Race Design Thread

[Libertine Seguros]

Finestre to Pramartino is a great idea and one I've thought about in the past. That appears to be Iseran-Mont Cenis-Finestre-Pramartino as well for bonus greatness.

 

[Netserk]

I do think that you need some serious shiit before Finestre with such a long (and for most of it false-flat) descent, otherwise it'd probably end up worse than Finestre '11.

 

[MikeTichondrius]

Finestre to Pramartino is a great idea and one I've thought about in the past. That appears to be Iseran-Mont Cenis-Finestre-Pramartino as well for bonus greatness.

Ah, I was having trouble identifying the final climb as Pramartino! Finestre and Cenis have relatively unique (and are commonly seen around here ) profiles. It's full Iseran from the longest side too. Wonder when we'll ever see that in the TdF again. The other classic cols like Galibier, Izoard and Madeleine get all the love from ASO while these less popular beasts (Iseran, Bonette, Joux-Plane, all of the Mercantour as has been repeatedly pointed out) go relatively unused...

 

[Netserk]

Would it be practically possible (and also realistic) to have a Briançon-finish like the one in the '07 Giro, but with Montgenèvre as lead-in? (Fun fact: of the 32 times the Tour has finished in Briançon 21 have been with Izoard, 11 with Galibier and none with Lautaret or Montgenèvre as lead-in)

Video of Giro 2007 finish in Briançon

edit: I think it's very much impossible to have the same finish as the Tour had that year.

edit2: If it's possible then if they also pave the descent from Basset (and perhaps do something with the ascent as well) to Sestriere it would be possible to make an awesome trifecta for long-range attacks:

 

[Alpechraxler]

umbrail downhill in a race haha, i can forsee protests. some dirt roads, hardly any barriers

 

[fauniera]

Tour of Austria

My Tour of Austria runs over 8 days, from Sunday to Sunday, just as the real one. It begins in the very north, then works its way down to the south and then the west. I tried to be reasonable (as it's easy in Austria to design one brutal mountain stage after the other) and settled for three hard mountain stages, two medium mountain stage, two flat stages, and a time trial.

Stage 1: Bad Leonfelden - Maria Taferl, 178 km

Bad Leonfelden is a town of about 4.000 people and lies just 6 km south of the border to the Czech Republic. It is situated in the region called Mühlviertel, which consists of the part of Upper Austria that lies north of the Danube. A look at the landscape of Mühlviertel shows you green rolling hills from horizon to horizon. This is where the first stage takes place, as the route crosses Mühlviertel from west to east. It's up and down all day, there aren't any long climbs (longest is the 6 km climb to St. Leonhard bei Freistadt mid-stage), but there is never much flat either. Good territory for attacking, i would say. Since first stages of one week stage races are prone to produce decisive breaks anyway, the gc favourites better watch out. There can be a quite a bit of wind, too, as wind farms in the region (like this one near Vorderweißenbach) show. After 130 km the route enters Lower Austria and then descends from the plateau down to the river Danube. Finally there is a hilltop finish at Maria Taferl (3 km, 7%), a pilgrimage church and village that looks over Danube valley.

Bad Leonfelden

Mühlviertel

Maria Taferl

 

[fauniera]

Tour of Austria

Stage 2: Ybbs an der Donau - Kapfenberg, 167 km

This medium mountain stage takes the riders down south, into Styria. Six climbs are on the program today, Plankenstein, Türnitzer Gscheid, Annaberg, Josefsberg, Seeberg and Pogusch (4,3 km 7%). After the descent into Mürztal seven flat km remain until the finish is reached in the industrial town of Kapfenberg.

Ybbs an der Donau

Kapfenberg

 

[fauniera]

Tour of Austria

Stage 3: Judenburg - Hebalm, 173 km

It's time for some real climbing. Right after the start, the 15 km climb of Gaberl waits for the riders. The Pack afterwards is long, too, but not hard. Much more serious is Weinebene, with 18 km the longest climb of the day and also of the entire tour. It's hard part is at the bottom, the first 8 km average 9%. Weinebene is a popular ski resort at the mountain range of Koralm, which separates Carinthia and Styria. Little fauniera also learned to ski there. After descending into Styria, the riders climb Koralm yet again, this time towards the little village of Trahütten. This climb is brutal, 5 km at 11%, and it is also psychologically difficult, as it's basically one straight through the woods, very few bends. At the gpm there are 25 km left. After a short descent, the road climbs for 5 km towards Osterwitz, of which the first 1,7 km are 11% steep. Then another descent and the final climb (9 km 6%) towards Hebalm, another ski resort. I would think that the race explodes on the way to Trahütten and that the rest of the stage should be pretty interesting.

Judenburg

Hebalm

 

[fauniera]

Tour of Austria

Stage 4: Wolfsberg - St. Veit an der Glan, 146 km

A flat stage at last. The only difficulty is the 5 km climb to Abtei after 70 km, which leads into beautiful Rosental. Not much to say about this stage, except that 8 km before the finish the riders will pass the spectacular castle Hochosterwitz.

