Race Design Thread

[OlavEH]

Giro del Lago di Garda

I miss some really tough hilly classics in the second part of the season. The only really interesting race is Giro di Lombardia. Therefore I've designed a couple of hilly classics which could replace the Canadian races on the calendar or take place just before GDL. The first race is inspired by GDL, but takes place around Lago di Garda instead of Lago di Como. The riders starts in Brescia and heads northeast towards Lago di Garda. The next 100 km or so they will follow the shores of Garda except for a detour to La Breda and Passo Campiano.

The race really heats up after 140 km when they start the climb to San Zeno di Montagna. This climb has an almost 2 km long sections with 12-13 % gradient. After descending there is a 15 km flat section before scaling additional two climbs on there way east towards Verona. The deciding point on the race could be the fairly steep climb to Montecchio with 18 km to go. After descending towards Verona, the last challenge of the day is the uphill finish to Torricelle, used in the Worlds Road Race in both 1999 and 2004.

Climbs:
San Eusebio: 9 km, 3,6 %
La Breda: 17 km, 3,3 %
Passo Campiano: 5,9 km, 5,1 %
San Zeno di Montagna: 9,2 km, 6,1 %
Cavalo: 9,1 km 5,1 %
Marano di Valpolicella: 4,1 km, 5,1 %
Montecchio: 4,5 km, 7,6 %
Torricelle (finish): 3 km, 6 %

Profile:

Map:

 

[togo95]

Tour of California Stage 7: Sacramento - South Lake Tahoe; 180 km





On day 7 we finally enter the mountains in California, but even though this stage has the highest altitude gain so far, it will be far from decisive. This shouldn't be even too hard a stage to control the break so I would expect a reduced bunch sprint here.

Route heads east right from the start in Sacramento and will keep this direction throughout the whole day. The first intermediate sprint is very early on, giving the opportunity for pure sprinters to aim for something in this stage (although a pure sprinter has little chance to actually win the sprint competition as there are the same amount of points awarded in all stages). The climbing done in the stage is very gradual apart from the climb to Camino, but its position in the stage means it's not very relevant for the outcome of the stage. Much of the day is on a 4 lane highway connecting Sacramento to Lake Tahoe, which then becomes a two lane road as we get into the mountains on the wat to Echo Summit. This very long climb has maximum only around 6/7%, but it rises over 1000 meters in 28 kilometers, so the riders will certainly feel it in the legs. The top comes only 20 km to go and one can see Lake Tahoe from there.

After short and easy descent and a flat section, the finish line is located at the shore of Lake Tahoe. There are no significant obstacles in the last few kilometers.

South Lake Tahoe:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Giro del Lago di Garda

I miss some really tough hilly classics in the second part of the season. The only really interesting race is Giro di Lombardia.

What do you mean by "second part of the season" though, if it's anything post-Tour you have the Trittico Lombardo and San Sebastián to contend with.

I think the Giro dell'Emilia is a great race too which deserves more love than it gets. Milano-Torino needs to move the finish back into the city, at the moment it's just an Emilia clone with a less interesting final climb.

 

[BigMac]

Hey Togo, that might be one of the most interesting stages I've seen.

 

[OlavEH]

Re: Re:

What do you mean by "second part of the season" though, if it's anything post-Tour you have the Trittico Lombardo and San Sebastián to contend with.

I think the Giro dell'Emilia is a great race too which deserves more love than it gets. Milano-Torino needs to move the finish back into the city, at the moment it's just an Emilia clone with a less interesting final climb.

Yep, post Tour de France. I would like to se more big one day races in the World Tour. For instance add Paris-Tours and Giro dell'Emilia/Milano Torino in October, and add a couple of new races in august, so that we'll have 3-4 consecutive weekends in august with one day races.

I'm also thinking about a fictional race around Lago Maggiore with finish in Lugano. I'll try to post something later today.

 

[Netserk]

Now that Beijing is no longer running, I'd like if Lombardia was moved back again one (or two?) week, so more of the WT teams would race the Italian classics leading up to it.

 

[phil-i-am]

I was just about to start posting my Giro d'Italia, but at least two Giros are underway, so... I'll go with my second Tour de Pologne.

