Tour of the Victorian Alps Stage 6 - Mount Beauty to Mount Hotham
Map and profile 183.6 kiometres
Categorized climbs:
Tawonga Gap (Mt Beauty side): 7.7km@6.2% (km 3 and 115) Cat 2
Rosewhite Gap 5km@5% (km 74) Cat 4
Mount Hotham: 30km@4.7% Cat HC
This stage is a tribute what was (at least until the creation of the Amy Gillett Gran Fondo) Australia’s biggest amateur race, the Tour of Bright. It is a combination of Stage 1, run in the opposite direction, and Stage 3, with an extra climb of the Tawonga Gap thrown in.
Starting in Mount Beauty, the riders almost immediately turn left on to a rather unusual climb. The Tawonga Gap isn’t super-challenging as a climb, with a consistent gradient of a bit over around 6% over its length. The Gap has a lookout at its summit, which offers a spectacular vista of Mount Bogong, Victoria’s highest mountain. It’s not typically snow-capped during the summer like this photo, though:
What is unusual about the Tawonga Gap, in the Australian context, is that it is a “proper” mountain pass. Upon cresting the summit, the road immediately descends to the Ovens Valley floor, the descent of similar length and steepness to the climb. The paucity of such makes it difficult to truly imitate Tour or Giro-style stages.
Bright is in large part a tourist town these days, with a number of fine restaurants, a couple of small wineries (though Australia’s best wine regions are elsewhere), and and the Bright Brewery. I recommend the Razor Witbier, accompanied by one of their excellent thin-crust pizzas.
We meander up the Ovens Valley through mixed farming country, ignoring the turnoff to Mount Buffalo. Buffalo is a long but pretty gradual climb (18.2 km @ 5.5%). It is, however, striking for its rocky outcrops, memorialized by artists such as Heidelberg School member Arthur Streeton:
.
We head towards Myrtleford, which with only 3,000 people managed to be simultaneously home to three of the world's most lucrative yet reviled industries - logging, beer (hop growing), and tobacco. Until the shutdown of the domestic tobacco-growing industry, Myrtleford's annual festival was the “Tobacco, Hops and Timber festival”, I kid you not. Just before Myrtleford, the riders turn to the east and toddle over the straightforward Rosewhite Gap, and head south on the rolling Kiewa Valley Highway back to the Tawonga Gap. With 115 kilometres in the legs, it might be a little less benign than the first pass; it’s only 30 kilometres from the base of the Tawonga Gap to Harrietville, the start of Australia’s longest climb and Victoria’s highest road, the Great Alpine Road to to Mount Hotham Alpine Village.
I could try and describe it, but The Climbing Cyclist has done a much more detailed job. It's not that tough to simply ride, but it's a real brute to race. In short’s a three stage climb - 10 kilometres averaging around 7%, followed by 9 kilometres of false flat. The decisive sections will undoubtedly be in the final 11 km, the sequence of steep pinches punctuated by brief but very fast descents close to the summit as the road follows the ridge line up. The winds, too, can be testing at this highly exposed location. CRB Hill (1 km at 10%) and the Dimantina.(1.4 km at 9%) would not be killer sections on their own, but at this stage they will certainly be decisive.
As the riders pass through the tunnel at Mount Hotham Alpine Village, under a ski run, the race GC should be well and truly decided. To go, a little something for the spectators.
Map and profile 183.6 kiometres
Categorized climbs:
Tawonga Gap (Mt Beauty side): 7.7km@6.2% (km 3 and 115) Cat 2
Rosewhite Gap 5km@5% (km 74) Cat 4
Mount Hotham: 30km@4.7% Cat HC
This stage is a tribute what was (at least until the creation of the Amy Gillett Gran Fondo) Australia’s biggest amateur race, the Tour of Bright. It is a combination of Stage 1, run in the opposite direction, and Stage 3, with an extra climb of the Tawonga Gap thrown in.
Starting in Mount Beauty, the riders almost immediately turn left on to a rather unusual climb. The Tawonga Gap isn’t super-challenging as a climb, with a consistent gradient of a bit over around 6% over its length. The Gap has a lookout at its summit, which offers a spectacular vista of Mount Bogong, Victoria’s highest mountain. It’s not typically snow-capped during the summer like this photo, though:
What is unusual about the Tawonga Gap, in the Australian context, is that it is a “proper” mountain pass. Upon cresting the summit, the road immediately descends to the Ovens Valley floor, the descent of similar length and steepness to the climb. The paucity of such makes it difficult to truly imitate Tour or Giro-style stages.
