Ponferrada 2014 World Championships, Sep. 21st-28th

[Netserk]

Innsbruck (up and down to Igls)
Oslo (Holmenkollen)
Martigny (Col des Planches or Champex)
Zagreb (Medvednica)
San Marino
Aosta (Pila-les Fleurs or Arpuilles)
Nice (Col d'Èze)
Liberec (Výpřež)
Grenoble (Chamrousse)
Gap (Col de Manse)
Bilbao (El Vivero-Ganguren)
Málaga (Puerto del León)
Granada (El Purche)
Clermont-Ferrand (Orcines/Col de Ceyssat)
Neuchâtel (Chaumont)
Catania (Etna-Sapienza)
Karpacz (Przełęcz pod Czołem)
Freiburg (Schauinsland)
Hong Kong (Tai Mo Shan)
Cape Town (Signal Hill)

Cities with a mountain nearby ≠ Cities that would make a bid which included said mountain

 

[Netserk]

Well yes, because it's not a preposterously huge mountain.

Worlds circuits tend to be around 20km in length so a circuit that climbs a near 20km HC mountain would then have to descend again, plus invariably some linking road as it's seldom you have two ascents almost parallel close to a city that could host the race. Therefore realistically, for a major "climbers' worlds" you'd be looking at a cat.2 type climb to be able to do it reasonably. Karpacz is probably the 2nd most realistic option of those for that reason, though I'm sure they'd have the uphill finish, which would mean climbing the easier side.

Zonc circuit.

Elevation gain of 800m for each lap of 16.9km. 15 laps = 253.5km and elevation gain of 12,000m.

 

[proffz]

turin with colle superga, the MTF of milano-torino

 

[mb2612]

Innsbruck (up and down to Igls)
Oslo (Holmenkollen)
Martigny (Col des Planches or Champex)
Zagreb (Medvednica)
San Marino
Aosta (Pila-les Fleurs or Arpuilles)
Nice (Col d'Èze)
Liberec (Výpřež)
Grenoble (Chamrousse)
Gap (Col de Manse)
Bilbao (El Vivero-Ganguren)
Málaga (Puerto del León)
Granada (El Purche)
Clermont-Ferrand (Orcines/Col de Ceyssat)
Neuchâtel (Chaumont)
Catania (Etna-Sapienza)
Karpacz (Przełęcz pod Czołem)
Freiburg (Schauinsland)
Hong Kong (Tai Mo Shan)
Cape Town (Signal Hill)

Signal Hill is only one way. I can't believe you made a mistake

Anyway, if South Africa were to host, it would almost certainly be in Pietermaritzburg where you can make a properly hard circuit.

 

[ferryman]

Cities with a mountain nearby ≠ Cities that would make a bid which included said mountain

Edinburgh could easily make a fantastic Worlds circuit. No mountains but built on so many hills you could easily come up with a brilliant route that would demand action. With a Royal Mile long drag on cobbles up to the finish at the Castle it would be spectacular

 

[No_Balls]

Innsbruck (up and down to Igls)
Oslo (Holmenkollen)
Martigny (Col des Planches or Champex)
Zagreb (Medvednica)
San Marino
Aosta (Pila-les Fleurs or Arpuilles)
Nice (Col d'Èze)
Liberec (Výpřež)
Grenoble (Chamrousse)
Gap (Col de Manse)
Bilbao (El Vivero-Ganguren)
Málaga (Puerto del León)
Granada (El Purche)
Clermont-Ferrand (Orcines/Col de Ceyssat)
Neuchâtel (Chaumont)
Catania (Etna-Sapienza)
Karpacz (Przełęcz pod Czołem)
Freiburg (Schauinsland)
Hong Kong (Tai Mo Shan)
Cape Town (Signal Hill)

and Medellín (Alto de las Palmas, Alto de Santa Elena, or even better, the "Colombian Mortirolo", Loma de El Escobero)

Was Holmenkollen included in the -93 road race? Cant remember.

 

[search]

Is this the most boring WC ever or was that Madrid?

it was boring indeed, but thinking about it...more or less the only one who attacked before the final climb in 2013 was Visconti and in 2012 no one of interest attacked at all as far as I can remember. 2010 was quite good though with that big group including some favorites getting a good gap midway through the race.

So regarding the race itself, this race was not much worse than in recent years. Different story though with the lack of spectators and dullness of the course taken into account...

