Race Design Thread

[May0maniac]

Tour of the Mountain States Stage 12: Aspen - Avon; 187km

This is the first hard stage after the 2nd ITT, but the 2nd week of my TotMS will feature 2 stages (stage 13 and stage 15) that are way harder, the suffering has just begun.
The stage starts in Aspen, a famous winter sports town and ski resort that everyone should know.
After 5km of false flat we already have the first climb, it's the hard side of Independence Pass, 26.5km at 4.6%, at that altitude that's a nasty tempo grinder.
For km 12 onwards we have 109km that are constantly at least 2800m above sea level, so the high altitude will be a pretty big deal.
After the long and gentle descent we have about 34km until we reach the intermediate sprint near Leadville, a former silver mining town.

From Leadville onwards we have a descent amount of rolling terrain, we have a short cat 4 climb, Gilman, 3km at 4,6%, but it's mostly the altitude and the rolling terrain that should wear the riders down.
After Gilman we have a descent followed by 17km that are mostly false flat we reach Avon for the first time, then the next climb starts.
It's Buck Creek Rd, 4.1km at 7.4% with a max. gradient of 16%, it's a pretty nasty short climb that should break a few legs and wear the riders down.
After descending Metcalf Rd down to Avon we have the final climb of the day, Bachelor Gulch/Beaver Creek Rd, 8.4km at 6.4%.
Most Alpine Skiing fans will know Beaver Creek because of the Fis world cup race and the awesome Birds of Prey downhill ski course.

We can expect Attacks on the final 2 or 3km of the climb, the following descent is not your typical american descent, it features 15 hairpins and is rather technical, a good descender could gain some time on the descent.
The final 2.5km are flat and will bring the riders once again to Avon, another important winter sports town and the home of Liberty Skis, an independent ski manufacturing company.
Avon:

After the ITT this stage could be brutal, with the next stage being even harder we'll only see attacks on the final climb, but it's not a stage that is designed for long range attacks, so that's not a big deal.
A few riders could have a bad day after the ITT, high altitude and over 3100m of altitude gain will also be a big factor, 1 or 2 guys in the top 10 cracking wouldn't be a huge surprise.
If you have to dig too deep on this stage the next one will be even worse for you, you'll probably have to suffer a lot.

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour Stage 2: Escondido- Palm Springs 208 kms

The first road stage of the race ends with a GC battle on the first of 9 uphill finishes of this years event. After a relatively easy first 200 kms, with two 2nd category climbs in the first half of the stage, the finish is in Palm Springs on the tramway. The finishing climb is 5.5 km in length at an average of 8.9% grade. The gradient kicks up to an average of 12% by the top of the climb. This is the first opportunity for riders to make up any time that they lost in the team time trial on stage one. Large gaps shouldn't be expected however. This climb is all about timing your effort correctly because if you go too soon and crack, it will be hard to recover before the line on such a short climb.

The Tour of California used the finishing climb in the 2013 race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBeorRYjJYE

 

[May0maniac]

Tour of the Mountain States stage 13: Avon - Central City; 237.4km

This is the longest stage of my TotMS and it's one hell of a stage.
The stage starts in Avon, so no transfer after stage 12, that's one of the few nice things that most of the riders will have to say about this stage.
The first 21km of the stage are false flat, then the first climb of the day starts. It's Vail Pass, 16.9km at 4.2%.
After a short and gentle descent we have 4km of false flat before the intermediate sprint near the stunning Heaton Bay Campground.

The next 16km are false flat, then Loveland Pass starts, 14km at 5.8% with a max. gradient of 9.3%, at that altitude that's a pretty nice climb.
After Loveland Pass we have a very long descent, the 2nd part of it is more of a false flat, that will bring the riders down to Idaho Springs, a small town founded in 1859 during the early days of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, foe the first time.
Right after Idaho Springs a nasty short climb starts, Virginia Canyon Rd/Two Brothers Rd, 5.7km at 9.4% with 20% steep ramps, 2km in the middle of the climb are unpaved.