Wolfsberg

St. Veit an der Glan

 

[Pricey_sky]

Looks a great Tour of Austria Fauniera, what website do you use for the profiles?

 

[rghysens]

Very nice stage 3. Looking forward to the remaining stages.

 

[fauniera]

I use openrunner and am quite happy with it.

Thanks rghysens. Will be continued next weekend.

 

[Eshnar]

That's it, I finally found a project worth working on. Be prepared for my biggest ever stage race, people (probably coming next week) (edited: probably coming later )

...
This was just a hype post. You may now continue with your business.

 

[fauniera]

Tour of Austria

Stage 5: Friesach - St. Michael im Lungau, 190 km

With 8 climbs and 5.200 vertical meters this is the queen stage. It starts in Friesach, Carinthia's oldest town, and crosses the Gurktaler Alpen. A couple of smaller climbs have to be tackled first: Prekowa, Gunzenberg, Zojach and Simonhöhe (only last 6 km). Things get more serious with the climb to the ski station of Hochrindl (10,5 km 7,9%), with the second half close to 10%. Then the main difficulty of the day waits, the Nockalmstraße. As you see from the profile it consists of two climbs. First the 14 km climb to Schiestelscharte (2.024m) which has a very hard second half (5 km at 9,6%), then a 6 km descent and the 6 km climb to Eisentalhöhe (2.042m, the last 4 km have 9%). The final climb to the Schönfeldsattel (1.775m) is only 4 km long, but the last 1,5 km are 12% steep. The long descent into Lungau is not technical at all and mostly looks like this.

Friesach

Nockalmstraße

St. Michael im Lungau

 

[Red Rick]

That's it, I finally found a project worth working on. Be prepared for my biggest ever stage race, people (probably coming next week) (edited: probably coming later )

...
This was just a hype post. You may now continue with your business.

How big is it? I had some ideas about designing a 4week stage race, but i'm afraid i'll never gonna get started

 

[Eshnar]

How big is it? I had some ideas about designing a 4week stage race, but i'm afraid i'll never gonna get started

uhm... like a two months stage race I guess I'll have to wait for my vacations to get it completed...

 

[fauniera]

Tour of Austria

Stage 6: Obertauern - St. Gilgen, 158 km

This easy stage starts with an uncomplicated descent from Obertauern and leads into Salzkammergut, one of the most beautiful regions of Austria. Four lakes will be visited today: Hallstätter See, Attersee, Mondsee and Wolfgangsee. With 30 km to go the 4 km climb from Attersee to Aichereben is the biggest obstacle of the day. More interesting is the little hill 4 km from the line. It is called Scharflinger Höhe and might be too much for most sprinters.

Obertauern

St. Gilgen

 

[fauniera]

Tour of Austria

Stage 7: Filzmoos - Radstadt ITT, 33 km

The only time trial of the race takes place on the penultimate day. The first 16 km are on an undulating road in the shadow of the towering Dachstein Südwand. Then the riders will descend on the Vorbergstraße (which has some tricky bends) from Ramsau to Pichl. The final climb is Löbenau. It is more false flat than a climb for the most part, but has a steep middle section (1,3 km at 10%, with a max. of 17%). This a time trial for an allrounder, he has to be a good rouleur, climber and descender.

Filzmoos

Radstadt

 

[fauniera]

Tour of Austria

Stage 8: Neukirchen am Großvenediger - Pertisau, 127 km

The final stage is short but hard. Right after the start the riders will climb Gerlospass (11 km 5,8%). The Giro was here in 2009 (and called it Hochkrimml), Scarponi won the stage in Mayrhofen. Then the Zillertaler Höhenstraße waits. The Höhenstraße runs high above the Zillertal through the Tuxer Alps. There are five different ascents to the Höhenstraße, all of them very steep. Here is a map. On the program today is the climb from Hippach to Melchboden (2.020m). That's not the steepest but the longest of the five. As you see from the profile, it's 13,3 km at 10,6% (the Mortirolo from Mazzo is 12,1 km at 10,8%). And the hardest part is at the end, with 5 km at 12%. The route continues north on the Höhenstraße, after a descent the road climbs again to Zirnstadl (3,6 km at 8%). Then the riders will descend to the valley on the very steep road to Ried (11 km at 11%).

After a few km in the valley the road rises again, this time on the east side of Zillertal. The climb leads in two steps to Kerschbaumer Sattel (profile from km 3,3 onwards). The second step begins with 2,2 km at 12%, then flattens out. After the descent into the valley of the river Inn 8 flat km follow before the final climb to Achensee begins. It is 4,1 km long and averages 9,4%, the last kilometer is 13,6% steep. The final 5 km are flat along the shores of Achensee, Tyrol's largest lake. The Tour of Austria finishes in Pertisau, right at the lakefront.