 

[OlavEH]

Was Holmenkollen included in the -93 road race? Cant remember.

No. This is the route they used in 93.

 

[thehook]

Note to Gerrans: If you have good legs and are on form and would like to were the Rainbow jersey. You actually have to take a pull. Go home and watch the race replay. Take not of Kiwa. He WANTS the jersey! He grabs the race by the B@115! You my friend figured someone else would tow you to the line. Where you would be handed the jersey. Not to bright Bro?

Sagan=MIA. Peter you have got to be kidding me?! You just signed a BIG $ contract. Would be nice if you actually tried to win today? Again note to you: Kwia now has a WC Jersey and a classic. Are you paying attention?

Congrats to M Kwia. Well deserved! A win with Panache. Grab the race by the throat! And he delivered!

 

[trevim]

"I trained hard to win the title or a medal, not to finish in the top 10."
Nacer Bouhanni

Gotta love his attitude even if I think he's a jerk. Gallopin should learn from him.

 

[No_Balls]

No. This is the route they used in 93.

Awesome man. Thanks a lot!

 

[OlavEH]

Innsbruck (up and down to Igls)
Oslo (Holmenkollen)
Martigny (Col des Planches or Champex)
Zagreb (Medvednica)
San Marino
Aosta (Pila-les Fleurs or Arpuilles)
Nice (Col d'Èze)
Liberec (Výpřež)
Grenoble (Chamrousse)
Gap (Col de Manse)
Bilbao (El Vivero-Ganguren)
Málaga (Puerto del León)
Granada (El Purche)
Clermont-Ferrand (Orcines/Col de Ceyssat)
Neuchâtel (Chaumont)
Catania (Etna-Sapienza)
Karpacz (Przełęcz pod Czołem)
Freiburg (Schauinsland)
Hong Kong (Tai Mo Shan)
Cape Town (Signal Hill)

and Medellín (Alto de las Palmas, Alto de Santa Elena, or even better, the "Colombian Mortirolo", Loma de El Escobero)

Turin (Superega or Colle della Maddalena)
Bologna (San Luca)
Genova (???)

A RR in Turin looping around Superega 12-13 times wood be really interesting. The same with a RR course in Bologna using San Luca 18-20 times. From maps there also seems to be very hilly in Genova.

Btw, Holmenkollen wouldn't be the toughest course. About 250 height meters from the centre of Oslo. And the course would have to be about 20 km long. You could go past Holmenkollen and even higher in the hills above Oslo, but that would make a very long course. Close to a 30 km lap.

 

[OlavEH]

A route where I live, in Trondheim, Norway, would also be a great route.

Could be something like this

Resembles Mendrisio. Done 19-20 times, it would be at least 4500 height meters.

 

[damian13ster]

Wow. What an amazing, flawless race by Polish National Team. So proud of the guys! They knew that with exception of Golas and Paterski there is noone in that team that can support Kwiatkowski for 250km race, so they did their best to make it a hard race. Michal knew that he isnt going to outsprint Gerrans or Valverde so the NT made sure that riders are on their last legs so once Kwiatkowski launches there won't be any domestiques left to chase.

And the ride by Michal.......brilliant. he was the strongest. he wasn't let go. Element of surprise cause the gap to appear (so noone could get on his wheel), but then the chase was on and he was strong enough not to be caught.

Will look great in rainbow jersey. With mountian heavy Tour, it looks like next season should be about classics for him, meybe try Canadian races, Worlds again and Lombardia.

I still hope Tour is TT heavy though because one of the GTs should be

 

[mrhender]

Wow. What an amazing, flawless race by Polish National Team. So proud of the guys! They knew that with exception of Golas and Paterski there is noone in that team that can support Kwiatkowski for 250km race, so they did their best to make it a hard race. Michal knew that he isnt going to outsprint Gerrans or Valverde so the NT made sure that riders are on their last legs so once Kwiatkowski launches there won't be any domestiques left to chase.

And the ride by Michal.......brilliant. he was the strongest. he wasn't let go. Element of surprise cause the gap to appear (so noone could get on his wheel), but then the chase was on and he was strong enough not to be caught.

Will look great in rainbow jersey. With mountian heavy Tour, it looks like next season should be about classics for him, meybe try Canadian races, Worlds again and Lombardia.

Agreed.. This was an all-out team effort from the get-go.. Not so often this approach ends up with victory.. A very deserved win.. Polish cyclingfans must be ecstatic!!
I've never been much a fan of Kwia, but today was just awesome..

