Race Design Thread

[fauniera]

TOUR DE FRANCE

(Tue) stage 4: Châtellerault - Montluçon, 194 km

Another flat stage, but this one has a twist. It's the ramp of Rue Buffon at the end, 540 meters at 9%, with some stretches above 10%.

Châtellerault

Montluçon

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour
Stage 5 Everett- Wenatchee 197 km Medium Mountains

The peloton heads east today through the Cascade mountain range. The race winds its way up to the summit of Stevens Pass next to the Skykomish River for most of the way. Stevens Pass might be a cat 1 climb but its position in the middle of the stage should mean that the peloton won’t push the pace and riders won’t get dropped or if they do losses can be limited. From the summit to the finish there is 92 km of downhill to regroup, organize and case down any escapes so the sprinters should reign supreme for the second day in a row. The finish is in the town of Wenatchee which is in central Washington on the Columbia River. There is a small bump which is only 500 meters long at 6% that summits 6.5 kilometers from the line. If a break does stay off, this could be the place the decisive move goes. This stage on paper is the hardest to control of stages 4-6 which are the leading trio of stages for the fast-men.

Jim Hill Mountain

Stevens Pass

Wenatchee

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour
Stage 6 Ellensburg- Kennewick 194 km Flat

The sixth stage from Ellensburg to Kennewick is a very flat affair. In the opening hour the race follows the Yakima River then after they pass through Moxee the peloton travels across the bluff on the other side of the Yakima Valley. The Yakima Valley is an agricultural hub of central Washington. The finish brings the race back to the Columbia River. This stage is almost as flat as one can get and it even has 300 meters difference in elevation between the start and finish. Most the riders will be looking towards the time trial tomorrow so barring unforeseen heavy crosswinds this should be a routine stage for the sprinters.

Ellensburg

Yakima Valley

Kennewick

Finnish - Kennewick

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour
Stage 7 Walla Walla- Walla Walla ITT 60 km Flat

Walla Walla hosts the long time trial of the race. It is a long one at 60 kilometers and the strong rouleurs could take 5 minutes on some of the small climbers if they are in Froome stage 17 Vuelta form. This course is flat and straight forward so the word technical would not describe it at any point. If the wind picks up throughout the day the earlier starter will have an advantage but the time trialists should be lumped together for the most part since the majority of GC action has been time trial kilometers at this stage of the race. After this stage, the race starts tipping towards the climbs so a large gap today could be enough to see off some of the climbers for the next two weeks. There is a 22 kilometer time trial on stage 15 but the final 8 kilometers are uphill which means any rider that squanders the 75 km of flat time trialing they have had up until this point will kick themselves after this stage.

Walla Walla

Prescott/ Walla Walla County

 

[Sandisfan]

I am going to propose a new tour but without skills to make a beautiful stage previews like Libertine Seguros and other amazing posters and having not sussed out individual stages, at this point, and with it being in the formative stage of a proposal, I will soon post my idea.

P.S. Please be gentle.
P.S. It's probably not doable but still a fun project to think about
P.S. Pacific tour stages could be incorporated for instance.

 

[Sandisfan]

Proposed tour:

As an imaginary billionaire, 10's of billions, I propose a new 3 week Grand Tour which would be held every two years bi-annual.

It would entail partnerships with the Giro and Vuelta whereby they are gifted part ownership in this new Tour. This new tour would be run once every four years in place of one of those other Tours and run in Odd years so as to not interfere with the Olympic schedule. For instance if it started next year, 2017, it would run a bit earlier, a week?, than the Giro and the Giro could run a smaller Tour maybe for under 23, maybe. Then in 2019 replacing the Veulta it would take place in the Fall. The new tour (working title) The Tour of California the U.S. and the Americas. I would like to have every 4th Tour, starting in 2017 with a return in 2023 and have it Start with 2 to 3 days in Colombia, and with starts in the other years ranging from Mexico(stabilty review) Peru or other central or South American country or the East Coast like the World Championship in Virginia again for 2 or 3 days also Vancouver is a strong possibility for a start. An advantage of east coast or Colombia is they are in a earlier time zone which would reduce in a small way travel fatigue. This tour may also include adding an extra day or two for an earlier start for this Tour to ameliorate in part travel fatigue.

