Race Design Thread

[w52]

Volta à Madeira

Stage 1: Câmara de Lobos - Ponta do Sol (123.4km)

After the prologue in Thursday night, race continues in Fryday with a short and brutal mountain stage that will connect Câmara de Lobos and Ponta do Sol in a 123.4km lenght of pain.

Hostility starts right in the begining of the stage with the climb to the Estreito de Câmara, less than 4km of ascent but the gradients are absolutely crazy being the average percentage 13.2%!!! This will suffocate riders right in the begining and the teams can be destroyed right in that climb, depending on the rhythm .
After we have a ~15km descent that will bring riders to the bottom of the climb to the Paúl da Serra, by the Sera de Água side, a hors category climb and one of the most famous climbs of Madeira.

Here the climb is shorter but i considered an earlier begining

Reaching the top of the Paúl da Serra, there is a long descent that will bring the competitor to another extremely difficult climb as Fonte do Bispo a 1.cat climb similar to the previous one in lenght but less steep. Finished the climb there is another long descent that will finish in Porto Moniz where is a wall expecting very tired riders. The ramp is short less than a km but extremely steep (average 18%) with parts at 21 and 23%

Passed the small wall, riders start to climb a bigger one to Paúl da Serra this way, by the Porto Moniz side. This one is longer but less steep than Serra de Água side, but the previous clims and km's will make harder for sure. After this climb there will be a descent to Ponta do Sol where will be an uphill finish (1.6km 6.1%).

This stage has the same scenario than my stage in the Macaronesia Tour, but this time i used different sides for the climbs, and other finish place.

 

[May0maniac]

Mother of God, that's a little bit sadistic but awesome.

 

[Steven Roots]

STAGE 17 : Bichkek - Kosmostantsia, 280km.

Bichkek is the capital of Kyrgyzstan, right at the border with Kazakhstan, at the north of the country.
Its a relatively recent city, as the kyrgyz used to be nomadic in their lifestyle, and it was named after Mikhail Frunze in soviet times.

We'll go to the north and across the border, in order to reach Kazakhstan, seventh different country on the road.
To do that, we'll go through the Kordai Pass, a 5th category climb, that will help to create a breakaway.

A long flat road will then lead us to Almaty, the former kazakh capital. A dangerous one with the wind that can be strong here.

Almaty, as Kazakhstan, is much richer than the neighbours from the south and other former central asian soviet republics.

For the riders, once we're on the suburbs, things will get much tougher. Much tougher indeed, as we'll use a smaller and unpaved road in order to climb all the way to the village of Koklaisay, above Almaty.
Unpaved, yes, but absolutely fine as far as my research is concerned. And with 6km of climbing over 10% of gradient, that will seriously slim down the peloton.

I could have put a second climb of that kind, but this time (Karagayly), the road seemed really not good enough.
Anyway, with whats coming, i dont think i need to put too much trouble on the route.

We only have a couple of flat kilometers back in Almaty before going to the road of Alma-Arasan (a mountain spa).
Except that we're not going right, we'll continue on the road, that way, we can reach the Tien-Shan astronomical observatory...and even further, the former soviet research facility of Kosmostantsia.

They're all on the Zhusalykezen pass.
An hysterical climb. The road until the split to Alma-Arasan (km13) is relatively soft, not going over 7%.
But then, gloves are off. We actually move up in the mountains alongside the Almaty River, and its going steeper...

There is a big steep km (13.5%) as we move above the river on the other bank, in order to reach the lake.
The views up there are gorgeous, with the Big Almaty Like for the pleasure of the eye.

But riders should be closer to tears than enjoyment, as after moving above the river, the average gradient is over 9.5%, and you still have 12km to go.

Its going to be a nightmare for the riders, we're over 2.000m high, lungs and legs will be burning for an extended period of time.
After the lake, we still have 2km to go to reach the observatory and 8km to go to the former facility of Kosmostantsia.

The observatory.

Its abandoned, but we will have a strong Pripyat vibe up there, with several switchbacks on a road at 10% of average gradient, it will just never ends.

Kosmostantsia...or what's left of it.

