- Apr 30, 2011
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i think it makes excellent sense, especially for a preseason race
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZABZ9f5M2ug
- Sep 26, 2020
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She missed out on racing/winning yesterday so it makes sense that she wants to push on today. FDJ don't have a great sprinter here either.
What this stage has shown is that the mid-level riders need to learn to climb better. They only had to cope with a 5.4km climb at 5.9% which peaked 30kms from the finish. These mid-level riders would bring back the leaders if they climbed better. Imagine if there was a descent before the climb. There could have been more damage.
- May 5, 2010
- 52,604
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- Sep 26, 2020
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I am surprised she won that easily. I thought at least Lippert would be closer. Balsamo won the sprint behind, but leaves the race without a stage win.
I feel sorry for Niediermayer who was the second strongest rider which was not reflected in GC.
- May 5, 2010
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Only 47 riders in Almeria, which means no UCI points on offer, only the honour and bragging rights.
I fail to understand why there is such a small start list. There should be more conti teams riding this race.
- Apr 30, 2011
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- Sep 26, 2020
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We got the Umag Race tomorrow. If things go as usual an Italian rider will win ahead of another Italian. Will it be Mendelspeck's turn to be victorious?
The Vietnamese races are also back for another year and now both of them are UCI licensed. The main question is whether Natalia Frolova will be dominating again. This time we also got Hitec racing them, and Yaninia Kuskova will be making a quick debut for the Pafgio team following her split from Laboral Kutxa earlier today.
The Vietnamese races are also back for another year and now both of them are UCI licensed. The main question is whether Natalia Frolova will be dominating again. This time we also got Hitec racing them, and Yaninia Kuskova will be making a quick debut for the Pafgio team following her split from Laboral Kutxa earlier today.
- Sep 26, 2020
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No was the answer to the Umag question, cause Mendelspeck had to settle for second on the line behind Nika Bobnar, the reigning champion of the Tadej Pogačar criterium.
View: https://x.com/elsterrato/status/2029157950716084624
View: https://x.com/elsterrato/status/2029157950716084624
Ayustina Delia Priatna (Indonesian National Team, 5 x Indonesian RR champion) wins the first stage of the Tour of Vietnam from a two-up breakaway. Multiple attacks by various riders and teams until no-one chased down the winning move, the peleton pretty much sat up and came home over 2 minutes back. Kuskova was 15th for Pafgio. Don't think it's a permanent move but re-unites her with Nafosat Kozieva from that Tashkent City Tour de France Femmes team.
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Armchair Cyclist
Moderator
- Mar 22, 2010
- 15,781
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I read this and only at the end did my eyes drift to the left of the screen to see who posted it.
Someone other than @Libertine Seguros picks up on .2 women's races in Asia: who'd a thunk it?
- Feb 20, 2010
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Oh, you have no idea the depths of the rabbit holes of obscurity I can plumb. Research for the Race Design Thread has sent me to some very strange places.
Stage 2 of the Tour of Vietnam won by Thị Thật Nguyễn (Lộc Trời An Giang, ex-Asian RR champ, Lotto Soudal ladies and Roland). A bunch sprint on a road so wide that practically everyone in the peloton had a clear run at the line. Uneventful stage apart from the customary .2 races in Asia ‘persons/bikes crossing the road just in front of the race’ action. Nothing ridiculous though. General classification largely unchanged with still over 2 minutes to the leading pair. A steady Cat 1 climb at the end tomorrow (9.3km at 5.8%) might shake things up.
The L'Avenir Femmes has been cancelled because of the lack of strength in the under 23 field and having too many WT riders. I previously posted that having WT riders defeated the purpose of the race. Anyway they aim to return in 2027 as a junior race which I think could work.
- Sep 26, 2020
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I'm not surprised to see the race getting cancelled, but I expected it to only be for financial reasons. Here I'm not only referring to the race's own finances, but also the federations that have to sent riders and staff to the race. It will be quite hard to establish a U23 scene, if the few U23 races we have keep disappearing. I have posted before that I wouldn't mind it if the age criterion was modified so older riders could also race it, in case WWT riders were no longer allowed to enter.