In this Tour I have local knowledge for a couple of stages in Central California and would expect at least 11 of the 21 day/stage Tour would be held in California.There could be stages in Washington State, Idaho, Utah and Nevada. I would want to have one or two possible stages where cross winds would be in play also a couple of stages with Rollouers?(SP) ala classics style.

P.S. I know this has NO...NONE...chance, but if I had the skills to make a race design I would make one for posting here.

P.S.S. One advantage of this Tour is that it would run in prime-time in most of Europe.

 

[Sandisfan]

I have only recently joined this forum but I have tried to E-mail the Tour of California with a couple of very good stage Ideas but not even a stock response. If anyone here has an E-mail that I could use that would at least be read even if the response is "we don't take stage proposals" I would like to get some feedback from T.O.C.

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour
Stage 8 Walla Walla- Lewiston 178 km Flat

This stage could be one for the sprinters or it could go to a break. The riders leave Walla Walla and head east to Lewiston which is on the east back of the Snake River on the Idaho side. That means the race goes into a new state for the second edition of the Pacific Tour. The riders will climb 2000 meters today so it is a rolling affair with no major climbs but large mounds in the profile. After the individual time trial some riders and teams will be looking for a day off so the break will be an attractive offer for the opportunistic riders. While others could save themselves for going all out tomorrow; which is the last day before the first rest day. Terrain wise, this is the first road stage that really suits a break to stick and coming a week into the race there will be slightly sore legs in the peloton. The race itself skirts the edge of the Northern Blue Mountains so good shots from the helicopter will be available to those who enjoy beautiful landscapes. The final in Lewiston is next to the river and a kilometer of a straight road so if the bunch comes in together crashes shouldn’t play a factor in the dash for the line.

Tucannon Area

North Blue Mountains

Lewiston on Left/ Clarkston on Right

 

[Forever The Best]

Tour of Turkey Stage 6

http://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/hd/75590

Osmancık:

Samsun:

The route is mostly flat between Osmancık and Samsun.There is a cat 4 climb(2.1 km @ %4.8) topping 8.5 km from the finish.There are also 2 cat 4 climb earlier in the day.
This will be a sprint finish though Kittel,Cav etc. may get in trouble if the more versatile sprinters make their team set a very high pace up the hill.

The intermediate sprint of the day is in Havza.
Havza:

 

[fauniera]

TOUR DE FRANCE

(Wed) stage 5: Néris les Bains - La Borboule / Banne d'Ordanche, 152 km

Néris les Bains is a spa 5 km south of Montluçon, where the previous stage has ended.

The stage leads into Massif Central and will test the climbing legs of the riders for the first time. The first 100 km are fairly easy, the final 50 km are typical for medium mountains.

Col de Guéry

Col de la Croix-Morand (only final 3,5 km)

Col de la Croix-Saint-Robert (final 8 km)

La Banne d'Ordanche

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDC4hGPCDa8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeBkTJcXDbE

The fight between the gc favorites will probably be limited to the final few kilometers, but there should be other interesting racing. The gc at this point should be dominated by time trial specialists, many of which aren't that good uphill. Should be quite a struggle between them for the maillot jaune. Also the fight for the polka dot jersey should start right here.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Proposed tour:

As an imaginary billionaire, 10's of billions, I propose a new 3 week Grand Tour which would be held every two years bi-annual.

It would entail partnerships with the Giro and Vuelta whereby they are gifted part ownership in this new Tour. This new tour would be run once every four years in place of one of those other Tours and run in Odd years so as to not interfere with the Olympic schedule. For instance if it started next year, 2017, it would run a bit earlier, a week?, than the Giro and the Giro could run a smaller Tour maybe for under 23, maybe. Then in 2019 replacing the Veulta it would take place in the Fall. The new tour (working title) The Tour of California the U.S. and the Americas. I would like to have every 4th Tour, starting in 2017 with a return in 2023 and have it Start with 2 to 3 days in Colombia, and with starts in the other years ranging from Mexico(stabilty review) Peru or other central or South American country or the East Coast like the World Championship in Virginia again for 2 or 3 days also Vancouver is a strong possibility for a start. An advantage of east coast or Colombia is they are in a earlier time zone which would reduce in a small way travel fatigue. This tour may also include adding an extra day or two for an earlier start for this Tour to ameliorate in part travel fatigue.