Well, yes, it will, after 34.3km (6.9% average slope). It will litterally takes forever to end this one.
It was just as hard finding information about it, as the lack of pictures and data can easily be explained by how secluded the place is. As far as i know, its fully paved. I wish we can find more informations, but its hard. Like it will be for them.

As this stage is the 17th, and including the fact that we already did a marathon yesterday, we can expect huge gaps. As the stage wasnt hard enough itself. Its going to be awful.

(Koklaisay : 2.5 - 6.5 - 10.5 - 13.5 - 10.5 - 11 - 11 - 11)
(Zhusalykezen Pass to Kosmostantsia : 6 - 1 - 3 - 4 - 2 - 2.5 - 1.5 - 4.5 - 5 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 5 - 6.5 - 8 - 8 - 9 - 8.5 - 9 - 9.5 - 13 - 0 - 4 - 11 - 6 - 10 - 9 - 13.5 - 11 - 9.5 - 13.5 - 5 - 11.5 - 7)

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Damn, there was me making a deal of Shymbulak if you were going to be around Almaty 0_o...

 

[jsem94]

 

[52520Andrew]

That first HC climb looks timy compared to the monster finish. Wow

 

[w52]

Volta à Madeira

Stage 2: Ponta Delgada - Pico do Areeiro (117.6km)

We continue in the main island of Madeira to the second stage of this race. If you considered stage 1 really hard what you have to say about this one...short (less than 120km), but with 7 mountain passes and a mountain finish in Pico do Areeiro one of the highest points of Madeira at 1766m high.

Stage starts in Ponta delgada in the north of the island and the first 75km are a rollercoaster to the riders. In that space period they will climb 6 different climbs: 2 cat.1; 2 cat.2 and 2 cat.3. They are all short climbs, the longest one is Santo António da Serra with less than 6km, but the gradients are though the lowest average agradient in those climbs is 6%, having Duarte Pacheco and Santo António da Serra average gradients a little higher than 10%, piece of cake like you can see

Santo António da Serra

At the top of Santo António da Serra there is a small plateau zone where we have some flatish km's followed to a short descent until the bottom of the monster that is the Pico do Areeiro climb, maybe the most famous climb of the whole island. Long, steep and altittude what else we could ask?

 

[Steven Roots]

Madeira isnt bad either for punishing mountain stages.

Shymbulak is a nice idea, there is plenty of atrocious climbs south of Almaty. A shame that its not possible to do a loop or a circuit around those.

STAGE 18 : Urumqi - Tourfan, 251km.

Back in China, for good this time.
Urumqi is the largest city in Xinjiang, the westernmost province of the country. It did not have a major role historically though.

The city is relatively recent, and mainly populated by Han Chinese, the name of the city is coming from the oirat, a dzungar language, meaning beautiful pasture, as they reigned in the area before them, until the end of the 19th century.

Our stage of the day will lead us to the east, but we start with a detour going south over the Tian Shan for one last ride. We're on cat.5 level, which should help a possible breakaway, but should not be a cause for concern otherwise.
Then, we still have a long road to Tourfan, populated by uyghurs, close to the Taklamakan desert. The city is right at the center of a depression. Like a hole in the surface of the earth (-150m !). A geological anomaly which saw an oasis flourish, and Tourfan was a major stop on the road back then.
It will be for us as well.

Bezeklik Buddha Caves

As it was an important trade center, the city was often contested between mongol tribes and chinese empires.
It produced a lot of fruits, thanks to the very hot climate of the area, and will allow the riders to rest after the stage.
The change from the high mountains and the freezing cold of the Pamir and the Tian Shan will be spectacular, as we're closer to Phoenix or New Mexico now...Turfan being one of the hottest cities, if not the hottest of China.

The scenario of the race mainly relies on the desire of the sprinters to win this one.
Once again, though, wind can be a problem as the emptiness around them wont really protect them against that until we reach the depression.

