Inspired by the discussion of potential routes for the Tour and Giro, I looked at a lot of what was mentioned and thought about a lot of the roads that we know of, and a lot of the roads that are out there that are just begging to provide us with entertainment. In the last decade we've seen a lot of new climbs added to the pantheon of stage racing.
But there are many others out there, ripe for discovery. This is a thread to promote and discuss your favourite obscure climbs, or those that have never hosted top level racing, or may never do, or those that would host top level racing if they were better located.
I want to put some parameters on this; no already well-known climbs that we see in less major races but still well known World Tour races (so no Lagunas de Neila or Grand Colombier from Burgos or Ain), and no climbs that we see in major races from time to time that you simply feel are underused... unless we are talking such a long time that you feel it is more or less completely forgotten (so maybe Mont du Chat, last seen in 1974, could be a viable candidate). This is for those climbs that are almost forgotten to racing, or that you feel racing should hurry itself up and discover, even if it has to re-route, revive or invent new races to use.
The other parameter is that it has to be reasonable to ask for racing there; sure, we can climb somewhere in the Caucasus or Greece or somewhere in the US that doesn't have a stage race, because if there were to be a race they could climb it, and sure, maybe we can have a fair bit of sterrato here and there, we've seen that climbed in various major races, and demand for race inclusion can see places resurfaced, but places like Scanuppia, Großer Speikkogel and Nebelhorn should be out of the question.
I think it would be nice for us to have, where possible, a couple of photos, and a bit about where the climb is, and if any races could feasibly use it.
But there are many others out there, ripe for discovery. This is a thread to promote and discuss your favourite obscure climbs, or those that have never hosted top level racing, or may never do, or those that would host top level racing if they were better located.
I want to put some parameters on this; no already well-known climbs that we see in less major races but still well known World Tour races (so no Lagunas de Neila or Grand Colombier from Burgos or Ain), and no climbs that we see in major races from time to time that you simply feel are underused... unless we are talking such a long time that you feel it is more or less completely forgotten (so maybe Mont du Chat, last seen in 1974, could be a viable candidate). This is for those climbs that are almost forgotten to racing, or that you feel racing should hurry itself up and discover, even if it has to re-route, revive or invent new races to use.
The other parameter is that it has to be reasonable to ask for racing there; sure, we can climb somewhere in the Caucasus or Greece or somewhere in the US that doesn't have a stage race, because if there were to be a race they could climb it, and sure, maybe we can have a fair bit of sterrato here and there, we've seen that climbed in various major races, and demand for race inclusion can see places resurfaced, but places like Scanuppia, Großer Speikkogel and Nebelhorn should be out of the question.
I think it would be nice for us to have, where possible, a couple of photos, and a bit about where the climb is, and if any races could feasibly use it.
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