Race Design Thread

[Tonton]

STAGE 10 – PLOERMEL-BRESSUIRE – 263KM

KOM : Puy du Fou (Cat 4.) 1.8 km @ 5.7%, Côte du Moulin des Justices (Cat.4) 1.6 km @ 6.3%, Côte de Bellevue (Cat.4) 1.2 km @ 6%.

After (a well-deserved) rest day, our riders wake up and it’s a sunny day in Bretagne (bold prediction). Today’s stage will be contested between two towns who have never hosted a stage in the TdF.

Ploërmel is a beautiful medieval town located on the edge of the Brocéliande forest, home of legendary sorcerer Merlin. He’ll wave his wand signaling the départ and probably foresee that the sprinters will work their magic today. But upon closer scrutiny, several climbs towards the end could inspire a gallant move.

Along the way, the peloton will visit some very picturesque towns such as Saint-Mesmin…

…and also pass through Les Herbiers, famous for its yearly ITT race which merged with the Grand-Prix des Nation in ‘06. Amongst the winners of this race are some of the biggest names in recent ITT history: Chris Boardman, Serhiy Honchar, David Millar, Tony Martin, Vasil Kiyienka, and our rider of the day…

Yes, the Vino option. A rider drafted by team La Vie Pas Claire by the way…

This is a typical Tuesday, no GC action to be expected. The finish in Bressuire will make for great TV, with its medieval castle and massive church.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 11 – POITIERS-LESTARDS – 212KM

KOM: Puy Lard (Cat.4) 1.3 km @ 5.8%, Puy de Moussanas (Cat.4) 2.4 km @5.9%, Puy des Fayes (Cat.4) 1.7 km @ 5.7%, Puy la Besse (Cat.4) 1.7 km @ 5.5%, Puy Bayau (Cat.3) 4.7 km @ 6.6%.

Bonjour from Poitiers! In a few hours, the sun will rise and Stage 11 will be contested.

Poitiers is a town with a lot of history since it was founded by the Celtic tribe, the Pictones. Many decisive battles were fought in its vicinity. It’s in nearby Vouillé that Clovis defeated the Visigoths led by King Alaric II in 507AD. In 732AD, Charles Martel stopped the Arab invasion in a battle that saved the Christian World. Charles “The Hammer” has his statue in the Château de Versailles.

It’s also in the Poitiers countryside that the English defeated the French in 1356AD (it hurts, but I had to mention it).

Poitiers is a strategic town, which in cycling terms means: transition town. Five out of the nine times that the TdF stopped in Poitiers, it was on the way to, or coming from Bordeaux. After yesterday’s long stage, today’s journey isn’t much easier: reasonably long, with two intermediate sprints and four categorized climbs in the final fifty kilometers.

Before we go from flat to hilly, the peloton will pass through a town frozen in time. Following D-Day, on June 10, 1944 Der Führer regiment of the 2nd SS-Panzer Division Das Reich was marching towards Normandy. Harassed by the French Resistance, the SS decided to make an example: the women and children in Oradour-sur-Glane were rounded up in the church and burned alive, the men were lined-up and machine-gunned, and the village was looted and burnt. 642 lives were lost, including 247 women and 205 children. After the war, Charles de Gaulle ordered the town maintained as a permanent memorial and museum.

The rider of the day is unknown to me. He was the owner of this bike.

Let the flame burn forever and remember that slogans such as “Make [Whatever Country] Great Again” are dangerous. Will we ever learn the lessons of History?

The murito finish is tough enough to give us a great final. The profile below shows the final combo, first the Côte de Boucheteil, then a short descent, before the final climb up the Puy Bayau.

The break of the day may take that one in the town of Lestards.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 12 – USSEL-CHALMAZEL – 181KM

KOM: Côte de Serre (Cat.3) 4.1 km % 5.8%, Côte de la Croix Haute (Cat.4) 2.4 km @ 5.8%, Col de la Croix-Morand (Cat.3) 11.2 km @ 4.6%, Côte de Buron (Cat.3) 3.3 km @ 7.1%, Col de Béal (Cat.1) 13.6 km @ 6.6%.

As we leave the Limousin and a featured rider has to be chosen, of course, of course I was going to choose Poupou… and then I changed my mind. This rider was also wrongly nicknamed “the eternal second”, “l’éternel second”…but this time in Italian: “eterno secondo”. It is so unfair to Gaetano Belloni, one of the most talented riders of his generation.

Yes he seldom got the better of The Great Costante Girardengo, but look at his record: he won the ’20 Giro, two MSR, and three GDL. Belloni won a total of forty-three professional races, including twelve stages at the Giro d’Italia. That’s a winner in my book.

It’s Thursday and we begin a difficult four-day stretch. This medium mountain stage begins in the charming town of Ussel.

The route slices through the Massif Central, avoiding the biggest climbs. Today is not the day; we are just beginning the build up to a great week-end. The break of the day should reach the half-way point with up to a ten-minute advantage. As the TV broadcast begins, the leaders should be reaching the Côte de Buron, named after the small town at the summit, and the medieval castle built on the puy.