The first 4km of the climb are brutal and really should break a few legs and get rid of a few strong domestiques.
The following descent is nothing special, but right after it we already have the next climb, Meadow Vista, 3.3km at 6.4% with a max gradient of 14%.
After a short descent Juniper Pass starts, 26.2km at 4.2% with a max. gradient of 12.1%, a real tempogrinder, but at that altitude and after such a long stage it will really hurt.

The following descent is very long and the descent even features a few nice switchbacks. The riders will ride through Idaho Springs for the 2nd time and climb Virginia Canyon Rd/Two Brothers Rd for the 2nd time, but this time they'll descent down to Central City.
Just like Idaho springs Central City is also a historic mining settlement that was founded durning the Pike's Peak Gold Rush.
Central City:

I know, I already used the Virginia Canyon Rd/Two Brothers Rd-Juniper Pass-Virginia Canyon Rd/Two Brothers Rd combination in my USA Pro Challenge, that stage also had a downhill finish in Central City, but it's just too good and this time I created an even harder stage.
This should be one hell of a stage, it's over 237km long and +4600m of altitude gain combined with the high altitude should create a real monster stage.
The stage comes after an ITT and a pretty challenging descent finish, so the riders should be pretty tired, we could see huge gaps, riders could loose minutes.
The next stage will be a nice short stage for the breakaway, so the gc favourites should go all out on stage 13.

 

[w52]

Tour de France

Stage 6: Moulins - Aubusson (190.3km)

Stage 5 is 190.3km long and will link Moulins and Aubusson. In theory this one should end in a mass sprint, but the final can be surprising. The route is mainly flat, but has a lot of small hills and ramps that can be a bit exhausting to some riders, the main climb of the day is in Gueret in a 4.cat climb. The last km's are in descent and someone can use that to attack and try to steal the win to the sprinters.

 

[w52]

Tour de France

Stage 6: Pontaumur - Ambert (165km)

We continue this Tour with stage 6. We are approaching the Alps and stage 6 will be the last one suitable for sprinters in the next days. The stage is short but can be tricky to sprinters. The beggining is not easy the first 35km are a continuous up and down finishing in the top of the Col du Ceyssat. After, there is a descent to Clermont Ferrand and more less 50km of flat until Thiers, where is a long flase flat until the climb of Pamole. Until the finish there is a cat.4 climb 10km before the finish where a combative can do surprise.

Pontaumur

Ambert

 

[w52]

Tour de France

Stage 7: Ambert - Saint Pierre de Bouef (159.3km)

First Friday of the race is synonymous of mountain difficulties, as we are entering the Alps. Stage 7 is a real medium mountain stage with 6 categorized climbs, being the hardest one a cat.2 right in the begining of the stage.
Stage starts in Ambert, and it almost starts with the climb to the Col des Pradeaux and Le Clos combo. The first climb, like previously mentioned is the hardest of the stage menu, Le Clos is short and easier but the combo will make damage and we can have the first group of delayed riders.

After Le Clos there is a long descent and some parts of false flat, that end with the climb to La Fouillouse nearby the city of Saint Ettiene, where we start the other cat.2 of the day La Croix de Chaubouret. The climb is long but the ramps are not very hard, but it will eliminate some more cyclists.

La Croix de Chaubouret is the begining of another combo, which comprises two more climbs: two cat.3 climbs in Collet and Collet de Doizieux. The sequence of climbs can make some differences and the GC contender must be really focused to avoid lose time. Passing Collet duo, there is a descent to Saint Pierre de Bouef where is placed the finish line.

 

[w52]

Tour de France

Stage 8: Romans-sur-Isere - Col du Granier (155.3km)

The secound weekend of the race starts with the first MTF of the race at the top of Col du Granier a cat.1 climb. The stage is short and has two different parts. The first part, from km 0 to 70km is flat without any kind of major difficulties. After the sprint in Saint Egreve all changes and the mountain start to gain a major role in the race. The first climb of the day is also the first HC climb of this Tour, the Col de Porte from Saint Egreve. This is a very long and though climb and will make damage in the majority of the peloton with its 17.6km at 6% with ramps of 11%

Followed to the Col de Porte is another hard climb. After a short descent, riders will have to climb the cat.2 of Col du Coq (10.1 at 5.8%) and in the final of the climb is expected that only a small group remains in the front of the race.