In this Tour I have local knowledge for a couple of stages in Central California and would expect at least 11 of the 21 day/stage Tour would be held in California.There could be stages in Washington State, Idaho, Utah and Nevada. I would want to have one or two possible stages where cross winds would be in play also a couple of stages with Rollouers?(SP) ala classics style.

P.S. I know this has NO...NONE...chance, but if I had the skills to make a race design I would make one for posting here.

P.S.S. One advantage of this Tour is that it would run in prime-time in most of Europe.

Obviously as you say this would be a very unlikely one to ever be able to happen (and one that I and many others who are quite traditionalist would naturally oppose if a real such event was mooted) but in terms of showcasing what the US has to offer this could be a very entertaining concept. After all, back in the "Open" days there were a number of races that lasted longer than we ever find on the current calendar, two week races like the Coors Classic used to be, the Milk Race, the Peace Race, the Volta a Portugal got up to 19 stages at one point, and so on.

In terms of having the skills to make a race design, most of us are using www.cronoescalada.com at the moment, but there are a few other sites you can use, such as www.openrunner.com and www.mapmyride.com. Tracks4bikers used to be the best but it has been destroyed by google's maps changes I'm afraid. These types of sites will give you plenty of scope to draw up your designs, play about with them and produce the profiles that you find all over these threads. Openrunner will give you a more detailed profile but Cronoescalada gives you the ones in TDF/Giro/Vuelta format.

I'd say that the problem a GT in the US would always suffer from is that the territory is significantly larger than any of the countries that host genuine GTs or areas that have hosted those longer races in the past or present (2 week Vuelta a Colombia, Peace Race, Colorado, Portugal) and so there would always be huge parts of the country which were unused. As a result, if they were to do some kind of rota to ensure everybody got a chance to see the race, you could end up with some amazing editions where all the states involved were the ones with the exciting terrain, and other editions that would be like a three week version of the old Tour of Missouri, which was an execrable race. If there were to be a complete focus on one area (such as 11 days in California each time as you suggest), other areas may get fed up of only seeing the race very rarely while one state gets all the best action, not to mention that presumably this would supplant the existing Tour of California? At the same time, there's just SO much more to California than the real race uses that you could probably spend a whole three week race there, though touring a part of a country for three weeks would always struggle to be accepted as a "Grand Tour" per se.

Touring places as far afield as Peru and Colombia would be a serious headache, but Mexico and western Canada could be great places to get the race started. I know the Giro starts in the Netherlands and Denmark are some way from Italy but the distances between countries in Europe are much less, which I think would limit the amount of experimentation that would be feasible. Even Hawaii could be a problem, but I know that could create some totally crazy options (remembering Progsprach's Mauna Kea descent ITT, possibly the most sadistic stage ever posted in this thread, which puts it against a LOT of competition!!!). But then, as you say, the race is not intended as something that you realistically expect could or would happen, therefore you needn't be bounded by that. I look forward to seeing what you come up with

 

[Sandisfan]

Re: Re:

Proposed tour:

As an imaginary billionaire, 10's of billions, I propose a new 3 week Grand Tour which would be held every two years bi-annual.

SHORTEND

P.S.S. One advantage of this Tour is that it would run in prime-time in most of Europe.

Obviously as you say this would be a very unlikely one to ever be able to happen (and one that I and many others who are quite traditionalist would naturally oppose if a real such event was mooted) but in terms of showcasing what the US has to offer this could be a very entertaining concept. After all, back in the "Open" days there were a number of races that lasted longer than we ever find on the current calendar, two week races like the Coors Classic used to be, the Milk Race, the Peace Race, the Volta a Portugal got up to 19 stages at one point, and so on.