We are now in the regional park of the Livradois-Forez. The feeding zone is in Sugères. This area offers many great climbs, usually relatively short and steep. The Tour has yet to feature a true Forez stage and its biggest pass, the Col du Béal. It will be the last difficulty of the day. This was the theater of an epic MTF duel between Froome and Contador in the ’14 Dauphiné.

The Col du Béal is quite a difficult climb, and it’s followed by a descent that is neither steep nor technical; however, several dangerous hairpins in the final two kilometers could make a difference for the stage win. Could a contender place a sneaky attack and gain twenty precious seconds?

The finish is in Chalmazel.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 13 – ST-ETIENNE-COL DU COQ – 197KM

KOM : Col de la République (Cat.3) 11.5 km @ 4.9%, Côte de Montaud (Cat.3) 6.1 km @ 8.1%, Côte de Petesset (Cat.3) 4.4 km @ 6.6%, Col de Palaquit (Cat.1) 7.5 km @ 8.4%, Col du Coq (HC) 12.8km @ 8.5%.

Saint-Etienne’s greatest treasure may be its football/soccer team: Les Verts. The Greens were one of the top teams in the World from the mid-70s until the early ‘80s. This newspaper clip celebrates the trouncing of Hamburg (on the road!) 5-0 in the ’80 UEFA Cup, with Michel Platini as the maestro.

Platini, the greatest French “footballeur” ever left Saint-Etienne to join La Juve and conquer Europe in ’82. At the time, the club was in the midst of a scandal involving two sets of books, cash payments…some things will never change…Michel, fantastic player, shady character…

Saint-Etienne is the birthplace of a great rider, a French legend, Roger Rivière. At age 19, he beat Anquetil for the national title in pursuit en route to winning three WC in pursuit and twice breaking the World Hour Record. In the spring of ’59, he finished 6th at the Vuelta with three stage wins, before finishing 4th at the TdF. At the ’60 Tour, fighting for the overall win against Gastone Nencini, he crashed in the descent of the Col de Perjuret, broke his back, and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

What if…

As far as this stage is concerned, it’s a story of two halves: in order to keep it reasonable, the first part is not too challenging. The action really begins with the Col de Palaquit, which I broke down in my profile, giving the Côte de Petesset its own KOM banner.

This climb was used in the ’14 TdF, and in the final part of the descent, there were crashes due to the road narrowing, twists and turns to avoid median divider islands. Jacob Fuglsang was one of the victims.

Things go fast after the descent. A little flat, but not much, and a massive MTF: the Col du Coq was only used twice in the Tour de France, both times in the ‘80s for a finish at the AdH. And not from this side, the real side, the brutal side.

There’s no hiding, even if it’s Friday and the week-end is loaded with difficulties. It’s too tough of a climb for calculations, too steep for domestiques not to explode; the contenders will have to show their cards. There will be GC ramifications. Its’ a good time to shake the tree and the weak will be exposed. The only question is: will the top-3 go at it from afar, or wait? Certainly, some in the top-10 will attack and try to gain time on lesser climbers that they see as threats in the GC (a Dumoulin for example).

Most of the climb is in the shade, until the last kilometer. Then, the forest clears up. The finish is located 150 meters past the summit, in front of a relatively large parking lot.

Some will celebrate, but there will be big losers today.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 14 – CHAMBERY-THORENS-GLIERES - 137 KM

KOM: Col de Tamié (Cat.2) 9 km @ 6.4%, Col de l’Epine (Cat.2) 6.6 km @ 8%, Col du Marais (Cat.4) 1.4 km @ 6.1%, Col de la Croix Fry (Cat.1) 10.8 km @ 7.4%, Col des Glières (HC) 7.9 km @ 9.2%.

Chambéry is one of the gates to the Alpes, close to yesterday’s stage’s finish. And maybe I’m falling victim of the short stage fad. Regardless, this one is made for attackers, and at the very least, the final will produce GC action. This stage could be a huge trap.

So let’s begin this short stage in Chambéry, with one hour on the flat to warm up. The first difficulty is the Col de Tamié, not a monster ascent by any means, but a serious climb.

The gruppeto will form, two more categorized climbs will act as many filters, and the Col de la Croix Fry will definitely separate the whey from the chaff.

We should now be left with less than forty riders heading towards the final climb of the day. It leads to the Plateau des Glières, famous for harboring some of the most active maquis during WW2.

I hope that the Col des Glières becomes part of an official TdF design: it is a fantastic climb. It has been used as a MTF in the last stage of the ’13 Tour de l’Avenir and no other than Julian Alaphilippe won the day. It was from the other/easier side. We are climbing from the hard side, and the average gradient would be close to 11% if it wasn’t for the final part, which actually makes it even more interesting.

Indeed, the green zone on the profile is one mile of sterrato. After such a tough climb, it could create chaos, and certainly will give attacking opportunities for the more aggressive riders.