 

[Gigs_98]

After a pretty long pause I will now continue my Österreich Rundfahrt
just to remind you, my first 5 stages were:
Linz - Linz (ITT)
Linz - Liezen (flat with hilly final)
Liezen - Deutschlandsberg (high mountain stage, with downhill finish after the Weinebene)
Wolfsberg - Lienz (flat with hilly final)
Liezn - Mayrhofen (high mountain stage with downhill finish after the Weinebene)

Österreichrundfahrt stage 6: Schwaz - Partenen (230 km)

After my monster stage in the Zillertal it gets a little bit easier, but still difficult. This is a medium mountain stage with 135 kilometers of pure up and down, before the riders arrive at the first flat section. At the end there are two more 3rd category climbs, the Tobadill and then the endless grind up to the Bielerhöhe (many of you might know this as the Silvretta Hochalpenstraße, which was used in this years tds) Only at the end the slopes get a little bit steeper and there could be some attacks either by the break (which will probably take the stage) or even by a gc contender who is a very good descender, because the descent which leads directly to Partenen is probably the most interesting one of Austria.

These switchbacks should cause a pretty interesting finale and also some great camera picks, because from my experience the Bielerhöhe ist the most beautiful pass in Austria, which I know. The landscape is breathtaking, and the switchbacks are really scenic. However surprisingly I enjoyed the flat west side even more because of the beautiful views through the high valley

Although there could be attacks this is the calm before the storm, because stage 7 is the last big mountain stage and the last chance to get a lot of time.

 

[May0maniac]

Schwaz was probably the biggest European mining center durning the 15th/early 16th century, it had about 20,000 inhabitants, when the import of chep silver from the New World really started it quickly lost its status.
Nice stage btw

 

[Libertine Seguros]

As we head near to the end of one of the most unusual races of the thread and some creative big mountain events, I'm going to bring this down to the more conventional European circuits... however, after two straight Vueltas, well, I am stoked that it's wintersport season awesome yea!!! As is well known to most of you, I absolutely adore my wintersports, in particular biathlon and XC skiing. So far I have included venues from these sports in a number of races; an MTF at Pokljuka in Slovénie, a Giro del Trentino based entirely on XC and biathlon venues, Deutschlandtour routes include Garmisch, Oberhof, Ruhpolding, Notschrei and Clausthal-Zellerfeld, a Vuelta included Candanchú, my Russia Tour included Krasnaya Polyana, a Giro included Cesana-San Sicario and passed through Brusson... you get the point. Anyway, there's a country I've been to a number of times, which has stunning scenery, enjoys cycling at the moment (albeit possibly less on the kind of parcours I'm about to present), and that I have only published a single one-day race in in this thread, which is the first thing that comes to most people's mind when talking about important countries in XC skiing... of course, this is Norway.

Norway's national Tour is five days long, and is flat to moderately hilly, with a medium-mountain queen stage. This is mainly to ensure key national interest, making the race valuable for riders like Kristoff, Boasson Hagen and Nordhaug to show up. But it could be so much better. My Tour of Norway is nine days long, and is hilly to mountainous. The real national Tour is more or less a Tour of the Oslofjord with a bit of a venture inland (usually to Oppland), so as not to interfere with the terrain of the Tour des Fjords in the west or the Arctic Tour in the north. I will not trample on those races' homelands, but there is still much more variety available.

Stage 1: Trondheim - Dombås, 236km

GPM:
Dombås (cat.3) 1,5km @ 8,8%
Dombås (cat.3) 1,5km @ 8,8%
Dombås (cat.3) 1,5km @ 8,8%

The first stage of the Tour of Norway is also the longest, a mildly Classics-inspired long stage with a punchy finish.

The third largest city in Norway, Trondheim is a convenient place to start the race, with its vibrant culture and sporting history. Indeed, one of the first sights the riders will pass in the stage is the Granåsen ski jump and Nordic skiing facilities. While the stage climbs from sea level to a maximum of 1000m above it, there are no categorized climbs as this is purely a gradual, rolling uphill onto higher inland plateaus, though these can be plenty scenic in their own right.

The town of Oppdal is one of the key stop off points, but realistically, this stage is all about the final 50km, with three laps of a circuit around the small town of Dombås. Dombås sits at an important junction in the scenic Gudbrandsdalen valley, famous as the home of arguably the best known brand of one of Norway's most divisive creations, the mighty Brunost; it is where the Oslo road to the south of here divides into the Åndalsnes road towards Kristiansand and Molde to the west and to Trondheim and the northern cities to the north. It is, however, perhaps now best known to the world as the hometown of the most sitcom-ready siblings in wintersports, Lars and Tora Berger. He's happy-go-lucky and gets himself into trouble with badly-judged humour; she's serious and fully focused. He has one of the most aesthetically pleasing skiing techniques out there; she has one of the least. She is one of the most impressive and efficient shooters in the history of the sport; he, to put it bluntly, is dreadful at shooting. Yet both are super talents, both having a range of Olympic and World Championship medals. Tora also has a World Cup overall, while Lars has a cross country World Championship gold.