In terms of having the skills to make a race design, most of us are using http://www.cronoescalada.com at the moment, but there are a few other sites you can use, such as http://www.openrunner.com and http://www.mapmyride.com. Tracks4bikers used to be the best but it has been destroyed by google's maps changes I'm afraid. These types of sites will give you plenty of scope to draw up your designs, play about with them and produce the profiles that you find all over these threads. Openrunner will give you a more detailed profile but Cronoescalada gives you the ones in TDF/Giro/Vuelta format.

I'd say that the problem a GT in the US would always suffer from is that the territory is significantly larger than any of the countries that host genuine GTs or areas that have hosted those longer races in the past or present (2 week Vuelta a Colombia, Peace Race, Colorado, Portugal) and so there would always be huge parts of the country which were unused. As a result, if they were to do some kind of rota to ensure everybody got a chance to see the race, you could end up with some amazing editions where all the states involved were the ones with the exciting terrain, and other editions that would be like a three week version of the old Tour of Missouri, which was an execrable race. If there were to be a complete focus on one area (such as 11 days in California each time as you suggest), other areas may get fed up of only seeing the race very rarely while one state gets all the best action, not to mention that presumably this would supplant the existing Tour of California? At the same time, there's just SO much more to California than the real race uses that you could probably spend a whole three week race there, though touring a part of a country for three weeks would always struggle to be accepted as a "Grand Tour" per se.

Touring places as far afield as Peru and Colombia would be a serious headache, but Mexico and western Canada could be great places to get the race started. I know the Giro starts in the Netherlands and Denmark are some way from Italy but the distances between countries in Europe are much less, which I think would limit the amount of experimentation that would be feasible. Even Hawaii could be a problem, but I know that could create some totally crazy options (remembering Progsprach's Mauna Kea descent ITT, possibly the most sadistic stage ever posted in this thread, which puts it against a LOT of competition!!!). But then, as you say, the race is not intended as something that you realistically expect could or would happen, therefore you needn't be bounded by that. I look forward to seeing what you come up with

I want to thank you for your Input and resources I think the concept with some amendments is very viable but there are entrenched interests among organizations and the fan base.

I have tried to use Goog Maps and even trying to use way-points when trying to make a route it is very hard to keep the automated blue route where I want it to go especially when it involves several routes available and wants to always choose the shortest route.

As far as using other states, for in stance, if there was a start in Vancouver it could naturally move to Washington state with a jump to Oregon or Idaho in a particular year and then to California. In other years it could start in California move towards Nevada, Utah or if heading north in Utah to Idaho again...It could go many ways with travel on the night before a rest day back to California.

In my next post I will elucidate a couple of stages that could be used for the Tour of California or this proposed Tour

 

[Sandisfan]

Before trying to use your resources I will try to explain the proposed routes in words (probably badly) and if you would like to check it out to see if the length and effort are not too great or insufficiently tough.

The first depending on needed length and effort could start in either Sand City adjacent and north of Monterey city but on the trip north to Santa Cruz there are some elevation variations and very possible winds, it may be that a start farther north would be needed. Other start points if it would to much could be Marina state beach or Moss Landing. Each of these starts would probably have to be done on a Saturday or Sunday as from Sand City would require shutting down northbound Highway 1 for about 30 miles until the Soquel Dr./Freedom Blvd Exit. A Moss landing start would be about half the distance so a shorter amount of shutdown would be needed. The route would take Soquel Dr. into Santa Cruz at some points it changes to Soquel Ave....Now this is the part to be worked out and Goog Maps have regressed as zooming in and out are now more difficult... There are smaller mountain type roads that are North a bit of Highway 17 that wind their way over the Santa Cruz Mountains that are more or less parallel with Hgwy 17 (Many branching roads to choose from) and there is an under/over pass that crosses over to the south side of Hgwy17 and there are roads that connect with Old Santa Cruz Hgwy and it meets with a Y in the road connecting with Aldercroft Heights Rd for a short switchback and then connects to Alma Bridge Rd. Hgwy 17 is on the north side of Lexington Reservoir and Alma Bridge Rd. is on the other side of the lake and eventually crosses over the dam to 17 (if the field and break are close together a short, time wise, shutdown of 17 would be needed). The fairly steep downhill section of Hgwy 17 that goes into Los Gatos, approx., 1/2 mile with a rare underpass style left exit directly into Los Gatos onto North Santa Cruz Ave through a small main street old store front road. After this short section we come up onto Saratoga-Los Gatos Rd./(Hgwy 9) and taking a left goes north to Saratoga (Rolleours(sp)) and makes a left into Saratoga and this is Hgwy 9 to the top where it meets Skyline Blvd. At the top there is a parking area that is a lookout point (partially obstructed by trees but you can walk around and have a great view of the valley and the bay below) and in between the intersection of 9 and Skyline and the opening/driveway of the rest-stop/lookout you can have the finish line. There is a I believe state owned work yard storage area for Caltrans on the other side of Skyline that could be used for buses and the rest-stop could also be used for buses finish area broadcast booths.