At the summit, the road is paved again, in decent shape, leading to a very steep and tricky descent to the finish.
Many hairpins, twists and turns will make the final breathtaking.

The road gets straighter, less dangerous in the run-in to Thorens-Glières.

I see a top-5 rider lose everything today.

A vintage Vicenzo Nibali would be a serious contender for the win, but he’s not our champion du jour. Our featured rider took the yellow jersey the first time that Chambéry hosted the Tour. It was in ’96, the stage was Chambéry-Les Arcs, and on the eve of this stage Evgeni Berzin was in yellow. Mostly known for his win at the ’94 Giro where he dominated BigMig and newcomer Marco Pantani, Berzin never showed that form again, at least not over three weeks. At the ’96 TdF, he took the yellow jersey in Les Arcs and consolidated his lead the following day, winning the 30.5 km ITT by 35” over Riis, 45” over Olano, and 1’1” over Rominger and Indurain. Notables: Ullrich 6th at 1’7”, Boardman 8th at 2’30”, and Zülle 9th at 2’36”. This was Berzin’s last pro win. Wearing yellow…

And let’s not forget that Evgueni Berzin (like Vino) was drafted at #9 overall by Team La Vie Pas Claire in CN’s Fantasy Doping Draft.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 15 - BELLEGARDE-SUR-VALSERINE-MONT REVARD – 219 km

KOM: Col de Cuvery (Cat.1) 12.8 km @ 6.4%, Col de Richemond (Cat.3) 6.3 km @ 5.1%, Col de la Biche (HC) 10.7 km @ 8.7%, Grand Colombier (HC) 15.3 km @ 8%, Mont du Chat (HC) 16.1 km @ 7.7%, Mont Revard (HC) 15.8 km @ 6.9%.

After years of lobbying and feet-stomping, cycling fans finally get the big stage, the trio Biche-Colombier-Chat in the ’17 TdF, and from the right sides no less. Bravo! This will be an epic stage. So I decided to push the envelope even further.

There’s not much to post that you don’t already know:

Col de Cuvery : solid climb.

Col de Richemond : meh, but well-placed.

Col de la Biche: very, very tough.

Le Grand Colombier via Artemare-Virieu : torture.

Mont du Chat via Yenne: a beast.

And after all these efforts, the long and steep, irregular climb to Mont Revard should be epic.

It is a stage for the climbers. There is the opportunity to eliminate domestiques and isolate other leaders, shake off the contenders and dynamite the Tour de France. Long range attack or war of attrition; whatever the scenario is, it will be a bloodbath.

This is the Queen Stage, my friends. Significant time gaps are to be expected.

The rider “du jour” won the Mont Revard stage back in ’72, taking advantage of Eddy Merckx’s premature celebration.

He’s said to be the best DS ever, and I agree: the one, the only Cyrille Guimard was a great rider in his own right. National champion as an amateur in ‘67, in track sprint in ‘70, and cyclo-cross in ‘76. Guimard was a complete rider. In ’71, he won two stages and the points classification at the Vuelta. And at the ’72 Tour, he almost shook the World, winning four stages and giving Eddy all he could handle, before withdrawing on stage 17, victim of yet another knee injury.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 16 - ARRAS-LAMONT – 200 km

KOM: Koppenberg (Cat.4), Korketeer (Cat.4), Taaienberg (Cat.4), Kruisberg (Cat.4), Oude Kwaremont (Cat.4) Paterberg (Cat.4).

No my friends, this participant in the ’11 Paris-Roubaix Challenge (and Andy Schleck look-alike) is not our rider of the day.

The rest day was nice, great massage by Japanese twins for the lucky few, but by the end of today, its benefits will be gone. This stage basically is two-thirds of a Paris-Roubaix, and one-third of a Ronde Van Vlanderen. It is a new twist but an old concept: my usual monument stage in the last week of a TdF. And this one is tasty. It’s a game changer, no doubt…

Human presence in Arras dates back to the Paleolithic age, some 170,000 years ago. The area is obviously rich with regards to archeologic sites. Arras thrived in the middle ages for its tapestry and textile industry, monuments were built, including several cathedrals. Good morning in distinctive surroundings, enjoy the architecture while you can.

No intermediate sprint today, no rules for feeding, no feeding zone. It’s old school. DS and team cars will have to perform at the highest level. With little time to settle, the peloton reaches Erre, where the cobbles begin.
Until the riders get to Toufflers, there’s no rest. Here’s a map of the cobbled sectors…yes, there are a lot of them.

After Toufflers and the border crossing into Belgium, there’s a small opportunity, roughly 25 kilometers for teams to bring their leader back. But there will be a price to pay, as we reach Oudenaarde and the final.

Beginning with the infamous Koppenberg, the riders will have to climb a total of six legendary hills. I can imagine riders fall off the back, well-timed attacks, meltdowns. The finish is in Lamont, roughly three hundred meters past the summit of the Paterberg.

Please God, give me a lead group with our rider of the day, GVA, Sagan, and Don Alejandro for the win. And Alaphilippe for good measure... Please!