The siblings grew up at the ski centre at the top of the hill in Dombås (yes, there will undoubtedly be a lot of this in the race), and this hosted the Norwegian national championships in 2013, which had entry fields of upward of 100, so despite its relatively small size, with the potential help of a few neighbouring towns this could host as long as the race didn't get too big. However, the ski centre is at the top of a further 2-3km of climbing than where we're finishing.

There's also a large open square at the centre of the town, so space for a finish will be easy to find. For the most part the stage is all about the finish, with three laps around the town including the puncheur finish from the Gudbrundsdalslågen river to the town, which Strava has as gaining 132m in 1500m, a noteworthy ascent that could open up some small gaps like any reasonably sized puncheur's finish. This is steep enough and sustained enough to create time gaps and favour a Nordhaug type over an EBH type for sure, but they will be small for the time being; after all, there's a lot more hard work to come. The riders get a first look at it with 28,6km remaining, as the circuit is 14,3km in length. We may see riders go for it on the penultimate ascent, as although the descent is not very technical nor is it very steep, the second part of the descent is quite narrow which will favour a thinning out of the bunch and make positioning at the base of the final climb very important. And if they do leave it to the last, then fair enough, at least we tried... there's plenty of opportunities for more drawn-out racing to come.

 

[Steven Roots]

STAGE 19 : Xining - Xining, 232km.

Xining is the capital of the Qinghai province, in China.

A province very well known around here as its the theater of the most famous race in China, the Qinghai Lake Tour.
We could have used the lake to do the stage, but realistically speaking, as we need to cover a lot of ground, too much really, staying close to a big city is probably the best option.

Xining is the largest city of the tibetan plateau, was a major trade center for centuries, so there is no surprise to see it on the route.
And as its relatively far from other major urban centers, we're then kinda forced to have a stage around the city.
Obviously, its far from being a problem for us, as we will have a circuit race for today, benefiting from the presence of mountains right above the city.

There will be two climbs referenced on the circuit, to be done six times.
The first one is the short and steep, over the neighbourhood of Chenguangcun.
Cronoescalada is far from perfect with the chinese altimetry, so you got six different datas while using the same road...but we can settle to something around 3km long for 7% of average gradient. The datas down there are the average of the six climbs, so that should be as close as possible to the real ones.
The second one, after the descent from the TV tower, is done on Nanyoushan Road, over the Nanshan Mountain with a more industrial environment. I assume there is a mining facility there.

These pictures gives the best idea of what to expect. The first climb is done with whats in front of you, the second, with whats under you.

But you should not be too concerned about that, its only like that at the beginning of the climb, and its 6km long. With the slope being quite irregular. With an atrocious kilometer at something around 15% that will seriously disrupt the pace and probably prevent you from admiring whats around.

The finish will be done in front of the Grand Mosque.

The flat between the climbs on our way back is 10km long, and there is about 3km of flat between them.

Basically, thats a world championship road race right there, and an hard one, as the elevation gain is comparable to Mendrisio (4700m) while being 30km shorter.
I was not in the mood for a seventh lap that will have probably been just a tad too much.
Its still very hard anyway. Its the last stage to really put some gaps between you and the others, and the gradients and the proximity of the climbs is there to help you.
And remember that there is also the altitude. We're well over 2.000m high once again...just like in Duitama.