Bright is in large part a tourist town these days, with a number of fine restaurants, a couple of small wineries (though Australia’s best wine regions are elsewhere), and and the Bright Brewery. I recommend the Razor Witbier, accompanied by one of their excellent thin-crust pizzas.
We meander up the Ovens Valley through mixed farming country, ignoring the turnoff to Mount Buffalo. Buffalo is a long but pretty gradual climb (18.2 km @ 5.5%). It is, however, striking for its rocky outcrops, memorialized by artists such as Heidelberg School member Arthur Streeton:
We head towards Myrtleford, which with only 3,000 people managed to be simultaneously home to three of the world's most lucrative yet reviled industries - logging, beer (hop growing), and tobacco. Until the shutdown of the domestic tobacco-growing industry, Myrtleford's annual festival was the “Tobacco, Hops and Timber festival”, I kid you not. Just before Myrtleford, the riders turn to the east and toddle over the straightforward Rosewhite Gap, and head south on the rolling Kiewa Valley Highway back to the Tawonga Gap. With 115 kilometres in the legs, it might be a little less benign than the first pass; it’s only 30 kilometres from the base of the Tawonga Gap to Harrietville, the start of Australia’s longest climb and Victoria’s highest road, the Great Alpine Road to to Mount Hotham Alpine Village.
I could try and describe it, but The Climbing Cyclist has done a much more detailed job. It's not that tough to simply ride, but it's a real brute to race. In short’s a three stage climb - 10 kilometres averaging around 7%, followed by 9 kilometres of false flat. The decisive sections will undoubtedly be in the final 11 km, the sequence of steep pinches punctuated by brief but very fast descents close to the summit as the road follows the ridge line up. The winds, too, can be testing at this highly exposed location. CRB Hill (1 km at 10%) and the Dimantina.(1.4 km at 9%) would not be killer sections on their own, but at this stage they will certainly be decisive.
As the riders pass through the tunnel at Mount Hotham Alpine Village, under a ski run, the race GC should be well and truly decided. To go, a little something for the spectators.
- Feb 20, 2010
- 33,061
- 15,246
- 28,180
CasperVg said:
This is one of the most realistically viable races we've put in here; the profile looks like you could have a reasonable 1.1-category race here; it's long enough to be a justifiable pro race and short enough that the Continental teams could survive it. With Britain becoming more interested in cycling, with Kennaugh, Cavendish and Brammeier all being from the Isle and with its roads being relatively quiet and easier to accept disturbances than most of mainland Britain (after all they already have the TT), this could actually work and I could see something like this appearing on the calendar at some point.
- May 6, 2009
- 8,522
- 1
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Tour of the Gold Coast stage 3 - Southport - Lamington NP 216km
My Tour of Beijing is just about ready, so I'll give you the final stage of my Tour of the Gold Coast and the final and the queen stage, a MTF is a challenging one.
Map and Profile:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/827417
So again we start in Southport and head to Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Now obviously the actual direct distance from Southport to Lamington NP is not 216km, but that would be fun. The first 43km are flat with a couple of light bumps but it's nothing to split the peloton up and nor drop anybody. The first proper climb of the day is Sexton's Hill (looking at 10-12% gradients) in Tweed Heads (in NSW), but instead of going down the other side we turn a right at the top to climb Terranora which contains some rolling hills for 7km before the descent into Tumbulgum (and a quick one too) before hitting the country roads (I've raced over these) and through the sugar cane fields along Dulguigan Road and past the start area of the Saturday afternoon races held there. For a slight detour I will send the peloton through an area called Nobby's Creek, an out-and-back detour with country roads, lots of bumps and potholes if you're not careful and some dodgy descents as well. Hey if it's good enough for me to race over then it's good enough for the pro's.