No need to introduce our featured rider, the one, the only Tornado Tom Boonen. When PR meets the RVV, he is The Man, winning them multiple times including the double in ’05.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 17 - VALENCIENNES-BAR-LE-DUC -254 km

After the monument stage, here is a flat stage…but it is long. We should see sprinters and their teams at the forefront while the GC riders hide, trying to save or at least not spend much energy.

The race begins in Valenciennes, a town known for its architecture and rich historic heritage.

This is a flat stage, with two intermediate sprints in Guise and Montcornet. The “ravito” in Reims, the capital of Champagne, gives us the opportunity to admire its cathedral, the crowning place of the French Kings.

A few ripples in the final twenty kilometers shouldn’t interfere with the expected outcome, a bunch sprint in Bar-le-Duc.

As the Tour enters the Champagne-Ardennes region, let’s celebrate a French rider from Troyes, whose brothers François, Régis, and Jerôme also made it to the pros. After winning the ’81 Tour de l’Avenir head of the great Soukho, Pascal Simon was the next best French hope, but he never quite delivered as a pro. Simon won 17 pro-races, including a stage in the ’82 TdF, was 7th overall in ’84; but he will mostly be remembered for his loss in the ’83 Tour, following a crash when he was wearing yellow with what looked like an insurmountable lead over Laurent Fignon.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 18 – NANCY-NANCY – ITT – 67KM

A lot has happened in this Tour de France since the first ITT in Corsica. The pure climbers should have seized their opportunities, build a “time cushion” in the Pyrénées and the Alpes. Otherwise, all hope will be lost by the end of today.

We can expect significant time gaps on this flat 67 kilometer course, maybe as much as three or four minutes between the contenders who are ITT specialists and the mountain goats. Of course, freshness will count as much if not more than pure ITT skills.

We’re in Nancy, Lorraine, often visited by Le Tour, including four ITTs since WW2: Fausto Coppi won the first two, in ’49 (137 km!) and ’52, Louison Bobet won in ’54, and The Badger took the stage in ’78. Select group indeed…
Start and finish areas are respectively located on the western and eastern side of the Place Saint-Stanislas.

Our featured rider may be the best cyclist from Lorraine ever: and what a story! Gilbert Bauvin was born just a few miles from Nancy in Lunéville. At age 18, he overcame a flat tire and finished second in his first amateur race. Bauvin was poor: he won his first major race, the ’47 Nancy-Strasbourg, riding his grand-father’s bike. Turning pro in ’50 as part of the regional team Nancia, Gilbert Bauvin began a very successful career, becoming the first Nancéen to ride the TdF. He raced nine TdF, wearing the yellow jersey in ’51, ’54, and ’58, winning four stages, including Roubaix-Charleroi in the ’57 edition. This picture of him shows pure aggression, as he attacks in the Mur de Grammont.

Bauvin finished three times in the top-10, including runner-up in ’56, won 4 stages at the Vuelta, wearing the leader’s jersey in ’55 and finishing 7th in ’56.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 19 – SARREBOURG-COL DU PLATZERWASEL – 227 KM

KOM: Col des Pandours (Cat.3) 4.1km @ 6.1%, Côte de Grendelbruch (Cat.4) 3.7km @ 4.7%, Grand Rosskopf (Cat.2) 11.6km @ 5.9%, Col du Kreuzweg (Cat.4) 1.8km @ 6.1%, Col de Fouchy (Cat.3) 5km @ 5.9%, Col Haut de Ribeauvillé (Cat.3) 7.1km @ 5.6%, Col de Freland (Cat.3) 5.4km @ 5.6%, Col du Calvaire (Cat.2) 10.9km @ 6.1%, Col du Platzerwasel (HC) 9.1km @ 7.6%.

If the pure climbers did their job during this Tour, despite 107 kilometers of time-trial, at least one of them should hold a small lead over the better ITT specialist in the GC, or at least remain very close to the yellow jersey. Today and tomorrow will be his or their last shots. The battle for top-5 or top-10 honors will go full swing.

After La Lorraine, welcome to L’Alsace, and we can again celebrate a local rider from the’50s: the Alsatian Roger Hassenforder. In his time, few riders were more popular than him: Hassenforder was larger than life, his sense of humor was legendary; but behind the ultimate prankster, the extravagant rider, the rock star, was a true champion. Félix Lévitan said of Roger Hassenforder “he is pure class”.

Among his many successes, Roger won national titles on track, a stage at the ’57 Vuelta, and in the Tour he wore the yellow jersey for 4 days in ’53, plus 8 stages wins between ’55 and ’59.

But let’s proceed, shall we? And the action begins as soon as we leave Sarrebourg.

Two climbs come in quick succession before the intermediate sprint at Niederhaslach.

The course difficulty goes crescendo as we leave Schirmeck and begin climbing the Grand Rosskopf. This is a serious ascent, passing by a sinister place: Struthof first served as a transit camp, before becoming a death camp where SS “doctors” conducted experiments and assembled a Jewish skeleton collection. The gas chamber is still there for all revisionists to see.