(Chenguangcun : 6 - 8 - 7.5)
(Nanyoushan : 7 - 0.5 - 5 - 7 - 16 - 1.5)

 

[cycleMN]

I found this forum just recently and I really liked the idea so I decided to start off easy and create a Tour de France first before getting more creative. I tried to make it as balanced as possible. Sorry, but I couldn’t resist going into Switzerland for the familiar roads and a few boring transitional stages.
..................................................................................................................................................
Stage Length Terrain
1 Colmar- Nancy 197 Medium Mountain
2 Nancy- Saint-Dizier 146 Flat
3 Troyes- Montargis 157 Flat
4 Orleans- Orleans ITT 47 Flat
5 Orleans- Nevers 177 Flat
6 Nevers- Vichy- Cusset 157 Flat
7 Roanne- Station Chalmazel 152 Medium Mountain
Rest- Clermont-Ferrand
8 Limoges- Bordeaux 235 Flat
9 Bordeaux- Dax 168 Flat
10 Biarritz- Pau 185 Flat
11 Orthez- Gavarnie 217 Mountains
12 Saint- Gaudens- Quillan 200 Mountains
13 Perpignan- Sete 198 Flat
14 Montpeller- Langogne 179 Flat
15 Valence- Valence ITT 46 Flat
16 Saint-Etienne- Aix-les-Bains 185 Mountains
17 Aix-les-Bains- La Plagne 179 Mountains
Rest- Sion
18 Brig- Beatenberg 212 Mountains
19 Spiez- Emosson- Finhaut 158 Mountains
20 Martigny- Le Grand Bornand 169 Mountains
21 Versailles- Paris ITT 23 Flat

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

 

[Tonton]

On the positive side, welcome to CN. I like the "old school", "finish is next day's start" approach and some of the stages are really cool.
On the not-so-positive side, your first rest day is on a Saturday, followed by a flat stage on Sunday: not TV/ratings/sponsor friendly...and one half of France is completely "ignored". Although, that's what ASO does, so I suppose it's no big deal.
Still, plenty of work putting this together and some really cool stages. Cuddos.

 

[w52]

After some busy days is now time to finish my Volta a Madeira.

Stage 3: Vila Baleira - Vila Baleira (126km)

After a prologue and two brutal mountain stages is now time for an easier final stage in the beautiful island of Porto Santo. This stage is raced in a 21km circuit that will feature 3 small hills being only one of them categorized, in Camacha (4 cat. 3.5km 4.7%), the other two are serra de dentro and serra de fora with more less than 2km and average gradients of 5 to 6%. Riders have to do 6 laps in this circuit and finally finish this short but incredibily hard race.

Previous stages:
Prologue: http://forum.cyclingnews.com/viewtopic.php?p=1842457#p1842457
Stage 1: http://forum.cyclingnews.com/viewtopic.php?p=1842470#p1842470
Stage 2: http://forum.cyclingnews.com/viewtopic.php?p=1842661#p1842661

I hope you enjoyed the race and now i will work in my first attempt in design a GT, that will be TdF

 

[Gigs_98]

@cycleMn:
I really like your race. Only a few really brutal stages, and no completely unrealistic stuff. The first week is probably too easy with only 2 very and one medium interesting stages in the first 10 stages, but besides that many ideas are great, and I really like some of your mountain stages.

ps: on stage 20 you could put the col du corbier and the Joux Verte between the Pas de Morgins and the Joux Plane. The Corbier to make the flat section between both passes shorter and the Verte to make the stage even harder. Stage 19 has a very hard mtf, so you don't really need to hope for long range attacks there, which means the next stage can be a very hard one too, so I think the two climbs would work pretty well in your stage.

 

[bp92]

I guess I might as well start posting my Tour of Japan now...
Starting from Tokushima and ending in Tokyo, focusing mostly on the Japanese Alps - arguably the most mountainous region in Japan, and a prefect terrain for stage designing.
So yeah, here we go.

Tour of Japan Stage 1: Tokushima - Tokushima, 13km (ITT)(***)

Climbs: None.

The first three stages of this 3-week Tour of Japan will be raced in the island of Shikoku, the smallest of the four "main" islands of Japan (and the only one this race will visit, besides Honshu). The first stage will be an individual time trial, in the streets of Tokushima, one of the largest cities in the island. TT specialists should get an early lead, with long straights and pan-flat terrain.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 2: Anan - Kochi, 223km (***)

Climbs: Asebi-cho (3km @ 4,3%), Ishitatezan Tunnel (3,2km @ 5,6%), Hosoyabuyama (7,9km @ 4,8%), Mount Kuishi (10,2km @ 6,9%), Kashigamine (11,1km @ 3,7%).