Tour de Pologne.
Stage 1. Gdynia - Gdańsk 136km

Map:

Profile:


Even though Gdynia and Gdańsk, together with Sopot are often considered as one town - Tricity, opening stage is a road race. A peleton will make a loop which brings them through hilly Tricity Lanscape Park and then another loop (2 times) in Gdańsk. The distance of 136 km is short but parcours are quite demanding. Stage could be comparable with springs classics if only were longer. There are even two cosecutive short cobbled hills which look exactly like taken from Ronde van Vlandreen. Road there is very narrow and steep. Other climbs, like Cienista, and especially Myśliwska are wide, paved, but even steeper. Myśliwska is 400 metres long, but average at 11%. It's hard to predict what could happen here. Classic riders and puncheurs have a good opportunity to attack solo or breakaway in small groups. On the other hand hard 'sprinters' like Matthews, Felline, Mezgec, Degenkolb, Sagan, Van Avermaet, Lobato should be up there if they ride as well.

Climbs:
Kępa Redłowska 0,7km at 5%
Wielki Kack 1,6km at 3%
Łężyce (3) - 4,4km at 3,3%
Reja (3) - 3,3km at 3,4%
2x Generała Giełuda, cobblestones - 0,6km at 7,7%
2x Pohulanka, cobblestones - don't have a data, but should be something like 0,5km at 5%
2x Cienista - 0,7km at 7%
2x Piecewska - 0,6km at 6%
2x Myśliwska (3) - 0,4km at 10,9%
2x Jaśkowa Dolina - 0,3km at 5,8%
Wagnera - 0,6km at 5,5%

Gdańsk:

 

[Gigs_98]

TransAlp stage 4: Chamonix-Crans Montana (162 km)
So, the queen stage of this tour is stage 4 and its start is located in Chamonix were stage 3 finished. Directly after the start the climbing starts with the Col des Montets. During the descent the route crosses the french border and now is continued in suisse. Here the riders will pass the Col de la Forclaz (not the same one as yesterday, this one is the climb used in last years dauphine, but this side is MUCH easier). After a pretty long descent and an intermediate sprint in Martigny the Col de Champex starts, which was used as a mtf in this years romandie. This will be the first big challenge of the stage but by far not the last one because after a descent which flattens out at the end the Col du Lein starts a HC climb with the problem that a little section on the top of the climb isn't paved. However I think that shouldn't be a real problem because the street is still in at least "okay" condition. After a long and technical descent a little flat section starts which gets interrupted immediately by the climb to Ovronnaz. This climb isn't very long but really steep but because there are still two difficult climbs as well as another flat section directly after the descent there wouldn't be much action on this climb. Before theses two final climbs start there is an intermediate sprint in Sion. the maybe most difficult climb of this stage goes up to Anzere. As far as I know this climb was used in the Tour de Romandie once but I am not completely sure. After a descent and a little bit of false descent the mtf to Crans Montana starts. Crans Montana was used several times in the tour de suisse but from different directions. this side of the climb hasn't been used until now (as far as I know) and because this side is not that difficult it is only a 2nd category climb.
Crans Montana held off some world cup skiing events and a world championship in 1987.

Crans Montana:

Unluckily I don't have any profiles of the last two climbs because Climb by bike only has profiles from other sides and IMO profiles without any numbers don't make much sense

climbs:
Col de Montets (3rd cat.)
Col de la Forclaz (3rd cat.)
Col de Champex (1st cat.)
Col du Lein (HC)
Ovronnaz (1st cat.)
Anzere (HC)
Crans Montana (2nd cat.)

 

[lemon cheese cake]

TransAlp stage 4: Chamonix-Crans Montana (162 km)

climbs:
Col de Montets (3rd cat.)
Col de la Forclaz (3rd cat.)
Col de Champex (1st cat.)
Col du Lein (HC)
Ovronnaz (1st cat.)
Anzere (HC)
Crans Montana (2nd cat.)

Whoever wins here will probably crack and loose his jersey on the next stage.

 

[Brullnux]

TransAlp stage 4: Chamonix-Crans Montana (162 km)
So, the queen stage of this tour is stage 4 and its start is located in Chamonix were stage 3 finished. Directly after the start the climbing starts with the Col des Montets. During the descent the route crosses the french border and now is continued in suisse. Here the riders will pass the Col de la Forclaz (not the same one as yesterday, this one is the climb used in last years dauphine, but this side is MUCH easier). After a pretty long descent and an intermediate sprint in Martigny the Col de Champex starts, which was used as a mtf in this years romandie. This will be the first big challenge of the stage but by far not the last one because after a descent which flattens out at the end the Col du Lein starts a HC climb with the problem that a little section on the top of the climb isn't paved. However I think that shouldn't be a real problem because the street is still in at least "okay" condition. After a long and technical descent a little flat section starts which gets interrupted immediately by the climb to Ovronnaz. This climb isn't very long but really steep but because there are still two difficult climbs as well as another flat section directly after the descent there wouldn't be much action on this climb. Before theses two final climbs start there is an intermediate sprint in Sion. the maybe most difficult climb of this stage goes up to Anzere. As far as I know this climb was used in the Tour de Romandie once but I am not completely sure. After a descent and a little bit of false descent the mtf to Crans Montana starts. Crans Montana was used several times in the tour de suisse but from different directions. this side of the climb hasn't been used until now (as far as I know) and because this side is not that difficult it is only a 2nd category climb.
Crans Montana held off some world cup skiing events and a world championship in 1987.