P.S. From this site http://www.westernwheelers.org/main/resources/BA_Climbs.html#H9E I am cutting and pasting this description of Hwgy 9 climb from Saratoga to the top:

Highway 9
distance: 6.5 miles
climbing: 2090 feet
Highway 9 connects downtown Saratoga to Skyline Road. The grade is reasonably steady at an average 6.6%. Signs along the side of the road provide frequent reminders of the distance yet to ride. Car traffic can be quite heavy on this wide 2-lane road, and it is thus perhaps better for descending than climbing.

P.S. despite this description there a several steep parts to this pretty tough climb.

 

[Sandisfan]

Re:

Before trying to use your resources I will try to explain the proposed routes in words (probably badly) and if you would like to check it out to see if the length and effort are not too great or insufficiently tough.

The first depending on needed length and effort could start in either Sand City adjacent and north of Monterey city but on the trip north to Santa Cruz there are some elevation variations and very possible winds, it may be that a start farther north would be needed. Other start points if it would to much could be Marina state beach or Moss Landing. Each of these starts would probably have to be done on a Saturday or Sunday as from Sand City would require shutting down northbound Highway 1 for about 30 miles until the Soquel Dr./Freedom Blvd Exit. A Moss landing start would be about half the distance so a shorter amount of shutdown would be needed. The route would take Soquel Dr. into Santa Cruz at some points it changes to Soquel Ave....Now this is the part to be worked out and Goog Maps have regressed as zooming in and out are now more difficult... There are smaller mountain type roads that are North a bit of Highway 17 that wind their way over the Santa Cruz Mountains that are more or less parallel with Hgwy 17 (Many branching roads to choose from) and there is an under/over pass that crosses over to the south side of Hgwy17 and there are roads that connect with Old Santa Cruz Hgwy and it meets with a Y in the road connecting with Aldercroft Heights Rd for a short switchback and then connects to Alma Bridge Rd. Hgwy 17 is on the north side of Lexington Reservoir and Alma Bridge Rd. is on the other side of the lake and eventually crosses over the dam to 17 (if the field and break are close together a short, time wise, shutdown of 17 would be needed). The fairly steep downhill section of Hgwy 17 that goes into Los Gatos, approx., 1/2 mile with a rare underpass style left exit directly into Los Gatos onto North Santa Cruz Ave through a small main street old store front road. After this short section we come up onto Saratoga-Los Gatos Rd./(Hgwy 9) and taking a left goes north to Saratoga (Rolleours(sp)) and makes a left into Saratoga and this is Hgwy 9 to the top where it meets Skyline Blvd. At the top there is a parking area that is a lookout point (partially obstructed by trees but you can walk around and have a great view of the valley and the bay below) and in between the intersection of 9 and Skyline and the opening/driveway of the rest-stop/lookout you can have the finish line. There is a I believe state owned work yard storage area for Caltrans on the other side of Skyline that could be used for buses and the rest-stop could also be used for buses finish area broadcast booths.