Once we've left Nobby's we will go through the township of Chillingham and start the climb into Numinbah Valley after 107km to take us back into Queensland. The first half ofthe climb is ok, but at the top you can except some sections to be closer to 20%, and believe me the roads can be rough. Once back in QLD the peloton will race along some rolling roads with plenty of steep little hills until we hit the next climb of the day Beechmont at 145km. The following 6.5km is commonly used as a regular training ride to a bus shelter on Tuesday morning and yours truly holds an impressive climbing time. But we won't be stopping there as we will keep going and down a small descent and past a cafè which will no doubt be popular from all the spectators alongside the road. At the bottom of the descent at 153km to 169km contains plenty of climbing and undulating hills to break up every bodies legs before the descent into Canungra where we visited on stage 2.
We have to be careful as part of this goes through a military area and one side of the road is a live firing area amongst the dense rain forest. After we arrive at Canungra at the 180km mark, we will turn left to go Lamington NP. The climb starts at 191km and takes until the 216km mark (the finish) and it's certainly hard enough, with plenty of switchbacks and narrow roads and sections hitting between 13 and 19%. I've personally ridden up here because the traffic is a nightmare with tourist buses, day trippers, and motorcyclists all coming up and down. The last 2km of the race is a small brute with a section at over 10%, a small descent and then up to the finish line, it kicks up to over 8%. At the finish line is a resort called O'Reilly's where there are plenty of places to stay and have something to eat and drink and partake in some hiking and field all birds there.
Lamington NP:
My Tour of Beijing is just about ready, so I'll give you the final stage of my Tour of the Gold Coast and the final and the queen stage, a MTF is a challenging one.
Map and Profile:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/827417
So again we start in Southport and head to Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Now obviously the actual direct distance from Southport to Lamington NP is not 216km, but that would be fun. The first 43km are flat with a couple of light bumps but it's nothing to split the peloton up and nor drop anybody. The first proper climb of the day is Sexton's Hill (looking at 10-12% gradients) in Tweed Heads (in NSW), but instead of going down the other side we turn a right at the top to climb Terranora which contains some rolling hills for 7km before the descent into Tumbulgum (and a quick one too) before hitting the country roads (I've raced over these) and through the sugar cane fields along Dulguigan Road and past the start area of the Saturday afternoon races held there. For a slight detour I will send the peloton through an area called Nobby's Creek, an out-and-back detour with country roads, lots of bumps and potholes if you're not careful and some dodgy descents as well. Hey if it's good enough for me to race over then it's good enough for the pro's.
Once we've left Nobby's we will go through the township of Chillingham and start the climb into Numinbah Valley after 107km to take us back into Queensland. The first half ofthe climb is ok, but at the top you can except some sections to be closer to 20%, and believe me the roads can be rough. Once back in QLD the peloton will race along some rolling roads with plenty of steep little hills until we hit the next climb of the day Beechmont at 145km. The following 6.5km is commonly used as a regular training ride to a bus shelter on Tuesday morning and yours truly holds an impressive climbing time. But we won't be stopping there as we will keep going and down a small descent and past a cafè which will no doubt be popular from all the spectators alongside the road. At the bottom of the descent at 153km to 169km contains plenty of climbing and undulating hills to break up every bodies legs before the descent into Canungra where we visited on stage 2.
We have to be careful as part of this goes through a military area and one side of the road is a live firing area amongst the dense rain forest. After we arrive at Canungra at the 180km mark, we will turn left to go Lamington NP. The climb starts at 191km and takes until the 216km mark (the finish) and it's certainly hard enough, with plenty of switchbacks and narrow roads and sections hitting between 13 and 19%. I've personally ridden up here because the traffic is a nightmare with tourist buses, day trippers, and motorcyclists all coming up and down. The last 2km of the race is a small brute with a section at over 10%, a small descent and then up to the finish line, it kicks up to over 8%. At the finish line is a resort called O'Reilly's where there are plenty of places to stay and have something to eat and drink and partake in some hiking and field all birds there.
Lamington NP:
- May 6, 2009
- 8,522
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- 0
Tour of Beijing TT - Summer Palace TT
So now it's time for my Tour of Beijing and why I think mine is better, even though it is a TT and a flat one, don't fret there will be plenty of climbing to come.
M&P:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/827652
Here is a simple TT around the Summer Palace in Beijing and is a 17km out-and-back type course, would suit the likes of Spartacus.