The ravitaillement in Orbey marks the beginning of the last third of the stage, and the difficulty increases again. The Col du Calvaire is reasonably steep, and when the riders get to the summit, it’s a long descent with hardly any flat before the final climb, the Col du Platzerwasel. If you exclude the beginning of the climb between Metzeral and Sondernach, the average gradient is quite impressive.

It’s possible to attack with 5km to go. The finish should be superb.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 20 – BELFORT-SOULTZ-HAUT-RHIN – 171 KM

KOM: Col des Chevrères (Cat.2) 3.9km @ 9%, Ballon de Servance (Cat.2) 7km @ 6.8%, Ballon d’Alsace (Cat.1) 9.1km @ 6.8%, Col du Hundsruck (Cat.3) 7.7km @ 4.3%, Grand Ballon (HC) 12.1km @ 7.7%.

It is the day before Paris, and I hope that the yellow jersey hasn’t been decided. At the very least, the top-10, top-5, maybe even the podium are not set in stone. One last battle has to be fought, it’s a shorter stage, and it’s loaded with difficulties.

The start of the race is in Belfort, Franche-Comté, known for its massive sandstone statue of a lion, Le Lion de Belfort, masterpiece by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in the 1870s. He later designed the equestrian statue of Vercingétorix in Clermont-Ferrand, as well as many monuments, including the Bartholdi Fountain in Washington DC, and of course the Statue of Liberty.

The rider of the day is my chouchou: Thibaut Pinot, a.k.a Tibopino.

In order to secure his participation, I designed the stage to begin in his backyard. He may even sleep in his own bed and show up fresh in Belfort, under the cheers of the public. Thibaut knows these roads. The first climb of the day, the Col des Chevrères can attest to that.

With hardly any time to rest, the peloton will face two serious obstacles, first the Ballon de Servance, and then the first ever official climb in a Tour de France, in 1905, the Ballon d’Alsace.

After the feeding station in Oberbruck comes the modest Col du Hundsruck, which still offers stretches at 8-9%.

The descent towards Bitschwiller has a few nasty hairpins towards the end, so it’s safe to assume that a long line of riders will try to regroup and re-organize quickly before the peloton gets to Moosch. This is the very last opportunity for a climber to win, for a 4th place rider to podium, for the 8th overall to jump to 5th in the GC. It’s a good climb for attacks.

The grand Ballon via Moosch is a massive climb, and its last three kilometers are really, really tough. The finish is strategically located in Soultz-Haut-Rhin, immediately after the most technical part of the descent.

There are a lot of hairpins, some very steep stretches that will test your brakes and your b@lls. An excellent climber placing a big attack followed by a fantastic descent can win by one minute, maybe more.

 

[Tonton]

STAGE 21 – VERSAILLES-PARIS – 62 KM

Whoever wins this Tour de France is a great champion. What a test! This course, in my opinion, would give Indurain, Armstrong, or Pantani (at their best) the same odds… or Froome, Quintana, and Contador the same odds.

But there’s one more stage to race, the unthinkable may happen. Like a solo win. This stage seems to be promised to the sprinters, but sometimes things don’t go according to plans, like in ’94. And what a crazy finish that was: a small group resisted the charge of the peloton, and Frankie Andreu placed what seemed to be the winning move with less than one kilometer to go. When Andreu seemed to have it in the bag, our rider of the day appeared in the picture. Eddy Seigneur never got out of the saddle. The future four-time French ITT Champion was pushing a massive gear and caught the fading Andreu with 100 meters to go. And he kept going, hammering the pedals... What a win!

So it is the end. And we get a finish fit for a king. Starting in front of the palace in Versailles…

Flat stage, celebrations, Champagne, it has been an exciting Tour de France. Six laps by the Seine River, gorgeous views of the Eiffel Tower, at the foot of which the finish of this edition will take place.

I hope you liked it. With the Jura trio making it, the next challenge for ASO (in my opinion) is to get the route to finally explore the Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port area. If the cycling fans get loud, eventually they will listen. I will not let go.
Now I need to finish my Vuelta…

 

[Tonton]

Re:

None of the images seem to work, Tonton

Thank you for the heads-up Brullnux . You saved me from a major disaster. I owe you one.

And I thought that I had Imgur figured out .

 

[barmaher]

Some great stages there, and I really love the way your route flows around France.

But it is far too hard. If you made one of your Corsican stages flat, and also stage 6 and one more in the middle week, I think the route would be enhanced.

But I dislike being critical. Some of the stages are lovely, and you have avoided the obvious, which is nice.

 

[Netserk]

I like it as well. I don't think it's too much (I'll have to take another look on your cobbles stage), but I'm a bit critical of the design of the Revard stage. I'm not sure you will get enough bang for your buck, so it could be a bit of a waste of all those climbs. It was also a bit weird/surprising to see Coq as a MTF

That said, I think it's a really great route, and inspiring too, which is no mean feat.