P.S. From this site http://www.westernwheelers.org/main/resources/BA_Climbs.html#H9E I am cutting and pasting this description of Hwgy 9 climb from Saratoga to the top:

Highway 9
distance: 6.5 miles
climbing: 2090 feet
Highway 9 connects downtown Saratoga to Skyline Road. The grade is reasonably steady at an average 6.6%. Signs along the side of the road provide frequent reminders of the distance yet to ride. Car traffic can be quite heavy on this wide 2-lane road, and it is thus perhaps better for descending than climbing.

P.S. despite this description there a several steep parts to this pretty tough climb.

I tried Cronoescalada but couldn't make a route and didn't have something to upload so I went to MapMyRide and had to use the car mode because it wouldn't map a bike on the Highway.

I have saved it in My maps and if you would like me to share it to so you can grade my work. When I get a chance I will try a roullouers mostly flat stage with with a single lap in the small town of Sebastapol CA.

When I did the Map there was one small road going over from Santa Cruz that was a bit sketchy (Mountain Charlie Road) and on goog street view it looked like some of the sketchy European GT roads, just a bit more than 5 miles and not it's not very wide, tight for peloton, but I think it's doable.

The description said it was 78.52 miles in length with an around eighteen foot climb on the first pass over the Mountain and an approx. just short of 1900 foot mountain top finish with a total ascent of 7029 feet.


As I mentioned in an earlier post is there any source you might know of where I would have a chance of contacting the Tour of California to suggest the two routes I would like them to consider even if the answer is we don't take suggestions. I have tried there E-mail addy from the TOC page and although sending Emails on 3 or 4 occasions I have had zero response.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Realised as I'm approaching the point to start a new race that I never libraried the last one.

Rundfahrt der Ostalgie

Stage 1a: Rund um Rügen, 117km

Stage 1b: Sassnitz - Bergen auf Rügen, 23km (TTT)

Stage 2: Rostock - Potsdam, 233km

Stage 3: Magdeburg - Halle (Saale), 195km

Stage 4: Halle (Saale) - Erfurt, 173km

Stage 5: Schleizer Dreieck - Sachsenring, 169km

Stage 6: Rund im Erzgebirge, 160km

Stage 7: Chemnitz (Karl-Marx-Stadt) - Bautzen, 173km

Stage 8: Forst im Lausitz - Cottbus, 27,2km (ITT)

Stage 9: Eisenhüttenstadt - Berlin-Ost, 143km

 

[fauniera]

Love the cobbles im Osten.

TOUR DE FRANCE

(Thu) stage 6: La Borboule - Rodez, 236 km

Starting in La Bourboule, where Stephen Roche achieved his last big win, this is a long trek south across the Massif Central.

It's the longest stage of the race. The terrain is undulating, there are no big climbs, but there is never time to rest, either.

The final 30 km are the most difficult. They take place in the the valley of the Aveyron river and include 5 sharp climbs from the gorge to the plateau above.

The first climb is Côte de Moyrazès (4 km at 6,3%), followed by Côte de Lavernhe (2,3 km at 6,5%). Next is the two stepped Côte de Sanhes, which has a fairly narrow descent.

The penultimate climb is Côte d'Olemps (1,1 km at 8,9%) with only 7 km to go.

There is no immediate descent, as the riders stay on the plateau for a few kilometers (with a narrow road again), before descending to the valley one final time.

With less than 2 km to go, the final climb begins, already in the town of Rodez. Côte Vieussens, which begins with two switchbacks, is 800 meters long and on average 9,9% steep.

From the top of the climb only 700 meters are left to ride. The finish is at Avenue Victor Hugo.

 

[fauniera]

TOUR DE FRANCE

(Fri) stage 7: Villefranche de Rouergue - Agen, 137 km

After three uphill finishes in a row the sprinters have their say again. Agen with its wide and long boulevards is perfect for a bunch sprint.