However it is of course worth noting that the men's race is also dominated by either official or unofficial WT riders, and that l'Avenir and other U23 races aren't where riders are primarily/only scouted through at the moment. The women's race has at least meant something for the career trajectories of the likes of Marion Bunel, Paula Blasi, Romina Hinojosa, Talia Appleton and Katharina Sadnik.
I am not sure it will work better as a junior race, but the junior scene is at least more well established, although the teams there are also struggling with increased costs.
However it is of course worth noting that the men's race is also dominated by either official or unofficial WT riders, and that l'Avenir and other U23 races aren't where riders are primarily/only scouted through at the moment. The women's race has at least meant something for the career trajectories of the likes of Marion Bunel, Paula Blasi, Romina Hinojosa, Talia Appleton and Katharina Sadnik.
I am not sure it will work better as a junior race, but the junior scene is at least more well established, although the teams there are also struggling with increased costs.
- Sep 26, 2020
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Tomorrow sees the start of the 4th edition of the women's Vuelta a Extramadura.
Startlist: https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=19315&y=2026&k=8
Like last year year it will start with a time trial and similar to 2024 it's quite a long one. This will give the better time trialists like Chapman, Niedermaier, Squiban, Bäckstedt and Guazzini an advantage after day one.
Stage 2 is for the sprinters. Elisa Balsamo didn't have a good race in Valenciana, but she just been given a new aero haircut by Norsgaard-Bjerg so maybe that has made her faster. Consonni and Wollaston are also in attendance. The last kilometers are slightly uphill so you shouldn't start your sprint 500m from the line, but it's far from being a tough climb.
The last two years the queen stages have been in need of an Extremadura makeover due to bad weather, but that has fortunately not scared the organisers away from cooking up another challenging parcours.
The first 15 km are slightly downhill until they reach the bottom of the Alto de la Puria. The QOM sprint is positioned at the top of the first lump on the profile below, ans then they continue onwards to El Torno before they start to descend.
As you can see on the second profile, this descent is steeper than the ascent. This is followed by a short flat stretch through Rio Jerte where an intermediate sprint will be dealt with.
This stage does have its similarities with stage 18 from the men's 2022 Vuelta, where Remco Evenepoel was the fastest on the day. On that occasion they climbed Alto del Piornal twice, from different directions and the Alto de la Desesperá, which is a section of a third ascent of Piornal, once. Now on this stage they will be riding Piornal once from the side they finished in the 2022 Vuelta, as well as in the inaugural 2022 edition of this race, where Megan Monk (née Armitage) took what sadly proved to be the only elite victories in her career. After that they will climbing Alto de la Desesperá twice, but with different run ins.
The will only climb towards the town of Piornal at around 1180m before starting the descent, which is the road from near the top to Barrado on the second profile.
La Desesperá is fairly similar to the Alto de Rozavientos section of Lagunas de Neila, which we know from Vuelta a Burgos as well as last year's Vuelta Femenina, albeit at 600m closer to sea level. It is however at 600m higher altitude than the also similar Mendizorrotz from Itzulia/San Sebastián. Unlike Rozavientos, the steepest part comes at the start of the climb rather than towards the top.
Now when you're finishing off with two ascents of the same climb, there are at least two scenarios you want to avoid. One is to put the climbs too close to each other so that the race could already be decided on the first one, the other is to have them be so far apart that nothing will happen the first time up. On this occasion my worry is that they've done the latter. There are almost 40 km from the top of Desesperá until the gradually start climbing again. This could of course create an interesting scenario if a group goes clear on the first ascent, but I'm not sure that will be the case. Time will tell.
There are multiple ways to link up the two ascents. One could even have them start climbing after only 9 km of descending, but you obviously also have to make sure no one gets lapped. If they end up having to alter the route anyway then it won't really matter.
After the first part of the descent from Desesperá which averages 5-6%, they'll cross the finish line in Jaraíz de la Vera for the first time after a few kilometers with smaller negative gradients. Then the road continues downhill to km 0 on the profile below.
After nearly 20 km of flat, it's time to revisit Deseperá. They now climb from the bottom in Valdeíñigos de Tiétar until shortly before km 18 on the profile below. Most of the added climbing is false flat, but it can course still help to tire out the legs a bit more before the tough gradients reappear.