The second stage follows up with a very interesting medium mountain stage along the southern side of the island. The first half is easy, going through what pretty much is a highway across the mountains, before reaching the flat area where Kochi is located.
The riders will then turn north, back into the mountains, to take on the three key climbs of the stage. The hardest of them, Mount Kuishi, actually comes 45km away from the end of the stage, which should create some interesting strategies heading up this climb, particularly since there's scarce flat terrain after the climb, with the irregular climb to Kashigamine and the long descent still remaining. A good attack may give the winner a brief run with the leader's jersey, so we might see some interesting racing in this stage.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 3: Kochi - Mount Ishizuchi, 188km (****)

Climbs: Misaka Pass (3,7km @ 4,2%), Ishizumisan (18,9km @ 4,4%), Mount Ishizuchi (16,8km @ 4,9%)

The last stage fully within the island of Shikoku also features the first summit finish of the race. Starting from last stage's finish in Kochi, the race heads west then northwest through the valleys between the mountains of central Shikoku, in a long ascending false flat course, capped off by the short climb to Misaka Pass, which leaves us at the northern edge of the mountains. The race then heads eastward through flat terrain before heading back south through the long climb to Ishizumisan.
The short descent leaves us at the foot of the deciding climb of the stage: Mount Ishizuchi, the highest mountain in Shikoku (the race doesn't go all the way to the top, instead finishing near a hut to the southeast of the mountain).

The climb could actually be considered two cat.2 climbs separated by four downhill kms, but it counts as a single cat.1 as far as the mountains classification goes. The climb isn't too steep, but it's hard enough to see some important gaps at the end of the stage.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 4: Matsuyama - Fukuyama, 175km (*)

Climbs: Komatsu Highway (2km @ 5,6%)

The fourth stage takes us to Honshu at last. It does so in an interesting way, though.
The stage actually starts off in Matsuyama, the largest city in Shikoku. Riders will head east, take on the only categorized climb of the stage, then head back west then northwest along the coast.
Then, they enter the business end of the stage, as they enter the Nishi-seto Expressway, a series of bridges comminicating Shikoku and Honshu by land. The bridges are exposed to crosswinds, so we might see some cuts in the peloton if the wind blows in the right direction.
The expressway ends at Onomichi, already in the main island, from where there's a 20km stretch left before reaching the finish in Fukuyama. The finish should be a sprint, although if there's wind the sprint group should be relatively small.

 

[Steven Roots]

STAGE 20 : Wuwei - Lanzhou, 280km.

Third stage taking place entirely in China, we're now in Gansu.
Its a province trapped between the tibetan plateau and the mongolian plateau.
In this kind of circumstances, obviously, both cities were major parts of the Silk Road as they were on the only passable route.

Zhangye Danxia Geological Park. Its further, to the north. But its surely worth the trip if you're around.

Wuwei is placed at the north of Xining where we were on the previous stage, thats kinda weird on the overall route, but thats the best solution.

Baita Temple in Wuwei

Lanzhou is the capital of the province, to the Southeast, over 3.000.000 inhabitants live there, with the famous Yellow River flowing through the city.
The color coming from the mud dragged by the river from the loess and the erosion of the soil.

The road is simple between those two cities, the most eastern part of the Tian Shan is there to offer a last mountain pass (Wuqiao, cat.3) on the road, but its a relatively easy one.
Then, we'll just tumble down in the valley of the Zhuanglang until we meet the Yellow River.

Lanzhou is almost there, but there is a slight twist.

Statue of Mother Yellow River

We got several hills around here too, and we're also gonna use one of them. The end of the stage should be full of tension.

The Baitashan Park is right in front of Lanzhou on the other bank of the Yellow River. From there, you have an perfect view of the city.

The climb is short (1.6km long), but it is going to be dynamite. Almost 11% of average slope, it gives you a different perspective about whats is actually long and what isnt.
I dont have the details, but its a serious challenge.