Villefranche de Rouergue

Agen

 

[w52]

Volta a Portugal

Stage 9: Guarda - Mirandela (167.5km)

After the Torre stage Grandíssima continues to stage 9, that will link the cities of Guarda and Mirandela in a 167.5km route. This is a transitional stage and is ideal for a breakaway group to win. Stage starts in Guarda the highest city in continental Portugal. From there riders will stay in the interior in direction to the North. The roads are not flat, indeed there is a continuous up and down. However there are only 3 categorised climbs in Foz Coa cat.4; Torre de Moncorvo and Vila Flor cat.3. Its important to highlight the passage in Foz Côa, whose municipality includes parts in the Côa Valley Archaeological site, declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Stage finishes in Mirandela in the Trás os Montes region along the margins of Tua River. This city is mostly known by the production of alheira. The finish line will be placed in the Avenida Varandas do Tua, which offers good conditions to a mass sprint if it occurs.

Alheira

Mirandela also offers nice images to tv coverage

 

[mikii4567]

Meanwhile, I'm going to have a go at something an early season UCI World Tour week long race - Paris-Nice. Though it's difficult to make very hard Alpine MTFs in that race, because of the snow, I've tried to create a tough and challenging course that should be an interesting start to the season, with some punchy climbs and some dragging mountains.

The whole route can be found below:
http://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/tours/view/3866

Paris-Nice
Stage 1: Versailles - Rambouillet (163km)
http://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/hd/79212

Yes, you may criticize me for starting with a road stage, but I think that this start goes well with the rest of the race. It's not particularly difficult, with only two cat. 3 KOM points and two intermediate sprints, Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Maurepas. We start in Versailles, known for the Chateau and being the place where the famous treaty was signed, and complete a loup around Yvelines, which hosts the start of the race start since 2010. The line is drawn in Rambouillet, also known for having a castle and the famous Palais du Roi de Rome.

Start
Versailles, Avenue de Paris (km 0 is at Rue de Resevoirs)
Finish
Rambouillet, Rue de General du Gaulle

Climbs
Côte de l'Hautil (4.5 Km at 3.4%, cat. 3),
Côte de Neauphle-le-Château (1.9 Km at 5.4%, cat. 3)

Sprints
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Maurepas

The next stage
Another flat one, heading south... towards the sun...

 

[mikii4567]

Paris-Nice
Stage 2: Dourdan - Saint-Amand-Montrond (226km)
http://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/hd/79218

The second flat stage, and the second opportunity for sprinters. After the first stage was effectively a loop around an area, this is more of a transit towards the south. It is also probably easier by profile, as it is pretty much as flat as a pancake, and there are no categorized climbs. The riders will leave from Dourdan, again known for having a 13th century castle, but also an even older church, and will end in Saint-Amand-Montrond, which has has an ancient town hall, a few historical churches and castles. The first intermediate sprint is in Etampes, just 9.5km after km0. This will probably delay the breakaway's formation, since the peloton will definitely want to go for this one. The second is in Bourges, 47km from the line. In St.Amand-Montrond, I'm using the 2013 Tour finish line; the riders will thus end on the Rue Pelletier Doisy, outside of town.

Start
Dourdan, Rue du Chartres (km 0 is on the D836, outside La Forêt-le-Roi)
Finish
Saint-Amand-Montrond, Rue Pelletier Doisy

Climbs
none (sadly )

Sprints
Etampes
Bourges

The next stage
The reason stage 1 wasn't a TT

edit: This is the final stage for the sprinters...

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour
Stage 9 Lewiston- White Bird 169 km Medium Mountains

It is the last stage before the first rest day. Today’s stage leaves Lewiston and heads south into the hills. There is a long gradual climb of right around 2% which takes the race up to a plateau that features both sprints and the feed zone. The riders then go over the north side of White Bird Hill Summit and drop down the final decent for a circuit up the old highway of White Bird Summit. It is a steady climb that was built when automobile travel was new so the grade stays at 5% while snaking up the side of the valley. One can see the race develop as they view it from the top of the climb. White Bird is historically important as well because it was the site of the first battle of the Nez Perce War. The decent is around 8% and it is a fast straight drop into White Bird and the finish line so and gaps opened up at the summit will hold if it is more than 10-15 seconds. A break will be the favorite for this stage because the final climb is a bit too easy to force gaps between the GC riders. At this point they will be looking past today, the rest day tomorrow and the flat stage to follow (stage 10) to stage 11 which is one of the hardest stages of the race with 3,688 m of elevation gain with four major climbs including a mountain top finish.