Crans Montana:

Unluckily I don't have any profiles of the last two climbs because Climb by bike only has profiles from other sides and IMO profiles without any numbers don't make much sense

climbs:
Col de Montets (3rd cat.)
Col de la Forclaz (3rd cat.)
Col de Champex (1st cat.)
Col du Lein (HC)
Ovronnaz (1st cat.)
Anzere (HC)
Crans Montana (2nd cat.)

i hope your last stage finishes in Kitzbuhel.

 

[Brullnux]

AGGHHH!!! I have lost all my profiles for my Giro!! I hope so bad i can find them again. There were some really good mountain stages.

 

[Gigs_98]

@lemon cheese cake:
Yes this stage is pretty hard but a race like this which is completely fictional and doesn't even have a real race as example is allowed to have such hard stages. Moreover the next stage isn't that difficult or at least not as difficult as one would expect.
@Brullnux:
I think its almost impossible to make a tour based on alpine skiing downhill slopes which doesn't end in Kitzbühel
Ps: I really hope you find your giro routes because the beginning was very promising.

 

[togo95]

Re:

Hey Togo, that might be one of the most interesting stages I've seen.

Hm, why do you think so? It's a pretty straightforward transitional stage, albeit not the most traditional one.


Tour of California stage 8: Carson City - Monitor Pass; 170 km





The first mountain stage and first MTF comes on the second Saturday of my Tour of California. The start is in Carson City in Nevada and together with the following stage it's the only one to leave the state of California. First over 20 km of it follow pretty much straight south, before we turn right towards the mountains around Lake Tahoe. It is not until 10 km later that the climbing actually starts in Mottsville. This first climb of the day - Dagget Pass is quite stable at 7% most of the time and offers fairly nice views back to Carson Valley. It's the second most difficult ascent, but given it tops 125 kms to go, not much should happen here.

After short descent we arrive at South Lake Tahoe again, to host the first intermediate sprint today. Afterwards we tackle another categorised climb, the Luther Pass. It is climbed by the narrow South Upper Truckee Road instead of the main Luther Pass Road. That might be the major difficulty of this climb, which is very consistent again, but has steeper first 4 km (the narrow road before rejoining the main road) averaging 8%. You can see both of these roads here.

A very long descent back into Carson Valley follows. After reaching Carson Valley, route turns back south onto US Highway 395 heading to Topaz Lake. There is some climbing to be done along the way, but not very significant compared to what comes next. After we reach Slinkard Valley at km 155, we turn right onto road CA-89 leading through Monitor Pass 1000 meters higher. The climb can be divide into three parts. First 2 km through the dramatic Slinkard Creek are easy at 5 %. Then the main section comes climbing on the slopes of Laviathan Peak, offering nice views back to Slinkard Valley. It is 10 km long with never changing 7.5% gradient. This is where the main attack should come as the last almost 3 km average only 4%, even though the road kicks up a little bit towards the top, finishing with 5.5% gradient. The overall statistics of the final climb (cronoescalada doesn't show it for MTF unfortunately) is 14.7 km length with average gradient 6.6%. Not the most difficult climb ever, but hard enough to separate a group of contenders from pretenders and provide opportunity to attack for those feeling good early on, being the first MTF of the race (and also the only HC category MTF).

Monitor Pass:

 

[Pricey_sky]

Ok so I think I've figured out how my '2 week GT' Tour of Britain will run, 2 stages in Northern Ireland followed by a ferry transfer to Scotland for 3 stages. Move down through the North of England, a quick stage in the east of England before passing through the Midlands into Wales. Finally a couple of toughies in South-west England before a finish in London. Lots of hilly stages with some brutal climbs and uphill finishes.