And with only 7km to go between the summit and the finish line, you better be ready to jump on the good wheel.
A small catalan climber is a likely favourite here, that is, of course, if he can finish in solo. Strong riders like a slovakian world champion or a german all-rounder can also be contenders there if things swing their way.
The gaps should be minimal, but the last 30 minutes should be fun.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 5: Okayama - Mount Rokko, 185km (***)

Climbs: Nishiohirayama (2,4km @ 6,4%), Kobeseishonen Park (4,5km @ 6,8%), Mount Rokko (9,6km @ 6,1%), Mount Rokko (12,3km @ 7%).

Stage 5 features the second summit finish of the race, this time at Mount Rokko.
The first two thirds of the stage are uneventful, with mostly flat terrain all along. The mountains all come within the last third of the stage, as we enter the Rokko mountains, just to the west of Kobe, one of the largest cities in western Japan.
After a short cat.2 climb for warm-up, riders will climb to Mount Rokko for the first time from the easier northwest side, then take the steep way down to Kobe. Then, they will take on the summit finish climb, this time via the harder southern side.

The first 9km of the climb are also the hardest, with gradients consistently at 7-10%. Any big gaps will be made here. The climb then eases up notably before a last section featuring a steep 800m around 8%, followed by a flat last km. A good climb for explosive climbers if they can keep the pace during the final flat-ish kms.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 2: Dombås - Hafjell Alpinsenter, 168km

GPM:
Østringsvegen (cat.2) 6,3km @ 5,6%

The Tour of Norway continues with the nearest thing to an absolute flat stage on the route. I am also playing super nice for the riders today, because I'm not making them do any transfer, as we start from the same town we finished in yesterday, Dombås. Apart from the one climb of the day, the whole stage is through valley roads.

Steep sided, deep-ridged river course is the order of the day as we pass through towns like Sandbumoen:

Yea, we're full of classic Norwegian scenery here, lakes, rivers, and so forth. We're still spending much of the day in the famous Gudbrandsdalen with its scenery and heading southward towards the main urban centres of this part of the country (we are finishing close to Lillehammer). Perhaps the most notable town we pass through is Vinstra, which annually plays host to the Peer Gynt Festival, a big celebration of culture in Norway that lasts nearly two weeks, named of course after the famous Ibsen play (itself loosely based on a fairytale). There's only the one climb of the day, which crests at 36km from the line. It's a cat.2 climb because it's a decent length (it corresponds to the section from 1,2km to 7,5km on this profile). It's mostly around 6-6,5% but the last kilometre flattens out a bit. It may act as a bit of a platform for an attack, but for the most part it's about thinning out the pack; no Marcel Kittel finish here, though of course it will take more than this to rid the bunch of the likes of Michael Matthews, John Degenkolb, Juanjo Lobato and of course Norway's own local hero, Alexander Kristoff.

The stage finishes with a loop to avoid passing into Lillehammer itself and heads back north to finish at the base of the below photo:

A late intermediate sprint is intended to give any sprinters or similar riders able to stay close in Dombås a chance to pick up bonus seconds AND the bonuses for the stage top 3 (Edvald, I'm looking in your direction here), but also if the sprinters' teams chase down ahead of the (slightly uphill) intermediate sprint, it gives a brief lull afterward to reorganize where somebody could try to escape. The Hafjell Alpinsenter hosted the slalom and giant slalom at the 1994 Winter Olympics (Kvitfjell hosted the Super G and Downhill), hence the iconic image carved out of the hillside opposite. With between Hafjell and Kvitfjell plenty of facilities to put the riders up, and Lillehammer nearby, which hosts annually the XC, Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping World Cups simultaneously, there's plenty of scope for race hosting (I also like the area around here). This is the easiest stage of the race for the GC contenders, they can avoid expending too much energy on this one more so than the majority of the rest of the stages. And it means a good chance for a Norwegian home win on a Sunday stage...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 3: Gjøvik - Drammen, 207km

GPM:
Lygnasæterveien (cat.3) 4,1km @ 4,0%
Hagatjernveien (cat.2) 5,9km @ 6,1%
Hagatjernveien (cat.2) 5,9km @ 6,1%

After a shortish transfer southwards through the valley, we head from Oppland towards the Oslofjord with this longish intermediate stage where the GC men will need to be on guard.