Summer Palace:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace
So now it's time for my Tour of Beijing and why I think mine is better, even though it is a TT and a flat one, don't fret there will be plenty of climbing to come.
M&P:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/827652
Here is a simple TT around the Summer Palace in Beijing and is a 17km out-and-back type course, would suit the likes of Spartacus.
Summer Palace:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace
Tour of the Victorian Alps - Stage 7 Mount Beauty to Tallangatta
Map and profile. 71 km
Categorized climbs: Tallangatta Lookout: 1.4km at 10.7%, cat 3.
OK, for the final stage of the Tour of the Victorian Alps, I did consider a spectator-friendly criterium, perhaps one just across the state border in Albury. But seeing it's my fantasy race, I figured I'd end it with a nice recovery ride...with a sting and a half in the tail!
Starting in Mount Beauty, we cruise gently down the Kiewa Valley's dairy farms. There are a couple of short rolls, but nothing too dramatic for pro cyclists! We pass a few settlements - little more than dots on the map, and with not too much to offer tourists.
We take a short cut through Bryant's Gap - a short and easy climb, descending to meet Lake Hume, one of the sequence of dams that permits irrigated farming along the 2500-odd kilometres of the Murray River. About the only thing the riders need to watch out for is the sharp bend as we turn for a short jaunt on to the highway. All very undramatic...
And then...a vicious little epilogue.
James Ronan Memorial Drive, aka the Tallangatta Lookout Road, is only 1.4 kilometres long. It is, however, steep enough to make the eyes water. The averages from ridewithgps are plausible enough, but I can tell you that the detailed profile is *quite* inaccurate, after my failed attempts to climb this in one go (though I'm a bit fitter now so should have another crack).
It starts benignly enough, but starts to get a bit nasty about half way up, as the riders cross a cattle grid (that will presumably have to be covered for the occasion). It just gets steeper...and steeper...and steeper...with the last 300 metres averaging 20%. I'm sure the entire population of Tallangatta (not hard, seeing there's only 1,000 of them) will turn out to watch these idiots ride a pushbike up this bloody hill.
It's so short that it's hard to imagine having much effect on GC. But it's a fitting epilogue to a race that shows the possibilities, but perhaps also the limitations, of trying to construct Grand Tour like stages in Australia.
And, as usual, there's a nice view of the lake from the top:
So, as our fictional peloton heads off to the Tallangatta Hotel for a well-earned beer (even if the beer comes in two flavours in this unreconstructed farmer's village - super and unleaded), what have we learned from the exercise?
Map and profile. 71 km
Categorized climbs: Tallangatta Lookout: 1.4km at 10.7%, cat 3.
OK, for the final stage of the Tour of the Victorian Alps, I did consider a spectator-friendly criterium, perhaps one just across the state border in Albury. But seeing it's my fantasy race, I figured I'd end it with a nice recovery ride...with a sting and a half in the tail!
Starting in Mount Beauty, we cruise gently down the Kiewa Valley's dairy farms. There are a couple of short rolls, but nothing too dramatic for pro cyclists! We pass a few settlements - little more than dots on the map, and with not too much to offer tourists.
We take a short cut through Bryant's Gap - a short and easy climb, descending to meet Lake Hume, one of the sequence of dams that permits irrigated farming along the 2500-odd kilometres of the Murray River. About the only thing the riders need to watch out for is the sharp bend as we turn for a short jaunt on to the highway. All very undramatic...
And then...a vicious little epilogue.
James Ronan Memorial Drive, aka the Tallangatta Lookout Road, is only 1.4 kilometres long. It is, however, steep enough to make the eyes water. The averages from ridewithgps are plausible enough, but I can tell you that the detailed profile is *quite* inaccurate, after my failed attempts to climb this in one go (though I'm a bit fitter now so should have another crack).
It starts benignly enough, but starts to get a bit nasty about half way up, as the riders cross a cattle grid (that will presumably have to be covered for the occasion). It just gets steeper...and steeper...and steeper...with the last 300 metres averaging 20%. I'm sure the entire population of Tallangatta (not hard, seeing there's only 1,000 of them) will turn out to watch these idiots ride a pushbike up this bloody hill.