8/10

 

[Red Rick]

Only dislike adding the Revard after MdC. Rest looks brilliant

 

[Tonton]

Re:

8/10

Nice!

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

None of the images seem to work, Tonton

Thank you for the heads-up Brullnux . You saved me from a major disaster. I owe you one.

And I thought that I had Imgur figured out .

No problem, would've been more of an issue for me than you: you'd already seen your route

I really like the route (may be slightly too hard, admittedly); my only qualms are some of the sequencing of the stages, for example Stage 8 and 9 are both really well designed stages but I fear that nothing will happen on Stage 8 because of the monster that is Stage 9. This happens again in the alps, Stage 14 may not be ran as hard as it could because of the really, really hard Stage 15 (which is really, really hard - although maybe Revard could be switched with a shorter/shallower climb, to force attacks, rather than selection, on Mont du Chat to create an Aprica feeling which I assume you were going for). Also is the finish in Stage 16 logistically possible? Absolutely genuine question, because if it is it adds a cool new option that I hadn't thought of. The sequencing of the last three relevant stages was perfect, though.

Last thing, to make it more realistic you could maybe take out the Col du Beal on Stage 12, and replace it with a more rolling finish. But if this was the real Tour route, I'd be very, very happy.

 

[Tonton]

Re: Re:

Also is the finish in Stage 16 logistically possible? Absolutely genuine question, because if it is it adds a cool new option that I hadn't thought of.

Thanks for the feed-back. All excellent points, really.

For the finish of Stage 16, here's the track. First from the top of the Paterberg...

...and then zoomed in. I'm thinking about using fields for podium, parking...

 

[Max Rockatansky]

I like the idea of putting a Flanders stage so late into the race. I also always wandered how a good route might look like, when you put a cobblestone stage on the day before Paris. An I am talking about a real cobblestone stage like in 1980, where they faced around 30k of Paris-Roubaix pavé.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

After a long break from posting races in this thread, I'm back. And the first race is in a location that hasn't been used before (I think).


Cape Town and West Cape International Cycle Stage Race:
With the real life sudden cancellation of the Tour of Qatar and the imaginary boycott (after followed by cancellation of the Tour of Oman, the riders needed something to go to after the Tour Down Under and the Vuelta San Juan. So, Hot Chillee (a company that runs multi day sportives), along with a joint venture between the West Cape, Cape Town and the Cycling South Africa (the goverening body in SA) the Cape Town and West Cape International Cycle Stage Race (CTWCICSR) was born.


Cape Town and West Cape International Cycle Stage Race Stage 1 Prologue: V&A Waterfront - Cape Town Stadium (6.5km)

Climbs:
None

Timing Split Point:
Mouille Point Beach @ 3.5km

The first stage of the race is a prologue time trial. It starts at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) waterfront. Heres a bit of info on it from the ever reliable wikipedia. After leaving the ramp on one side of the waterfront, the riders make their way round to the other side where the shopping centre is before turning out of the V&A area. Next they ride down haul street. This is slightly uphill, but not enought to effect the speed/trouble the pure short ITT specialists that much. After this the riders turn back onto the main coast road of beach road. This then takes the riders past Mouille Point beach for the timing split. However by the photo and google maps, their isn't much beach left now. Onwards they ride, towards the Green Point Lighthouse and back towards the finish via Helen Suzman boulevard. After this, the riders will face short period on block paving as they ride along side the Cape Town stadium to reach the entrance for the finish inside.

Most of the course is in this photo:

 

[fauniera]

VUELTA A ESPANA

(Fri) stage 12: Puerto de la Cruz - Los Cristianos, 153 km

This might be one for a breakaway. A few hills in the first half of the stage, and lots of bends in the second.

Puerto de la Cruz

Los Cristianos

 

[railxmig]

Tour de France by railxmig – preview post.

I started the journey with tracking around July 2014. Since then i tried to do a Tour de France but it never really did worked. I allways wanted to have a well thought route but that didn't worked. Finally i decided to just not care about anything and post a bunch of stages i just liked calling it a Tour de France. Only a couple of stages as of now are done so this post is more of a preview. Comparing it to the past music industry it can be treat as a single or similar. Some of the stages have a lot of history reaching as far back as 2014. Sadly some of them are now deleted but a couple are still around so i might post some old track4bikers profiles as an easter egg of sorts.

In this Tour i don't care for whom it is or is it balanced. It's more of a collection, a bunch of ideas than a cohesive product. There won't be any elaborate posts as i don't really have time for that anymore so i will only limit myself to the most basic informations and a short synopsis of a stage (similar format to the one used here). Also then it should be like 3 stages per post.

I'm still not sure where to start my Tour and which massif will be first. I have two contenders as of now – Avignon and Brest. I expect around 6 high mountain stages, probably not many medium mountain ones and quite a number of wind stages as they seems to not be very popular. I don't really know how long it will take for me to wrap the things on but i hope it will be max two months.

