the sprinters, 3 hard MTF's in a row with some hard climbs beforehand, a relatively short TT and finally a really good final stage. Pretty brutal course, Im hoping this would inspire some better riders to take the challenge up. I think they have done a really good job on creating a challenging route, compared to what they have come up with in the past. Lets hope for a Quintana show.

 

[jens_attacks]

Made for pinot

Ridiculous totally unbalanced

I hope superman takes it

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Made for pinot

Ridiculous totally unbalanced

I hope superman takes it

Its totally unbalanced in the totally nice way. I like it.

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

Made for pinot

Ridiculous totally unbalanced

I hope superman takes it

Its totally unbalanced in the totally nice way. I like it.

I have to agree with you.


If there's any race in the world that should be 100% allowed to be a deal for pure climbers only it's the freaking Tour of Switzerland!

It's a shame it ain't been that way in the past. Just look at the geology of this country. And how bad it has been used. Especially in 2009!

 

[May0maniac]

After the classic short TTT stage 2 of the Giro del Trentino will be Arco-Anras, 220 km.
The finish in Anras is an uphill finish, 4km at 7%, it's one of the climbs of the totally awesome Pustertaler Höhenstraße.
Source: http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/?page=news&cod=87885&tp=n
Edit: it's 220km, so it's probably going to be mostly false flat with no real climbs before the final climb.

 

[Gigs_98]

I just saw the tour de suisse profiles. Just horrible. 4 high mountain stages in a one week race and 3 of them mtf's without any potential of early attacks. I mean at least they tried by always putting at least one HC climb into the stage (although thinking that the Hochtannbergpass is a HC climb is maybe a bit optimistic) but there is just too much flat between so it wont have any impact. And besides that nobody would get the idea of doing a long range attack in the first two hard stages because they have to save energy for the Rettenbachferner, the ITT and the last stage, and on the Rettenbachferner stage nobody will attack because the last climb is basically a mtf on the Mortirolo on a 1000 meter higher altitude. Also the ITT's aren't long enough to balance so much climbing.
The only good thing is probably the last stage although I fear that the race will already be decided and the best climber will already lead the race by a mile.

Besides all that, I really wish the tour de suisse could change their profiles. Especially the one from stage 7 is incredibly bad. Look on the section after the Hochtannbergpass. There you see 3 little bumps on the profile.
1. There are actually only two climbs and the one in the middle is probably the tunnel on the descent of the Flexenpass.
2. It seems like the person who created the profile didnt know that but he had to categorize the Arlbergpass (the last of the 3 bumps btw) so he just guessed and put the mark for the Arlbergpass between the climbs. Genius

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

Made for pinot

Ridiculous totally unbalanced

I hope superman takes it

Its totally unbalanced in the totally nice way. I like it.

I have to agree with you.


If there's any race in the world that should be 100% allowed to be a deal for pure climbers only it's the freaking Tour of Switzerland!

It's a shame it ain't been that way in the past. Just look at the geology of this country. And how bad it has been used. Especially in 2009!

That's not the point, though. You can make a climbers race without having 3 mountain finishes in a row, ending with one of the hardest climbs in Europe. Organisers must want a procession up the Rettenbachferner. Way too backloaded.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Its loca and glorious. Much rather an unbalanced route with 4 hard mountain stages than the shitty profiles we have gotten used to in this race! Cant wait.

 

[BigMac]

Re:

Its loca and glorious. Much rather an unbalanced route with 4 hard mountain stages than the shitty profiles we have gotten used to in this race! Cant wait.

Still doesn't make it good. It will backfire and will hugely affect racing quality. In the end, it won't be any more exciting than previous years. Three mountain finishes in a row is absurd anywhere on the planet.

 

[Echoes]

The "geology" (sic) of Switzerland is not suited for 100% pure climbers. And it's a blessing that it is not. It's a race for complete riders. Its palmares is testament for it.

I don't see too much mountain around Basel.

Rettenbach is the maximum I can tolerate with regards to gradient. Above, it's a circus. But it's in Austria.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Its loca and glorious. Much rather an unbalanced route with 4 hard mountain stages than the shitty profiles we have gotten used to in this race! Cant wait.

Still doesn't make it good. It will backfire and will hugely affect racing quality. In the end, it won't be any more exciting than previous years. Three mountain finishes in a row is absurd anywhere on the planet.

Ill still put a route like this miles ahead of the *** they have come up with in the past, if nothing else, just for the expectations. Remember, Dauphine is one of the most backloaded (probably the most backloaded) stage race in the world and is consistently one of the best races of the season. It will depend hugely on who decides to attend imo.

 

[May0maniac]

Lol, I just realized that the map showes a different route than the profile on stage 7:

On the Map you'd have no Arlbergpass, but you'd have the Hahntennjoch in the middle of the stage.

That's such an amateur mistake, how can somethin like this happen on the TdS website?