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General News Thread

Page 511 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Copenhagen would have been a boring sprint any day of the year.

Which is why, if the World Championships ever comes back to Denmark, it needs to go to Eastern Jutland. We got hills!
Notice how I didn't say "Århus", I just said "Eastern Jutland". I'm not that self-centered; Vejle would be nice too, though I suspect they could run into similar issues as with the Tour this year; the circuit not being deemed suitable for a larger peloton.
 
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Without having looked to the route itself, short punchy hills should favour Van der Poel, Van Aert, Ghirmay and even the more durable sprinters like Philipsen, Demare or Pedresen. If Remco goes to the Giro and then rests and fully prepares for this he will be a threat for this and looking at Leuven's outcome Alaphilippe should be a factor too.

As for the TT, the description seems to remember Harrogate the most so Remco should the main favourite ahead of Van Aert and Ganna unless Foss surprises again or Dennis turns back the clock.
 
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Whats wrong with the route? We have seen great races on similar parcours, and this is definitely a harder route than the atrocity that we presented in 2011
Don't really believe that Copenhagen should be a standard we should be happy to use. Nor do I like to get routes that are really dependent on getting really bad weather.

In terms of hills it's easier than Richmond, which was hardly an exciting race. It's also so easy it completely disables hillier riders to do much.
 
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Don't really believe that Copenhagen should be a standard we should be happy to use. Nor do I like to get routes that are really dependent on getting really bad weather.

In terms of hills it's easier than Richmond, which was hardly an exciting race. It's also so easy it completely disables hillier riders to do much.

Richmond was a good race. There was plenty of action from a long way out (which people really seem to have forgotten). The problem was the long, flat part of the circuit where everything got back together on each lap.
 
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Superb!

Lasterketa Burua made similar profiles for the two circuits, so it's easy to compared them.

Euro:
FdVWXSSWQAcHmwy


World:
FdbYi5NXEAEtatz
 
That looks absolutely relentless.
The best part is that there isn't a good analogy to it. Compared to the short Leuven circuit, the size of the hills is similar but this one is more up-and-down, but that had the Flandrien circuit to make things harder. Compared to the Euros, it's harder and especially much longer. This is unexplored terrain, a comparatively light and durable sprinter might be able to battle it out here with the puncheur types but very much not in a sprinty race.
 
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The best part is that there isn't a good analogy to it. Compared to the short Leuven circuit, the size of the hills is similar but this one is more up-and-down, but that had the Flandrien circuit to make things harder. Compared to the Euros, it's harder and especially much longer. This is unexplored terrain, a comparatively light and durable sprinter might be able to battle it out here with the puncheur types but very much not in a sprinty race.
It doesn't even have to be a light sprinter, even one of the heavier guys who performs well in the cobbled classics.
IMO the most important question is how technical is the circuit, how much momentum/speed can you carry into those climbs?
 
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Turns left, right and centre. The map of the circuit basically looks like that of a CX race, just not at the same scale.
Have you got a link to the map? Getting up to the art school has two routes from Park Circus. One that would require a load of road and path furniture removal, but would allow the riders to carry far more speed. The other way to do it is a hard left up Scott street, which is a tough one. I'm also not sure what the Glasgow College climb is, because the City of Glasgow College is at the top of Montrose Street.
 
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Have you got a link to the map? Getting up to the art school has two routes from Park Circus. One that would require a load of road and path furniture removal, but would allow the riders to carry far more speed. The other way to do it is a hard left up Scott street, which is a tough one. I'm also not sure what the Glasgow College climb is, because the City of Glasgow College is at the top of Montrose Street.
Supposedly it's this:
https://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/502492
 
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That West End route seems unlikely in places. The turn off Gibson/Eldon Street will mean removing the fences around a pelican crossing and a big gate from the park. It'll also result in some very hard breaking as they'll be flying down there. Fully expect that to be actually down Woodlands Road, Woodlands gate and up Park Quandrant on the actual route. The path they have them going on behind the Kelvingrove Museum is a walking path, they aren't using that., but they could easily go through the car park to the Snow bridge.

The route in the city centre uses a section of Cathedral street in both directions, I'm assuming they'll barrier it. If that's the correct route that's the hard way up to the art school. If they're coming that way towards montrose I would have preferred to see them use North Portland Street, It's a harder climb and literally just one along, but that's a harder route than the Euros and has a few places to have a go on it.

I've also been told the Edinburgh start is going to be different, but it's very possible that route doesn't include the neutralised bit. I doubt they'll use the motorway bridge across the Firth of Forth, if only because they'll want them to go over the Forth road bridge for the camera pictures. The rest of the route outside of Glasgow seem likely, it's essentially what I would have drawn, and I'm actually riding the valley, crow and some of the way back into Glasgow tomorrow.


Fully expect that route to change a bit, but hopefully not too much.
 

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