After Col du Coq a long descent expects the riders and the will be an opportunity to someone recover the time lost in the previous climb. But that recovery can me momentaneous, due to the next climb of the day Cascade de Teppes Cochon a cat.2 climb that is not long 6km but is very steep with an average gradient of almost 9%. This climb will be perfect to a long range attack since there is followed by a short descent that will end in the base of the Col du Granier where the stage finishes.
Col du Granier will be attacked from Chaparellan which has nasty gradients like a km at 17.8%. Attack in this climb will not be easy due to the gradients but at the final are expected big gaps and some of the main contenders can lose minutes in this stage

(In this stage they start the climb from 2nd km)

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour Stage 3: Palm Desert- San Bernadino 168 km

The third stage should end in a bunch sprint even though this is a mountain stage. There is a chance that a strong break gets away on the Santa Rosa Summit climb and the teams wouldn't be able to organize in the final 60 kms to pull the break back. The other factor that could determine how this stage is ridden is the next two days of the race. Teams could want to save energy and not control the bunch, for on paper what are the two hardest days of the race on stages 4 and 5. The flat run in concludes at San Manuel Stadium.

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour Stage 4: San Bernadino- Mt. Baldy 175km

The climbing on a stage which gains 3881 meters starts soon after the flag drops. The climb to the Rim of the World Hwy is a long grind which should build the fatigue for the next set of climbs. The finish at Mt Baldy is a series of three climbs, each one steeper than the last. Since we are only four days into the race, the climbers should be fresh enough for long range attacks. It is important for the pure climbers to gain time on riders the likes of Wiggins (circa '12) and Dumoulin who can limit their losses on the lesser grades and then gain minutes in the ITT's later in the race. The finishing climb has an average of 8.5% and after a hard day in the saddle, Mt Badly should create action.

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour Stage 5: Thousand Oaks- Malibu Beach 212 km

On paper, this is the hardest stage of the race. It is 212 km and gains 4761 meters which includes 8 categorized climbs. This stage rarely has a section of flat road in it and resembles an Ardennes classic route. The stage takes place in the Santa Monica Mountains and should have views to equal the racing. The finish is on Malibu beach which the stage overlooks for most of the day and a small bunch sprint or a small escape group should be expected. As the classic saying goes, the race won't be won here but having a bad day will loose it. It is highly likely that the GC favorites will wait until the final climb of Piuma Rd. to launch an attack unless a quality climber lost time up to Mt. Baldy and decides to go early to recover losses.
As I already mentioned, I consider this the hardest stage. By giving 1 point to a 4th category climb and 5 points to an HC climb, the five highest scores are the following.
Stage 5- 21
Stage 4- 16
Stage 3- 11
Stage 8- 10
Stage 2- 10

 

[Tonton]

I like that stage 8 of the TdF. Skipped the Jura though . I will rectify this when my turn comes .

The US race is super.

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour Stage 6: Santa Barbara- San Luis Obispo 197 km

The only difficulties come at the start and finish of the stage. After the ascent of San Marcos Pass, the peloton travels north to San Luis Obispo. The finish is just outside the town after tackling the Perfumo Canyon climb. The scenery on this stage should exceed the racing for most of the stage but the viewers will witness an exciting final few kilometers with teams fighting for position before the climb and then the quick, punchy ascent itself.

San Marcos Pass

San Luis Obispo

 

[May0maniac]

cycleMN, it's cool to have a 2nd American gt at the same time, we're both focussing on different areas and so far I really like your race.