The start town, Gjøvik, is one of approximately 800000000 charming lake- and riverside towns in Norway. It was one of the ice hockey hosts in the 1994 Winter Olympics, but its current sporting claim to fame is as the hometown of rising cross-country star Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, who the Norwegians are desperately trying to turn into a distance racer. Like the preceding stages, the first half is mostly flat, although there is the one climb, the 2km @ 7% followed by 2km false flat rising up to Lygnasæter, where there is a well-known hotel and that most beloved of Norwegian institutions, a Skisenter with a network of scenic trails.

After a long descent from here we find ourselves riding along the edge of the Randsfjorden, one of those great fjords that make up such an important part of Norwegian geography; this particular area is famous for its glass, which is made and sold all over, from Gjøvik down to Jevnaker at the southern tip.

After this we pass through the typically Scandinavian city of Hønefoss, which has been a regular host of the real Glava Tour. Here it's just a town we transit through, with its rolling terrain serving to soften a few legs but no more. After this the riders will make their way along the western shores of the scenic Tyrifjorden, a beautiful lakeland area which nonetheless has its own darkness; on the opposite side, just off the eastern shore, lays the normally tranquil and attractive island of Utøya, now best known as the site where crazed terrorist Anders Behring Breivik massacred 69 members of Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking. The now notorious island will only be visible from a distance, however, and at this point in the stage the riders will likely be going too fast to pinpoint it in their vision when they look across the water.

At the southernmost tip of the fjord that the riders will touch is the small town of Vikersund, a town however steeped in sporting lore, for here lies the infamous and fearsome Vikersundbakken, the largest ski jumping (actually ski flying at this scale) hill in the world, and the site where the current world record of 251,5m was set by the diminutive Anders Fannemel. That is a real number, somebody was actually insane enough to launch themselves over 250m through the air down a massively steep ski slope.

Anyway, this leads us onto two laps of a 31km circuit around the finishing city of Drammen, a city just around the corner from Oslo but with its own history. It's also the birthplace of a couple of Norwegian sporting heroes, firstly speed skater Johann Olav Koss, who dominated the distance skating events in his home Olympics in 1994, and secondly (and more importantly) biathlon/XC legend Ole Einar Bjørndalen, about to turn 42 and still winning races on the World Cup; 95 professional victories and the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time. The city also hosts the Drammen Sprint, the most well-known and popular of those short, straw-drawing XC events that are infesting the calendar and turning the sport away from being an endurance event as it always has been and should always be. That said, the city centre courses are the one real justification for the XC sprint; it does seem a bit odd having one in Drammen with Holmenkollen so close, however!

The main feature of this circuit is the climb of Hagatjernveien, past Hagatjern itself to crest at Ormetjern; it is a cat.2 climb, but it's almost two-stepped, featuring a first 3,5km at around 7,5% with a max ramp of 15%, then a flattening out before a final 1,5km at just under 8%.

Cresting the first time with 44km remaining means that the final ascent crests at 13km from the line; this will therefore definitely be a good place to make moves, especially as the two-stepped descent gets quite hair-raising in its second half, fast and steep; mostly straightish but will require nerves. The fast swoop around town into the centre of Drammen to finish is the last obstacle; the final corner is around a kilometre from the line however so the chase to the line if a solo attacker or small group is being threatened to be picked up by a larger group could be quite intense. And with such an obstacle so close to the line, you'd be disappointed if the riders let this be a Kristoff stage. Gerrans, Valverde and co. should be around though, and unfortunately possibly Sagan too, though he is unlikely to get much help to chase back an attack on that final 1500m of climbing at 8%; it will depend on whether the escapee is a strong descender whether they're able to help me from throwing my laptop around.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 6: Nishinomiya - Kyoto, 189km (***)

Climbs: Toyono (14,5km @ 2,5%), Mount Hiei (8,3km @ 6,5%, two passes).

The race continues with a medium mountain stage between Nishinomiya, in the Kobe metropolitan area, and Kyoto, one of Japan's most famous cities, being the capital of Japan for over one thousand years.
The stage stays easy for the first half, before reaching the first of three passes through the finish line, right next to the old Kyoto Imperial Palace.
Then riders will take two laps around a 60km circuit, featuring the stage's key climb, Mount Hiei.

The second pass through the climb comes roughly 33km before the end of the stage, so expect any important moves to be made here or at the descent.