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London Olympic course

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runninboy

Jun 16, 2009
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Taking a quick look at the RR course for London i think it should be pretty good, going out to guilford which is a great historis venue is smart. Seem to remember a few cobbles and hills out there as well.
However i see that they are only a few miles west of Caterham. I used to live near there and there is a particular climb just east of Caterham that goes up to the village of Upper Warlingham. It is truly epic and many a car was unable to make it up the grade. When i lived there were signs posted banning bicycles on this particularly steep section of road.
On a side note anyone know the name of this climb? it must be close to 20 percent. and i believe it was about 600 meters in length?
 
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Reverend_T_Preedy

Feb 12, 2010
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For a race in London it's not bad. However, they could make more of the final few k's. You could throw in some minor hills in London such as Swains Lane max gradient 20%. Although the hills won't be too challenging they could have been a launch pad for a breakaway and make it harder to control for the sprinters teams.
 
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theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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The Hitch said:
Anyone have pictures? A profile a map?
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1297172143911_2sgdm6x9164x_950_75_600.jpg
 
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Reverend_T_Preedy

Feb 12, 2010
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theyoungest said:
If that's the main obstacle included in the course, you Brits are making it too easy for the local favourite :p

Especially since it's, what, 100 km from the finish?
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I think they do Box hill 9 times but yeah, it is tailor made for a sprinter. That said, if you're going to have a race that starts and finishes in central london there aint much you can do it.
 
Met de Versnelling

Met de Versnelling

Dec 21, 2010
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The Hitch said:
Its a big improvement on the other big obstacle in the race. The ramp onto kingston bridge;)
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Oi, that ramp catches out the sunday riders quite nicely thank you very much ;)

Looking forward to it, i live around the Bushy Park area, so i've got about 5/6 places i think i can skip around to on my bike to see this.

Genuinely excited!
 
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lancaster

Apr 15, 2010
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could someone post a link to the original source, or better still a zoomable map. had a quick look and couldn't find it. then i'll ride the course (probably ex loops :) ) and will report back.
 
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karlboss

Mar 13, 2009
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A sprinters course for the olympics is dangerous, it risks any prestige there could be in the race. Not like the worlds where it's only a year between drinks. For the race to mean something, everyone needs to be in with a shout, and the big stage racing names need to be enticed. Which GT favourites will turn up for this race for domestique duties?
 
ultimobici

ultimobici

Mar 17, 2009
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I think many are underestimating the roads in the south east. I went out last Thursday for a ride in the Guildford area and although I only rode 75km I climbed for almost 1000m. Compare that to 1050 in 100km when I was in the Como/Ticino region and you can see that it ain't all that cushy at all!
 
Havetts

Havetts

Jan 27, 2011
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But the road is too flat after that so the possibility exists that sprinters will come back into the main group.
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
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ultimobici said:
I think many are underestimating the roads in the south east. I went out last Thursday for a ride in the Guildford area and although I only rode 75km I climbed for almost 1000m. Compare that to 1050 in 100km when I was in the Como/Ticino region and you can see that it ain't all that cushy at all!
Click to expand...

And they climbed more in the Big Bear stage of California last year than in most GT mountain stages. The issue is not just about having those vertical metres... it's about how they come (eg 30km at 2% is not as challenging as 6km @ 10%, which will change the race complexion completely) and where they come in the stage (lots of vertical climbing in the Tourmalet stage of the 2009 Tour or the Pau stage of the 2010 Tour, but still wasteful sprint/break stages).

Given that there's so much time to bring back the breaks and so much space between the last climbs and the finish, I predict tedium.
 
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Mambo95

Jul 2, 2009
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karlboss said:
A sprinters course for the olympics is dangerous, it risks any prestige there could be in the race. Not like the worlds where it's only a year between drinks. For the race to mean something, everyone needs to be in with a shout, and the big stage racing names need to be enticed. Which GT favourites will turn up for this race for domestique duties?
Click to expand...

Most of the sprinters and other flat specialists gave the Beijing road race a miss.

It's worth remembering that each team only has five riders, so it's tricky to control. Anyone who saw the Commonwealth Games RR will know that the riders can make a great race out of any course if they want to.
 
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runninboy

Jun 16, 2009
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Reverend_T_Preedy said:
I think they do Box hill 9 times but yeah, it is tailor made for a sprinter. That said, if you're going to have a race that starts and finishes in central london there aint much you can do it.
Click to expand...
thats why i said it was kind of curious that they didnt swing over to the hills around Caterham on the way back into London. not that far from those short steeps to Croydon.Definitely would be in the last 50km. then you swing by some of the short ones in London itself. Just from memory there is a cobbled climb near Crystal Palace that is kind of steep, i remember going up it in a bus once.
 
Andy99

Andy99

Jul 30, 2009
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Mambo95 said:
The Beijing one was 2.2 (it was run as a two stage race - RR & TT)
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From UCI Calendar;

14.08.2011 14.08.2011 Test event Road Cycling London 2012_en ligne GBR *

the * is where the classification; i.e 2.1 etc would normally be quoted. I guess the race will be under UCI rules but bear no ranking points.

I notice the British Cycling calendar has a Premier Calendar Race pencilled in for this date too with location TBC....

I imagine a lot of riders will be looking to sample the course, however so it may be worth popping down for a look...
 
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