 

[May0maniac]

Tour of the Mountain States stage 14: Idaho Springs - Idaho Springs; 147km

Stage 13 was a real monster and the third consecutive hard stage so now the riders get a short and rather easy breakaway stage, am I not mercyful?
The stage starts in Idaho Springs, an old mining city that we already visited yesterday.
The first 50km are mostly false flat and will brind the riders down to the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area, then we have an intermediate sprint in Arvada, a town sadly known for the 2007 Youth With A Mission training center shooting.
Arvada:

After that we have 25km of false flat/rolling terrain before the first climb of the day starts, it's the climb to Wondervu on the Coal Creek Canyon Dr, 15.6km at 4.5% with a max. gradient of 9%.
After a short and gentle descent we have 25km of rolling terrain, then another gentle descent before the 2nd climb off the day starts.
It's Central City Pkwy from Central City, 3.9km at 6.9% with a few sections at 9%.
The following descent is once again easy and gentle, the final 5km of the stage are flase flat and will bring the riders back to Idaho Springs
Idaho Springs:

This one should go to the brekaway, after 3 consecutive hard stages most teams will try to softpedal this one and try to save some energy for the last very hard (about 5300m of altitude gain) mountain stage in Colorado before the 2nd restday and the transfer to Utah.

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour Stage 7: Paso Robles- Fergusson Rd 156 km

This stage showcases the beauty of Route 1 on the Californian coast, without any difficulties for the riders until the final 10 kilometers. After leaving Paso Robles, the race heads west, traveling across rolling terrain then turns north on the coast. The sprints are located toward the end of the stage so the sprint teams will want to keep the break on a short leash. This should mean that the GC riders will be fighting for the win on the climb to the finish. The finishing climb of Fergusson Rd is 9.7 km with an average of 7.3% but the first 5 km have an average of 9.1%. In the last two km the gradient climbs back to around 9%. By the end of today, it should be known who the strongest climbers are in the race.
Fergusson Road Climb

Fergusson Road Summit

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour Stage 8: Monterey- San Jose 182 km

This stage is perfect for a breakaway to make it all the way to the line. There should be too much climbing for the pure sprinters and the CG contenders will want a hiatus until the stages in Southern Oregon in three days. It is also safe to assume that all the riders will be looking forward to the first rest day in two days time. That being said, a rider like Micheal Matthews could factor in for the win if there is a bunch sprint. Any rider looking for KoM points will need to be off the front collecting them. I would classify this as a transitional stage but it will build on the fatigue accumulating in the legs of all the riders.
Monterey Bay

View from Empire Grade Climb

San Jose

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour Stage 9: Santa Clara- San Francisco 143 km

This is the last stage before the rest day and on paper it appears to be a stage for the sprinters. However, that might not be the case. It is not the categorized climbs in the beginning of the stage that will be the issue, it will be the streets of San Francisco. The final few kilometers loop around downtown San Fransisco and it will be the climbs of Russian (avoiding the closed off section of Lombard Street) and Telegraph hill which will cause problems for the fast men. They are only a few hundred meters in length but will disrupt any leadout train and potentially a sprint finish as well. This means that a late attacker stands a very good chance of winning (think Richmond Worlds). This stage is also very short, so the pace should be high from the start. The actual finish of the stage is at the base of Coit Tower. This means that there is a 400 meter long ramp averaging 13.3% before the line.
Russian Hill

Telegraph Hill

Coit Tower

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Nice stage into San Fransisco. Those final lumps in the City itself are very steep, so it will certainly show whose weak and whose strong.

 

[w52]

Tour de France

Stage 9: Grenoble - Moutiers (169.1km)

It's Sunday in this TdF and we have a though alpine stage in the menu. Stage 9 is not very long but it will make damage to everyone since that there isn't flat terrain. The whole stage will be a continuous up and down with 3 hard climbs and a descent finish in Moutiers.
The stage starts in grenoble and the first 50km of the stage will be raced in a false flat, until the beggining of the famous HC climb of Col du Glandon. This climb is not the hardest one considering the average gradient but its 22km will be a demolishing to everyone.

Stage continues with a long descent that will bring the riders to Saint Avres and to the start of the mythic Col de la Madeleine, other HC climb in this stage with almost 20km and more steep than Glandon.