Other than presented below ideas are a finish on a small, but very steep hill in Bretagne near Crozon which i think is called Perros-Trébéron. Not only there's some space at the top but there's also a parking lot at the bottom on Plage de Postolonnec and it's very close to Crozon so it should be logistically possible to do. This stage should also feature some less known ribins (different ones than the Lannilis ones from Tro-Bro Léon). I'm also thinking about a technically difficult hilly/medium mountain stage around the Dordogne valley which i have lying around since late 2014.

Possible finish near Crozon.

Possible stage in the Dordogne valley to Mauriac.

I guess i'll now move on to present the stages. I have 4 of which 3 will feature in my Tour. I'm still a bit conflicted about La Rosière 1850 and les Chalets des Marmottes but as of now i'm more into the 2nd option. Also in the final version there will be the profiles for each climb.



Vannes - Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, 190km, ~150m asc

(I don't know why, but it seems Imgur keeps deleting this particular profile. Nothing is lost as it's 100% flat.)

Start: Vannes, Place de la Libération
Km 0: Theix, D780, 8,4km from the start
Finish: Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, Rue Ambroise Paré, 680m straight
Sprint: Beauvoir-sur-Mer, Rue des Sables, 220m straight
Feed zone: Saint-Père-en-Retz, la Giguenais, D5

Start - km 0:
Place de la Libération - Rue Hoche - Place Maurice Marchais - Rue Thiers - Place Gambetta - Rue Alexandre le Pontois - Rue Francis Decker - Rue du Maréchal Leclerc - Place de Stalingrad
- Boulevard de la Paix - Avenue du Président Edouard Herriot - Route de Nantes - Theix, Poteau Rouge - Theix, D780

Start in Vannes.

Finish in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.

This stage will most probably be feature in the Brest scenario. This is one of my propositions of an echelon stage. I tried to choose the roads that are mostly exposed, hence the lack of coastal roads as they're mostly covered with coastal forests. This stage features some of the roads from Tour 2011 stage 3 from Olonne-sur-Mer to Redon.

The 40km long part from Arthon-en-Retz to Saint-Jean-de-Monts is the most exposed and goes parallel to the Atlantic coastline so there's a higher risk of crosswind. The last 20km are a bit less exposed but at times still very open with a bit more tailwind so any gaps could have an easier time to maintain their lead.

I'm still not sure about the palacement of the finish line – if it should be there were it's now or on the other end of the finishing straight. This stage also has a small climb of Côte du Pont de Saint-Nazaire – 1,2km, 5.2%, 66m. Somehow the profile didn't pick it up. I'm not sure if i want it to be categorised but i don't think there's any need for it.

Vannes.

Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.



Les Eyzies-Cro Magnon - Montignac-Lascaux, 38km, ~435m asc

Start: Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, Cro Magnon, Avenue de la Préhistoire
Finish: Montignac, Grotte de Lascaux 2 (530m, 7,5%)
Time check 1: Tamniès, D48
Time check 2: La Chapelle-Aubareil, Les Granges (max 7%)

Climbs: (because why not)
Côte de la Castagnate - 2,1km, 6,8% (max 10%), 3 cat. 275m
Côte de Mondissou - 1km, 8,5% (max 12%), 4 cat. 228m

Start in Cro Magnon.

Finish in Lascaux.

As allways my GTs allways have two medium sized time trials. One, normally the first one, is flat and straight while the other one is slightly shorter but more hilly and technicall. This is the 2nd TT.

I guess someone got the idea to connect two of the most famous prehistoric French sites in one stage and they're perfectly seprated for a good TT. Also the terrain is very hilly and the roads are rather narrow (Dordogne valley) for Tour standars so should be also quite challenging. Of course the main road in the valley is much flatter so i decided to visit a couple of surrounding hills.

This region is very rich in prehistoric artefacts and also ruins of small castles. Here's a list of some fo them.

Grottes: Grotte de Dont-de-Gaume [1,7km], Grotte les Combarelles [3,3km], Grotte de Castel-Merle (Sergeac) [21,5km], Zoo du Thot (Thonac), Grotte de Lascaux.
Châteaus: Château de Commarque & de Laussel [8,3km], Château de Belcayre (Thonac) [24km], Château de Clérans (Sergeac) [24km], Château de Losse (Thonac).

Cro-Magnon.

Lascaux.



Annecy - Saint-Jean-d'Arves-les Chalets des Marmottes, 193km, ~4330m asc

Start: Annecy, Promenade Jacquet
Km 0: Annecy, Rue des Marquisats, 3,5km from the start
Finish: Saint-Jean-d'Arves, Les Chalets des Marmottes
Sprint: Albertville, Cours de l'Hôtel de ville, Mairie Albertville, 1,2km straight
Feed zone: Rognaix, D66
Start - km 0: Promenade Jacquet - Avenue d'Albigny - Quai Eustache Chappuis - Rue des Marquisats

Climbs:
Côte du Puget - 5,4km, 5,9%, 3 cat. 796m
Côte de La Chapelle-Saint-Maurice - 3,2km, 6,5%, 3 cat. 941m
Col du Frêne - 2,2km, 5,3%, 4 cat. 950m
Col de la Madeleine - 25,2km, 6,3%, HC cat. 2000m
Col de la Croix de Fer - 22,4km, 7%, HC cat. 2067m
Saint-Jean-d'Arves-les Chalets des Marmottes - 2,7km, 5,7%, 4 cat. 1554m

Start in Annecy.