It's so short that it's hard to imagine having much effect on GC. But it's a fitting epilogue to a race that shows the possibilities, but perhaps also the limitations, of trying to construct Grand Tour like stages in Australia.
And, as usual, there's a nice view of the lake from the top:
So, as our fictional peloton heads off to the Tallangatta Hotel for a well-earned beer (even if the beer comes in two flavours in this unreconstructed farmer's village - super and unleaded), what have we learned from the exercise?
Tour of the Victorian Alps - the wrap-up
I think I've shown that there are worthy climbs in Victoria, some of which I've used, some of which I've just mentioned. And you can string them together well enough to provide a hard and entertaining weeklong climber's race, that would look spectacular on television if you had sufficient budget to point enough cameras. And I've done it without too many contrivances - one that I did consider but not use was an out-and-back loop on Mount Buffalo, taking advantage of the bitumen at the top. And the route offers a variety of climbing challenges - one mad-steep summit finish (two if you count the last stage's little wall), a long stage with a tough climb followed by a descending finish, and finally, a stage with multiple smaller climbs followed by a very long, tactical climb with a nasty finish.
However, it is very, very difficult to string multiple cat 1 or HC climbs into a route, due to the fact that most of our long climbs are only long on one side, and only have one sealed route up them. The 3 peaks route achieves this (it features Hotham, Back-o-Falls and the Tawonga Gap, combining bits of my stages 5 and 6), but it's about the only one.
Partly this is geography, but it's also a demographic issue. Many of north-east Victoria's valleys have mountains that rise to 1000 metres or so, but there are very few sealed mountain passes between them. Indeed, the Great Alpine Road was fully sealed only around 20 years ago, and the back of Falls in 2008. It’s likely that more of these roads will be sealed as time goes on - such as the Omeo Highway from Mitta Mitta (featuring another long climb) in the next couple of years.
But, even now, there’s plenty of climbs out there. All we need is to figure out a way that race directors can use them.
I think I've shown that there are worthy climbs in Victoria, some of which I've used, some of which I've just mentioned. And you can string them together well enough to provide a hard and entertaining weeklong climber's race, that would look spectacular on television if you had sufficient budget to point enough cameras. And I've done it without too many contrivances - one that I did consider but not use was an out-and-back loop on Mount Buffalo, taking advantage of the bitumen at the top. And the route offers a variety of climbing challenges - one mad-steep summit finish (two if you count the last stage's little wall), a long stage with a tough climb followed by a descending finish, and finally, a stage with multiple smaller climbs followed by a very long, tactical climb with a nasty finish.
However, it is very, very difficult to string multiple cat 1 or HC climbs into a route, due to the fact that most of our long climbs are only long on one side, and only have one sealed route up them. The 3 peaks route achieves this (it features Hotham, Back-o-Falls and the Tawonga Gap, combining bits of my stages 5 and 6), but it's about the only one.
Partly this is geography, but it's also a demographic issue. Many of north-east Victoria's valleys have mountains that rise to 1000 metres or so, but there are very few sealed mountain passes between them. Indeed, the Great Alpine Road was fully sealed only around 20 years ago, and the back of Falls in 2008. It’s likely that more of these roads will be sealed as time goes on - such as the Omeo Highway from Mitta Mitta (featuring another long climb) in the next couple of years.
But, even now, there’s plenty of climbs out there. All we need is to figure out a way that race directors can use them.
- Feb 20, 2010
- 33,061
- 15,246
- 28,180
Time to shake the GC up a bit in Kazakhstan. This one will probably not tell you who will win, but it will sort the pretenders from the contenders, and tell you who won't.
Stage 2: Chilik - Kegen, 161km
Starting where we finished off yesterday, the second stage of the Almaty Tour is one long, slow, gradual uphill that finishes 1200m higher up than it began; the roads hopping from plateau to plateau via a series of slow uphill drags. The last of these is tackled twice, with the second loop finishing off the job with the extension of another 3,5km at 7%, which may be enough to dislodge a few after the climbing done to date. The summit is 11km from the finish, but there is no descent, just time trialling your way into Kegen.