We continue the up and down with another long descent that finishes in Village 92, where the last climb of the day starts. The climb to Naves (Grand Naves or Grand Couer) is shorter than the previous climbs of the day with "only" 11.2km but is a steep climb with an average gradient of 7.3% and ramps with a maximum of 14%.
From the top of the climb to the finish line there is a 16km descent and because of that who wants to make differences has to attack in the climb.

Moutiers

 

[May0maniac]

Tour of the Mountain States stage 15: Idaho Springs – Pikes Peak; 223km

Ok, I have to admit it, this is a carbon copy of stage 5 of my USA Pro Challenge, but for me that's just the perfect Pikes Peak stage and if you create a GT in the Mountain States you kinda have to use Pikes Peak, it's just such an awesome climb.
This is the final stage of the 2nd week of the race and the 2nd MTF of the race, the first was stage 6. This is the 9th consecutive day in Colorado at high altitude and so far the 2nd week of the race didn't have a MTF, so now the fans get to see the ultimate Colorado MTF before the 2nd restday. The sprinters will hate this stage with passion, but th climbers will love it.
The stage starts in Idaho Springs just like stage 144 and after 23km of false flat the first climb of the day starts, Guanella Pass (3557m), 17.4km at 5.6%, not a very hard climb but a nice way to start the stage.
The climb has a flat section in the middle, so it's a little bit like a Falzarego/Valparola from Cortina at high altitude.

After the 20km long descent we have 19km of false flat before the next climb starts, Country Rd 72, 3.8km at 5.7%, 6km of false flat on top of the climb followed by a gentle descent and 5km of false flat.
The next climb is South Deckers Rd, 6.8km at 5.5%, followed by another short uncategorised climb, 2.8km at 4.9%.
After the descent we have 11km of false flat and right in the middle of those 11km we have an intermediate sprint in Deckers.

After that we have a climb that ends near Westcreek lake 8.5km at 3.9%. The next 19km are more or less false flat, then we have Rampart Range Rd, 5km at 5.4% followed by 5km of false flat on top of the climb.
Then we have a long gentle descent before the final climb of the day starts, Pikes Peak, 31km at 6.7% with a steeper 2nd half o the climb and the finish line is nearly 4300m above the sea level, it's a real Monster, just look at the profile!
Pikes Peak is just an awesome climb, absolutely stunning and probably the hardest climbs in the continental U.S.
Pikes Peak:

This one will be total carnage, after 9 consecutive days at high altitude the riders will be worn down and then we have such a long, hard stage, about 5300m of altitude gain, and then such a brutal MTF at that altitude, I expect huge gaps and death and destruction, it will be glorious day for cycling and awesome to watch.

 

[cycleMN]

@mayomaniac
That stage is amazing from start to finish. Two great climbs at the start and finish and the area by Deckers has some amazing scenery. Keep up the good work.

 

[jsem94]

Destruction.

 

[May0maniac]

Thank you.
I know, it's a very hard stage but we already had 85km of flat ITT on large roads that really suit the specialists, 3 potential crosswind stages and unpaved roads, so now the climber will get the chance to shine.
After stage 15 we have the 2nd restday and a long transfer to Salt Lake City, the riders will use the Colorado Springs Airport for the transfer shortly after stage 15, so they should be able to enjoy the restday in SLC.

 

[Tonton]

Love it.

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour Stage 10: Klamath Falls- Mt. Ashland 179 km

The riders have had a well deserved rest day and now it's the second Tuesday of the race. The stage runs across the Cascades and into the Coast Range up to the ski station of Mt. Ashland. The first half of the stage will be in the shadow of Mt McLoughlin. The finishing climb is 23.8 km with an average of 5.3% gradient, which is a little deceptive due to the climb having multiple "steps" in it. It will be likely that the attacks will be saved for the last 8 kilometers after the road kicks up for the final time.
Mt McLoughlin

Mt. Ashland

Mt. Ashland Profile