Neukirchen am Großvenediger

Zillertaler Höhenstraße

Pertisau

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Fantasy versions of other Europe Tour Stage Races (East)

Istrian Spring Trophy: Stage 1 Stage 2 (Albona)

Tour de Slovénie: Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 (Libertine Seguros)

Tour de Slovénie: Stages 1a & 1b Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 (togo95)

More will be added here as they are posted. All library posts are linked from the first post in this thread.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I love me some Zillertaler Höhenstraße (though that's the name of the road rather than the climb. I'd think Melchboden and Zirmstadel would need to be the names of the summits of the climbs). I've always thought to double that with either the Hochfügen ski station climb or the Schlegeisspeicher climb - the former would mean climbing to Melchboden from a southerly route, then a very close climb which starts off very steep then second half is false flat; the latter would mean an absolutely savage north-to-south climb of Zirmstadel then very slow and gradual ascent (around 5%) to Schlegeis, so it would make the Zillertaler Höhenstraße's highest point about 50km out yet still the main point for attacking from due to difficulty.

 

[fauniera]

Tour de France

Prologue: Lille, 2,9 km

My Tour start in the very north with a very short prologue. Time gaps should be minimal. The stage is completely flat and runs from Place du General de Gaulle to Place du Theatre.

Lille

 

[fauniera]

Tour de France

Stage 1: Lille - Ronse, 179 km

final 60 km:

The first stage heads into Belgium, which means we will have fun with some hellingen. Seven cobbled climbs are on the program today, plus four on tarmac. First up are some climbs which should be well known from Gent-Wevelgem: Mont des Cats (Catsberg), Mont Noir and (already in West Vlaanderen) the mighty Kemmelberg (km 54), followed as so often by Monteberg. The next 70 km are flat and possibly windy, then the second group of hellingen begins with the quite harmless Kattenberg, directly followed by the flat cobbles of Holleweg. At the end of Holleweg there is an intermediate sprint, where also bonus seconds (6-4-2) can be won. (The bonus seconds at the finish are 20-12-6.) After Holleweg the route descends Kapelleberg, climbs Eikenberg and descends Ladeuze. Next are Stationsberg (km 145), Kapelberg (narrow road) and Oude Kwaremont at km 158.

With ten km to go the hard climb of Beau Site waits. It is cobbledfor 400 meters, and that are the steep ones, averaging 13,5%. As Echoes wrote here, the hardness of this climb is that you don't have any gutter on either side, so you can't cheat. Beside, once on top of it, you don't immediately have a descent. The descent only comes up a few hundred meters afterwards. The final km is uphill. First for 900 m on the cobbled Nieuwe Kruisberg, the last 200 m on tarmac on the broad Kruisberg. The hellingen specialists will love this stage, especially as the time gaps from the prologue will be small and the maillot jaune is in reach. But can they beat Nibali?

Ronse

 

[Pricey_sky]

After my first attempt last year I am back with a bigger and tougher 9-stage route which includes England, Wales and Scotland. I have tried to keep transfers down to a minimum (like reality) and also included some favourites. It will run from a Saturday to the following Sunday to create the best opportunity for fans to see the race with 4 weekend stages. Hope you like it!

Tour of Britain - Stage 1 - London iTT - 9.5km

It's normal for the Tour to finish in the capital but I am starting this years Tour here so I can include some bigger stages late on. There is nothing too challenging here just a quick blast through the city centre with a couple of tricky corners to keep the riders on there toes. Gaps should also not be too significant but there is plenty of opportunities to take time later in the week.


http://postimage.org/

 

[Pricey_sky]

Tour of Britain - Stage 2 - Battersea Park - Aldershot 152km

After yesterdays iTT it's usual for the sprinters to have a big chance on the first proper road stage, but maybe not today as we head down towards the Surrey hills for 2 loops of a challenging circuit which will decide the Tour's first KoM leader.
Box Hill needs no introduction having been so popular with British cycling recently. Next up Boar Hill which is actually tougher but still not as bad as the 2 others approaching.
The final climbs are Leith Hill and White Downs which are the first CAT 3 climbs of the race. Both are over 6% with Leith Hill slightly longer at 2.7km than White Downs (1.9km).
Having climbed the four we then head back towards Box hill to do it all over again!. If these hills are raced hard then I doubt any natural sprinter will be able to hang on leaving the more all rounded rides like Sagan, Gerrans, Swift ect. At the top of the final ascent of White Downs we then have 31km's of rolling terrain west to the busy town of Aldershot. With the 10-6-4 bonuses there is a chance of a change in leaders jersey here.


http://postimage.org/


http://postimage.org/

Box Hill - 44km + 89km - 2.4k @ 5% CAT 4
Boar Hill - 59km + 104km - 2.5k @ 5.5% CAT 4
Leith Hill - 69km + 114km - 2k @ 6.7% CAT 3
White Downs - 76km + 121km - 1.9k @ 6% CAT 3