Climbs:
Kopekskiy Pereval (cat.2) 11,0km @ 2,5%
Charin Canyon (cat.3) 4,3km @ 2,9%
Kurtogai (cat.3) 2,9km @ 4,3%
Pereval Zhalauty (cat.2) 9,6km @ 4,0%
Pereval Kegen (cat.1) 12,1km @ 4,7%
Mountain pass:
The roads are just about passable as we head into today's finishing town:
Stage 2: Chilik - Kegen, 161km
Starting where we finished off yesterday, the second stage of the Almaty Tour is one long, slow, gradual uphill that finishes 1200m higher up than it began; the roads hopping from plateau to plateau via a series of slow uphill drags. The last of these is tackled twice, with the second loop finishing off the job with the extension of another 3,5km at 7%, which may be enough to dislodge a few after the climbing done to date. The summit is 11km from the finish, but there is no descent, just time trialling your way into Kegen.
Climbs:
Kopekskiy Pereval (cat.2) 11,0km @ 2,5%
Charin Canyon (cat.3) 4,3km @ 2,9%
Kurtogai (cat.3) 2,9km @ 4,3%
Pereval Zhalauty (cat.2) 9,6km @ 4,0%
Pereval Kegen (cat.1) 12,1km @ 4,7%
Mountain pass:
The roads are just about passable as we head into today's finishing town:
Tour de France 2013 Stage 1: Porto-Vecchio - Bastia ~140km
Originally designed to give the puncheurs a chance, the stage has been redesigned after the ASO demanded a flat first stage, so that a sprinter could wear Yellow. Additionally, the ASO decided that no stage on Corsica should be longer than 200km.
A casual roll along the coast.
Originally designed to give the puncheurs a chance, the stage has been redesigned after the ASO demanded a flat first stage, so that a sprinter could wear Yellow. Additionally, the ASO decided that no stage on Corsica should be longer than 200km.
A casual roll along the coast.
Tour de France 2013 Stage 2: Bastia - Ajaccio-Alata 195km
In Ajaccio it was decided that a climbing finish just out of town at Alata would be ideal. For this designer though, finishing on a climb is not enough, and a proper day of climbing will precede the finish.
0km Col de Teghime - 11.2km @ 4.8% http://www.salite.ch/F/teghime3.gif
55km Col de Bigorno ~ 9km @ 4.2% http://www.salite.ch/F/bigorno.gif
127km Col de Vizzavona - 12.4km @ 4.1% http://www.salite.ch/F/vizzavona1.gif
188km Alata - 7.4km @ 5.9% http://www.salite.ch/F/alata.gif
In Ajaccio it was decided that a climbing finish just out of town at Alata would be ideal. For this designer though, finishing on a climb is not enough, and a proper day of climbing will precede the finish.
0km Col de Teghime - 11.2km @ 4.8% http://www.salite.ch/F/teghime3.gif
55km Col de Bigorno ~ 9km @ 4.2% http://www.salite.ch/F/bigorno.gif
127km Col de Vizzavona - 12.4km @ 4.1% http://www.salite.ch/F/vizzavona1.gif
188km Alata - 7.4km @ 5.9% http://www.salite.ch/F/alata.gif
Tour de France 2013 Stage 3: Calvi ITT 38km
A transfer to Calvi in the north west gives us an ideal location for the first ITT of the race. The riders will head out of town to tackle a difficult (unnamed?) climb before circling back and finishing alongside the airport.
A transfer to Calvi in the north west gives us an ideal location for the first ITT of the race. The riders will head out of town to tackle a difficult (unnamed?) climb before circling back and finishing alongside the airport.
Stage 3 as a road stage rather than an ITT.
Tour de France 2013 Stage 3: Ajaccio - Calvi 164km
40km Col de Sevi - 21km @ 5.2% http://www.salite.ch/F/sevi.gif
81km Col de Palmarella - 34km @ 1.1% http://www.salite.ch/F/palmarella.gif
136km Bocca di Marsolinu - 3.8km @ 6.7%
Final 36.5km
Tour de France 2013 Stage 3: Ajaccio - Calvi 164km
40km Col de Sevi - 21km @ 5.2% http://www.salite.ch/F/sevi.gif
81km Col de Palmarella - 34km @ 1.1% http://www.salite.ch/F/palmarella.gif
136km Bocca di Marsolinu - 3.8km @ 6.7%
Final 36.5km
That's how I would have it, given the stage towns. One for the sprinters, one for the climbers, and a TT or one for the puncheurs. We all know ASO will not do it though!