On a nother note, I was very pleased with my fellow countrymens effort..
Valgren soo strong -Juul Jensen proving his ability and Breschel now has silver, bronze and a fouth-place..
His time for gold is next year, I hope

 

[auscyclefan94]

I was screaming at Gillbert to stop pulling Gerrans to the line. Luckily they didnt make it. What a relieve. Did he really think that GVA can out-sprint Gerrans?

GVA was boxed in for the sprint although I doubt he would have beat Gerrans in the finish.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Turin (Superega or Colle della Maddalena)
Bologna (San Luca)
Genova (???)

A RR in Turin looping around Superega 12-13 times wood be really interesting. The same with a RR course in Bologna using San Luca 18-20 times. From maps there also seems to be very hilly in Genova.

Btw, Holmenkollen wouldn't be the toughest course. About 250 height meters from the centre of Oslo. And the course would have to be about 20 km long. You could go past Holmenkollen and even higher in the hills above Oslo, but that would make a very long course. Close to a 30 km lap.

Holmenkollen's only 5-6%, I know, but at 5-6km at that length repeatedly, and with quite a technical descent, it'd be selective enough.

 

[SKSemtex]

Last week volleyball this week cycling. Great team effort. Congrats Kwiatko congrats Poland. Today cycling won.

 

[greenedge]

Remember amstel this year, when Kwiatkowski was forced to chase at the cauberg, going early, while gerrans/valverde sat on, he was cooked at the top thus, there was noone for Gerrans/valverde to chase Gilbert. Kwiatkowski eventually rejoins when they wait, then they have him pull all the way while its too late, and eventually Vanendert nips away and takes 2nd while Valverde/Gerrans are fighting about whos going out of whos slipstream with 200m to go, taking away kwiatkowskis 3rd place.

Yep. Rebound!

He was not forced to chase Samu, he was just in a better position. As soon as he slackened, Gerrans went past him.

 

[movingtarget]

GVA was boxed in for the sprint although I doubt he would have beat Gerrans in the finish.

Gilbert was working for GVA at that point. If GVA could not beat Stannard in a sprint he was not going to beat Gerrans. GVA is better with late attacks now than sprints. His old sprint form is long gone. They just reacted too late to Kwia's attack and as soon as he had a decent gap it was all over. I think GVA
will learn a lot from this year and he has been very consistent in major races. I think a monument win is not far away. But what a future Kwiiatkowski has.

 

[jaylew]

I re-watched some of the race and honestly I can't fault the Spanish team much. They rode a solid race and wound up with a good result. Sure, they would have preferred a win and they may have played a few things a tad differently but you can pretty much say that after every race. Several riders played a role, they were active in crunch time and the race didn't end up in a sprint.

 

[ILovecycling]

Note to Gerrans: If you have good legs and are on form and would like to were the Rainbow jersey. You actually have to take a pull. Go home and watch the race replay. Take not of Kiwa. He WANTS the jersey! He grabs the race by the B@115! You my friend figured someone else would tow you to the line. Where you would be handed the jersey. Not to bright Bro?

Sagan=MIA. Peter you have got to be kidding me?! You just signed a BIG $ contract. Would be nice if you actually tried to win today? Again note to you: Kwia now has a WC Jersey and a classic. Are you paying attention?

Congrats to M Kwia. Well deserved! A win with Panache. Grab the race by the throat! And he delivered!

nahh, Sagan has E3,thats certainly better than Strade.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Well, I'm glad someone was rewarded for attacking. All the big names wanted to attack on that short final climb, with the predictable result that none of them got away alone. Kwia had the guts to attack in the descent and he deserves this win.

 

[Yingge]

Congratulations to Kwiatkowski - he took his chance with 7km to go and it paid off. He now has the Elite RR jersey to add to his 2008 Junior TT jersey.

Good to see Gilbert giving all too, no doubt working for GVA.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

I wasn't really a fan of Kwiatkowski, but this win has made me like him quite a bit more. I hope he really made the step to the top now and will be a consistent factor in the hilly monuments from now on.

Also it seems that he's the only one who learned from LBL. Without him we'd have another big one day race where the entire peloton where all the favourites were riding as domestiques for Gerrans. I think the only one who could've realistically attacked on the last climb, dropping everyone and then take it home for the win would be 2011 Gilbert.