I've already almost finished several stages but my only problem is I'm away on holiday at the end of next week so it may be a while before its posted.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Like Pricey, I have also got a Tour of Britain waiting in the wings. However unlike his, mine is the same length as normal.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 7: Cesenatico - Rimini, 42,5km (ITT)

After the first few days of the Giro, it's time to redress the balance a bit. The sprinters have had stages 1 and 5; the Monti Pallidi stage was for the climbers, while the Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Faenza stages open up opportunities for breaks, stagehunters and mix things up. However, there's not been an individual test against the clock yet, and every Grand Tour needs a reasonable length flat ITT somewhere. You need to mix things up, so flat TTs AND more technical ones. Here, the first one is the flat one.

It's perhaps a strange place to set a completely pancake flat mid-to-long ITT (this is a good kind of length for a flat TT in the modern péloton); we are deep in Pantani country. The Giro loves to romanticize Il Pirata, to the point of maudlin indulgence in recent years, so here is "the Pantani stage" for this Giro: as a piece of racing, it is perhaps as un-Pantani as it could possibly get - it's a chrono, and it's completely and utterly flat, side on to the sea for most of its distance and very unsuited to pure climbers in every way shape and form. However, it starts in the folk hero's hometown and ends in the town where he died. The route actually sets off in the opposite direction, doing a little loop to the north of Cesenatico before returning; this pattern is repeated at the end as the stage passes Rimini on an inland road before turning back onto the coastal road to finish. No complications, no obstacles... a few corners but most of these are non-technical 90º junctions on wide open roads; this one's a pure power test and nothing more; it should sap some strength from the legs and prepare us for the weekend to come.

Cesenatico:

Rimini:

 

[McLovin]

I'll start my second Tour of Transylvania (Turul Transilvaniei) just this time I'll make it a 3 weeks one. I created it in winter and fauniera asked me to post it. Because I ride or I drive through most of this stages/climbs it feels nice to create such a thing. I know it's not a region as big as other country's which organize a GT but still, we're all fictional here, right? So:
Turul Transilvaniei #2
21 stages
3317 km
6 flat stages
7 hilly/medium mountain stages
6 high mountain stages
2 ITT

 

[McLovin]

Stage 1 Oradea – Satu Mare 174 km
The first stage is a totally flat one and it’s following the Hungarian border through the Western Meadows, a very prolific zone for agriculture. Not a single climb on this stage.

Oradea

Satu Mare

 

[McLovin]

Stage 2 Satu Mare – Viseu 167 km
Another stage for the sprinters and they'll better not let the breakaway steal their chance. We are heading to the absolute Nord of Transilvania in maybe the most ”pittoresque” area in Europe, no offense here.

 

[McLovin]

Stage 3 Borsa – Bistrita 152 km
A relative short stage with first real chances for attackers . We are now seeing the first (easy) cols of the Oriental Carpathians, the mountains on the border between Transilvania and Moldova (the historical region, not the country). On Dealu Negru climb maybe we can see the favorites attacking with only 6.5 km to the finish.

 

[togo95]

That's a crazy start to stage 3 there McLovin. Prislop is a pothole madness and Rotunda's both sides are unpaved, would expect to see a lot of punctures there. The rest of the stage is better, although the surface is quite rough as well.

 

[McLovin]

Stage 4 Nasaud – Rarau 180 km
First GC stage ends in Moldova region after crossing three easy passes. The Oriental Carpathians as you see are not the steepest ones but they offer some very nice views and are known for the monasteries from this area. The Rarau climb was surfaced recently and it now has two options of climbing to the top. (a third one is still sterato).

 

[McLovin]

Re:

That's a crazy start to stage 3 there McLovin. Prislop is a pothole madness and Rotunda's both sides are unpaved, would expect to see a lot of punctures there. The rest of the stage is better, although the surface is quite rough as well.

As far as I know Rotunda Pass is in good condition. About Prislop I know but it's the only option there and this being a fictional race I said "go". IT's paved but not in optimal condition.

 

[togo95]

Re: Re:

That's a crazy start to stage 3 there McLovin. Prislop is a pothole madness and Rotunda's both sides are unpaved, would expect to see a lot of punctures there. The rest of the stage is better, although the surface is quite rough as well.

As far as I know Rotunda Pass is in good condition. About Prislop I know but it's the only option there and this being a fictional race I said "go". IT's paved but not in optimal condition.

Yeah I don't know about Rotunda, I just went by the streetview from 2012. I like that you used Prislop twice though, cobbles have a high place in cycling after all.

 

[McLovin]

Actually there is a signed contract with a company from Israel to repave the road, signed I guess in 2013. I know they began the work but don't know what the actual situation is. The deadline was august 2014.