After the top they'll descend all the way down through Pasarón de la Vera which they don't do the first time around. At km 10 they'll turn right where they'll enter the last profile at around km 8.
This false flat finish means it isn't an outright descent finish and it is therefore safe in the eyes of Adam Hansen. I doubt it will end in a sprint, but the descent could be both be used to extend a lead or close a gap depending on who's the strongest on the climb. Preview ends here, because I'm to tired to wri
Startlist: https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=19315&y=2026&k=8
Like last year year it will start with a time trial and similar to 2024 it's quite a long one. This will give the better time trialists like Chapman, Niedermaier, Squiban, Bäckstedt and Guazzini an advantage after day one.
Stage 2 is for the sprinters. Elisa Balsamo didn't have a good race in Valenciana, but she just been given a new aero haircut by Norsgaard-Bjerg so maybe that has made her faster. Consonni and Wollaston are also in attendance. The last kilometers are slightly uphill so you shouldn't start your sprint 500m from the line, but it's far from being a tough climb.
The last two years the queen stages have been in need of an Extremadura makeover due to bad weather, but that has fortunately not scared the organisers away from cooking up another challenging parcours.
The first 15 km are slightly downhill until they reach the bottom of the Alto de la Puria. The QOM sprint is positioned at the top of the first lump on the profile below, ans then they continue onwards to El Torno before they start to descend.
As you can see on the second profile, this descent is steeper than the ascent. This is followed by a short flat stretch through Rio Jerte where an intermediate sprint will be dealt with.
This stage does have its similarities with stage 18 from the men's 2022 Vuelta, where Remco Evenepoel was the fastest on the day. On that occasion they climbed Alto del Piornal twice, from different directions and the Alto de la Desesperá, which is a section of a third ascent of Piornal, once. Now on this stage they will be riding Piornal once from the side they finished in the 2022 Vuelta, as well as in the inaugural 2022 edition of this race, where Megan Monk (née Armitage) took what sadly proved to be the only elite victories in her career. After that they will climbing Alto de la Desesperá twice, but with different run ins.
The will only climb towards the town of Piornal at around 1180m before starting the descent, which is the road from near the top to Barrado on the second profile.
La Desesperá is fairly similar to the Alto de Rozavientos section of Lagunas de Neila, which we know from Vuelta a Burgos as well as last year's Vuelta Femenina, albeit at 600m closer to sea level. It is however at 600m higher altitude than the also similar Mendizorrotz from Itzulia/San Sebastián. Unlike Rozavientos, the steepest part comes at the start of the climb rather than towards the top.
Now when you're finishing off with two ascents of the same climb, there are at least two scenarios you want to avoid. One is to put the climbs too close to each other so that the race could already be decided on the first one, the other is to have them be so far apart that nothing will happen the first time up. On this occasion my worry is that they've done the latter. There are almost 40 km from the top of Desesperá until the gradually start climbing again. This could of course create an interesting scenario if a group goes clear on the first ascent, but I'm not sure that will be the case. Time will tell.
There are multiple ways to link up the two ascents. One could even have them start climbing after only 9 km of descending, but you obviously also have to make sure no one gets lapped. If they end up having to alter the route anyway then it won't really matter.
After the first part of the descent from Desesperá which averages 5-6%, they'll cross the finish line in Jaraíz de la Vera for the first time after a few kilometers with smaller negative gradients. Then the road continues downhill to km 0 on the profile below.
After nearly 20 km of flat, it's time to revisit Deseperá. They now climb from the bottom in Valdeíñigos de Tiétar until shortly before km 18 on the profile below. Most of the added climbing is false flat, but it can course still help to tire out the legs a bit more before the tough gradients reappear.
After the top they'll descend all the way down through Pasarón de la Vera which they don't do the first time around. At km 10 they'll turn right where they'll enter the last profile at around km 8.
This false flat finish means it isn't an outright descent finish and it is therefore safe in the eyes of Adam Hansen. I doubt it will end in a sprint, but the descent could be both be used to extend a lead or close a gap depending on who's the strongest on the climb. Preview ends here, because I'm to tired to wri
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