White Bird Hill Profile

White Bird Hill Switchbacks

View From Top of Hill

New Highway

White Bird

Map of Climb (Road is black line, Battle is other part)

 

[mikii4567]

Paris-Nice
Stage 3: Saint-Amand-Montrond - Vallon-en-Sully (29.4km)
http://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/hd/79222

Yes, it's an ITT. To be fair, it's quite short, at 29.4km, but then again in 2011 we had a 27km time trial which effectively set-up a win for Tony Martin. In a race designed for climbers. Meh. So basically, I kept pretty much the same length, which should probably work given a much more difficult parcours in that year. Also, it comes much earlier than then. We leave again from Saint-Amand-Montrond, so there's pretty much nothing new to say about that city, and head south, to Vallon-en-Sully. This is only a commune, and only has 1800 residents, so it may be quite small. But in 2014, we saw Fayence host a stage finish, and probably the finish of the most important stage in that year. Fayence is only marginally bigger than Vallon-en-Sully, so I went with my idea. This town is only really known for a number of chateaux, the most famous of which is called Le Creux. The Cher runs straight through the middle.

The ITT is flat, so no opportunity for climbers. They'll just have to try their hardest to minimize their time loss and fight on the mountainous stages, which will follow shortly. It's pretty obvious to me that there will be a change in the leader's jersey after this one, and an ITT specialist will take it, but it's quite unlikely they'll keep it for long. They may not even really want it, it's the stage win that will count for them.

Start
Saint-Amand-Montrond, Rue Pelletier Doisy
Finish
Vallon-en-Sully, Avenue Marx Dormoy

Climbs
none (again... )

Checkpoints
Drevant
Meaulne

The next stage
The queen stage of this race...

 

[May0maniac]

@cycleMN: great stuff,a few months ago I tried to design a Tour of Idaho and created a similar stage with the same finish.

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour
Stage 10 Ontario- Boise 101 km Flat

The shortest road stage in the race. After a rest day in Boise, the riders travel over the border to Ontario, Oregon for the start of the 10th stage. Ontario is a nondescript town which has a large vegetable industry surrounding it. The race then heads back to Boise by way of the foothills surrounding the city and finishes close to the capital. This short and flat stage will be one for the sprinters. The riders and soigneurs will like spending three nights in the same hotel since the next stage is based in the Boise area as well.

Ontario

Boise

Boise

 

[cycleMN]

Pacific Tour
Stage 11 Boise- Bogus Basin 177 km Mountains

Halfway point of the race is here (not km wise though).
It is finally here; today is the first true day in the mountains and what a day it is. The race covers one 4th, one 3rd, three 2nd and one HC category climbs. Most don’t have the steepest grades but here is the kicker; the middle four are gravel which increases the difficulty substantially. The first climb is Spring Valley Summit which should pose little challenge then after the descent and a right turn on Harris Creek Rd. the race is on gravel from kilometer 43 until kilometer 86 in Idaho City. These two climbs should fatigue the legs for the final part of the race. A gentle descent on the main road goes until the race hits the 111 km mark when the riders climb Rush Creek Rd. which is 4 km at 8% on gravel. At this point riders that are having a bad day won’t be able to bluff because they will suffer in the finale. The riders pop out on the road they left 8 kilometers ago and continue south until they turn right on Rocky Canyon Rd. which is 7.5% for 5.7 kilometers on gravel again. What is left of the lead group then descends into Boise to climb 30 kilometers to the Bogus Basin Ski Resort. The final climb is only measured 22 km out but there is a defiant sense of vertical gain from the city. Bogus Basin is a long and relatively shallow climb but the grade does kick up towards the top before the plateaus from 6 km to 3 km before the line. Having this climb at the end of this stage should mean that a group of around 10 of the best climbers in the race should come in together. If the rider that is wearing the leader’s jersey isn’t in top climbing form, they could lose a minute or two on the final climb since it pays to have a small group working together.

Bogus Basin Profile

Harris Creek Area

Rush Creek Road

Rocky Creek Road

Bogus Basin

View from Summit