Realistically Stage 2 will have neither of the first two climbs, and then just be Vizzavona on to a flat finish in town.
No way Stage 3 will do Sevi, they can ignore it by going closer to the coast and taking in San-Martino (around 7km @ 5-6%) from there it will be the same, except after Marsolinu they will go straight to the finish, so it will be 15km from the top of the climb (see the last 36km profile), a flat run in to the finish. The little bumps at the end on the profile are from turning off the main road before the finish and doing a couple of runs around the town.
Realistically Stage 2 will have neither of the first two climbs, and then just be Vizzavona on to a flat finish in town.
No way Stage 3 will do Sevi, they can ignore it by going closer to the coast and taking in San-Martino (around 7km @ 5-6%) from there it will be the same, except after Marsolinu they will go straight to the finish, so it will be 15km from the top of the climb (see the last 36km profile), a flat run in to the finish. The little bumps at the end on the profile are from turning off the main road before the finish and doing a couple of runs around the town.
- Oct 18, 2009
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I'm preparing a tour of Lebanon. It's very tough though, very mountaneous. I don't know where it would fit best in the calendar, maybe around march - april, the weather would be ideal then.
I've been a bit busy with work lately so i'll keep you posted as soon as i finish it.
I've been a bit busy with work lately so i'll keep you posted as soon as i finish it.
- Apr 30, 2011
- 46,794
- 29,388
- 28,180
I am really confused with the rules
According to article 2.6.011 "The maximum length of major tours is 3500 km." The article was last modified 1.01.08, but in 2010 the Tour de France had a total distance of 3641.4 km
Does that mean that when I want to create a realistic tour, I can totally ignore this rule?
According to article 2.6.011 "The maximum length of major tours is 3500 km." The article was last modified 1.01.08, but in 2010 the Tour de France had a total distance of 3641.4 km
Does that mean that when I want to create a realistic tour, I can totally ignore this rule?
Netserk said:I am really confused with the rules
According to article 2.6.011 "The maximum length of major tours is 3500 km." The article was last modified 1.01.08, but in 2010 the Tour de France had a total distance of 3641.4 km
Does that mean that when I want to create a realistic tour, I can totally ignore this rule?
I wouldn't panic if your Tour was 3501 km, but 4000 km tours and successive 250km+ stages with summit finishes are unlikely to fall within the UCI's tolerance level.
- Feb 20, 2010
- 33,061
- 15,246
- 28,180
After a few days away, it's time to return to Kazakhstan, with a flat stage to fill the boots of the sprinters and keep Pat McQuaid happy.
Stage 3: Shonzhy - Turgen, 195km
We move back towards the race's base camp at Almaty with this reasonably long flat stage, which ends in the small town of Turgen with a short loop. There's not a great deal to be said about the parcours for this one, which is very flat. Most of the last 20km are at a slight, false flat level incline, which shouldn't be any trouble to anybody unless Angelo Furlan or Andrea Guardini are on especially bad days. There are no categorised climbs at all, and so I expect the sprinters to have their fun before the GC action heats up.
Shonzhy:
The road into Turgen:
Stage 3: Shonzhy - Turgen, 195km
We move back towards the race's base camp at Almaty with this reasonably long flat stage, which ends in the small town of Turgen with a short loop. There's not a great deal to be said about the parcours for this one, which is very flat. Most of the last 20km are at a slight, false flat level incline, which shouldn't be any trouble to anybody unless Angelo Furlan or Andrea Guardini are on especially bad days. There are no categorised climbs at all, and so I expect the sprinters to have their fun before the GC action heats up.
Shonzhy:
The road into Turgen:
- May 6, 2009
- 8,522
- 1
- 0
Tour of Beijing Stage 2
Tour of Beijing Stage 2 - Laoshan Velodrome - Chanfangcun - 210.9km
Map and Profile
This one is not for the faint hearted, especially the finish. Today we start outside the Laoshan Velodrome, home of so much British success at the '08 Olympics, and for the first 50km we scoot along the border of Hebei Province, with plenty of short steep climbs where you can expect plenty of attacks from the peloton along with the inevitable counter attacks to make everybody's life difficult. Km 70 - 172 are pan flat as we had back through the city of Beijing and back past the Laoshan Velodrome, but instead of going Jin'an Bridge which the peloton went over earlier in the stage, we turn right onto Jinding St and loop along the same roads the peloton raced over and therefore the same hills.
