General News Thread

[Squire]

6.5km at a steady 12%! That's brutal for February.

 

[awavey]

"snake pass" and "jawbone" aren't Franglais'd...

No, theyre Yorkshire, but they wont get called Cote de passe de serpent for instance it will be Cote de snake pass.

Jawbone was actually Cote d' Oughtibridge last time i think, because the road is called Oughtibridge lane. Not Cote de Maxillaire de la baleine. Literally its called Jawbone because they claim there used to be the jawbone of a whale up there marking the summit.

 

[RedheadDane]

No, theyre Yorkshire, but they wont get called Cote de passe de serpent for instance it will be Cote de snake pass.

"Snake pass" and "jawbone" are funny names even without the "Cote de".

 

[Cycling111]

I was surprised that Vingegaard chose this race; in fact, I mentioned it in his thread. He was already a favorite, although there might have been some doubts about the time Remco could put on him in the time trial. By swapping Jebel Jais for this monster mountain, he becomes the undisputed favorite.

Teams usually receive the route a couple of weeks before it's officially announced.

 

[Red Rick]

Apparently Jebel Jais is unavailable due to a landslide or something.

It makes for a better stage but a worse overall route, but good to see the forum learning the teachings of the PWU

 

[Samamba]

Apparently Jebel Jais is unavailable due to a landslide or something.

It makes for a better stage but a worse overall route, but good to see the forum learning the teachings of the PWU

I am excited about a new climb, it's a great change for once, but yes highly likely GC will be decided after day 3 so that's gonna be pretty annoying.

 

[AmRacer]

I am excited about a new climb, it's a great change for once, but yes highly likely GC will be decided after day 3 so that's gonna be pretty annoying.

Maybe Jonas needs the last stage as well to catch Remco after the TT

 

[tobydawq]

It would be a little funny if Jonas Vingegaard won the UAE Tour.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

It makes for a better stage but a worse overall route, but good to see the forum learning the teachings of the PWU

It would have helped if they’d upped the TT length to balance out the fact that the overall climbing is about twice as hard now. Add 8k-10k and the chances of Evenepoel still being ahead of Vingegaard after stage 3 would have been a lot better.

 

[Red Rick]

It would have helped if they’d upped the TT length to balance out the fact that the overall climbing is about twice as hard now. Add 8k-10k and the chances of Evenepoel still being ahead of Vingegaard after stage 3 would have been a lot better.

That would help yes.

It doesn't hurt that UAE is the only stage race that can have massive echelons on the mountain stages either.

 

[OlavEH]

I can see that it has been discussed, but not sure if the more detailed profiles hast been posted. PCS have mapped the TA stages now and posted profiles. Both stage 5 and 6 seems harder (and better) than what I first feared when I saw the official profiles. Especially stage 6 is tough. The Camerino climb seems quite brutal.

Spoiler: Stage 5

Spoiler: Stage 6

 

[Netserk]

strade :

 

[Samamba]

In Algarve they are doing Foia from a different direction this year, it should be significantly harder. like 8ish km at 7%, Malhao stage is worse tho with more kilometers between the 2 ascents.

 

[Netserk]

In Algarve they are doing Foia from a different direction this year

the last part is the same as the new side last year, but the start is from monchique

 

[Squire]

strade :

Nothing majorly different as far as I can tell. A few km shorter.

 

[Netserk]

Nothing majorly different as far as I can tell. A few km shorter.

the new sector that was also in the giro where the major crash happened is out

 

[Samamba]

the last part is the same as the new side last year, but the start is from monchique

Yes, but it means more vertical meters, and the first part isn't really from Monchique if I understand it correctly, but they take a smaller steep road. Have to wait till the detailed parcours is out, but from what they are saying it's definitely harder. Last part last year was already good anyways.

 

[Netserk]

Yes, but it means more vertical meters, and the first part isn't really from Monchique if I understand it correctly, but they take a smaller steep road. Have to wait till the detailed parcours is out, but from what they are saying it's definitely harder. Last part last year was already good anyways.

ah, i had it wrong

tried to map foia :

new foia

65.0 km, +1839 m. Bike ride in São Marcos da Serra, Faro

ridewithgps.com

 

[Netserk]

if thats right, its possible to make a double climb : up last years side, down traditional, up second half of this

 

[Samamba]

ah, i had it wrong

tried to map foia :

new foia

65.0 km, +1839 m. Bike ride in São Marcos da Serra, Faro

ridewithgps.com

Yeah exactly what I guessed too. Its an actual climb this time. They could make it hard if they go hard from the beginning on the first steep part

 

[tobydawq]

ah, i had it wrong

tried to map foia :

new foia

65.0 km, +1839 m. Bike ride in São Marcos da Serra, Faro

ridewithgps.com

It'll be interesting to see if the whole peloton again will turn right at the finish in Lagos (at least they didn't ride to the Nigerian metropolis of the same name).

 

[RedheadDane]

It'll be interesting to see if the whole peloton again will turn right at the finish in Lagos (at least they didn't ride to the Nigerian city of the same name).

They turned right, but that was wrong.
They should have gone left, which would have been right.

 

[tobydawq]

They turned right, but that was wrong.
They should have gone left, which would have been right.

Right.

I think that was what I wrote.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Aside from Remco hopefully having a bounce back year, (and hopefully target EC RR), i'm most looking forward to Widar & Seixas. I think Widar especially will be a rollercoaster cyclist to watch. Seixas seems the bigger talent, but less entertaining to follow.