At km182 is where the fun begins and as the stage goes into Hebei Province where the finish at Chanfangcun in the Miaofeng Mountain Scenic Area. At the 188km mark I've thrown in a 700m climb where the gradient will hit as high as 33%! The final MTF doesn't start until the 195km mark and for the final 15km, the gradient will hit as high as 24 - 25%. But for all the steep gradients, there is a lot of small downhill and flat, so in the final kick into the finish, is perfect Purito territory when the riders are hit with a 17% wall then kicks up to 28%, drops to 25%, then to 20% in the final 100m, before the finish is a gentle 2.8%, but the damage has been done.
Laoshan Velodrome:
Miaofeng
Tour of Beijing Stage 2 - Laoshan Velodrome - Chanfangcun - 210.9km
Map and Profile
This one is not for the faint hearted, especially the finish. Today we start outside the Laoshan Velodrome, home of so much British success at the '08 Olympics, and for the first 50km we scoot along the border of Hebei Province, with plenty of short steep climbs where you can expect plenty of attacks from the peloton along with the inevitable counter attacks to make everybody's life difficult. Km 70 - 172 are pan flat as we had back through the city of Beijing and back past the Laoshan Velodrome, but instead of going Jin'an Bridge which the peloton went over earlier in the stage, we turn right onto Jinding St and loop along the same roads the peloton raced over and therefore the same hills.
At km182 is where the fun begins and as the stage goes into Hebei Province where the finish at Chanfangcun in the Miaofeng Mountain Scenic Area. At the 188km mark I've thrown in a 700m climb where the gradient will hit as high as 33%! The final MTF doesn't start until the 195km mark and for the final 15km, the gradient will hit as high as 24 - 25%. But for all the steep gradients, there is a lot of small downhill and flat, so in the final kick into the finish, is perfect Purito territory when the riders are hit with a 17% wall then kicks up to 28%, drops to 25%, then to 20% in the final 100m, before the finish is a gentle 2.8%, but the damage has been done.
Laoshan Velodrome:
Miaofeng
- May 6, 2009
- 8,522
- 1
- 0
Tour of Beijing Stage 3
Tour of Beijing Stage 3 - National Stadium - Ming Tomb Reservoir - 188.9km
Map and Profile
After yesterday's brute of a MTF. it's gets slightly easier, although it will be an interesting and exciting finale for the viewers in the final 5km as there is a small but steep hill, a rapid descent, and then another climb at over 7%, before a rapid descent to the finish at the Ming Tomb Reservoir. It will suit a breakaway or a guy like Peter Sagan if it came down to a sprint.
Until the 70km it is pretty flat, it is a series of rolling hills complete with some really steep gradients as the peloton travels Hebei Province. Combined with the humidity, this will not be easy. Until the 185km, the final 30km preceding the 185km mark are flatish and the peloton should come back together, before the final flurry of attacks in the last 3.5km.
So, much better than the current Tour of Beijing?
Tour of Beijing Stage 3 - National Stadium - Ming Tomb Reservoir - 188.9km
Map and Profile
After yesterday's brute of a MTF. it's gets slightly easier, although it will be an interesting and exciting finale for the viewers in the final 5km as there is a small but steep hill, a rapid descent, and then another climb at over 7%, before a rapid descent to the finish at the Ming Tomb Reservoir. It will suit a breakaway or a guy like Peter Sagan if it came down to a sprint.
Until the 70km it is pretty flat, it is a series of rolling hills complete with some really steep gradients as the peloton travels Hebei Province. Combined with the humidity, this will not be easy. Until the 185km, the final 30km preceding the 185km mark are flatish and the peloton should come back together, before the final flurry of attacks in the last 3.5km.
So, much better than the current Tour of Beijing?
- Feb 20, 2010
- 33,061
- 15,246
- 28,180
To be fair, it couldn't exactly be much worse. But yes, much, much better. I can actually see some racing going on with this.
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