Finish in Saint-Jean-d'Arves.

I'm not entirely sure of the finish's name. The residences are called Les Chalets des Marmottes but it is also a ski station (part of Les Sybelles complex) and the village's name is La Chal. I don't remember anyone using this finish ever but my memory is not in the best of conditions so i'm probably mistaken.

This hilltop finish looks like relatively available, there is quite a chunk of space at the top and it's also very close to Col de la Croix de Fer so the Madeleine and Croix de Fer combo finally can be crucial rather than just a prelude. This whole stage is about that combo and the start is in Annecy only to keep a reasonable amount of kms. This finish is probably a bit too small for Tour but for Dauphine it should be perfectly fine. Also it's part of Les Sybelles complex so i guess money is not a very big issue. From the technicall side it's 2,7km at 5,7% but the first 1,5km are at around 9,3% with max 17% (close to a church). The last 1km is flatter though.

Annecy.

Les Chalets des Marmottes.



Chambéry - La Rosière 1850, 193km, ~5035m asc

Start: Chambéry, Boulevard du Musée, Statue de la Sasson
Km 0: Saint-Alban-Leysse, Route de la Féclaz, 5,4km from the start
Finish: La Rosière 1850
Sprint: Faverges, Rue de la République, 1,8km straight
Feed zone: Marlens, Moulin de Marlens, D1508

Start - km 0:
Boulevard du Musée - Boulevard de la Colonne - Place des Éléphants - Rue de Boigne - Place du Château - Rue du Château - Place Caffe - Place Monge - Rue de la République - Rue de la Banque - Rue Saint-François de Sales - Boulevard de Lemenc - Avenue Dr Desfrançois - Avenue de Turin - Saint-Alban-Leysse, Avenue de Chambéry - Saint-Alban-Leysse, Route de Plaimpalais - Saint-Alban-Leysse, Rue des Barillettes - Saint-Alban-Leysse, Route de la Féclaz

Climbs:
Col de Plainpalais - 13,5km, 6,4%, 1 cat. 1173m
Col de Leschaux - 7,3km, 4,2%, 3 cat. 900m
Côte de Héry - 11,2km, 5,1%, 2 cat. 980m
Col des Saisies (Crest-Voland) - 14km, 6,5%, 1 cat. 1660m
Cormet de Roselend - 20,3km, 6%, 1 cat. 1967m
La Rosière 1850 - 18,4km, 5,6%, 1 cat. 1850m

Start in Chambéry.

Finish in La Rosière 1850.

One of the oldest stages i've created. It was created back in July or August 2014 but sadly i cannot find the original profile. The original version had Col de Marocaz rather than Plainpalais and Leschaux. The rest was mostly the same. Around that time La Rosière was strongly rumoured to be an MTF in Tour but it didn't happen. This stage was one of my variations of such finish.

Interestingly this stage has more uphill than Saint-Jean-d'Arves stage but it's much less selective. The climbs on this stage are long but relatively shallow with avg oscillating in between 5 and 7% hence no HC climb (Cormet de Roselend is a borderline HC but historically it was cat. 1).

It should be an easier stage than Saint-Jean-d'Arves stage so i would put it as the first Alpine stage. Saint-Jean-d'Arves stage is one of the hardest of the entire Tour so it should be as a 2nd Alpine stage. I think i will stick with 3 Alpine stages and probably 2 Pyreneean stages.

Chambéry.

La Rosière 1850.

 

[fauniera]

VUELTA A ESPANA

(Sat) stage 13: Valle Gran Rey - San Sebastián de La Gomera, 115 km

La Gomera is the next island that gets a stage in this Vuelta. For the transfer from Tenerife we don't need an airplane, we take the ship instead. A pretty big ship.

That's the Benchijigua Express, a trimaran fast ferry. She can carry over thousand passengers and only needs an hour from Los Cristianos to La Gomera. Video.

Climbing is on the program today. We start right away with Alto del Apartacaminos, 15,6 km at 6,6%. Two tunnels are disturbing the profile a bit.

Next is the gentle Alto de Jimonete, 8 km at 5,5%. The descent leads towards the coast.

Next is Alto del Mirador de los Roques, a long and hard climb (17,5 km at 7,2%). This approach from the north has a very different feel than the other climbs, as everything is green and full of vegetation, while the rest of the island is very dry.

The final climb is Degollada de Peraza. It starts with 9 km at 8,8% (which includes a kilometer at 12,7%), continues with a few flat km before the final dig of 1,2 km at 7,8%.

The descent to the finish is beautiful, but not very challenging as the roads are huge.

Valle Gran Rey

San Sebastián de La Gomera

 

[Tonton]

railxmig, c'mon man! There's some really good stuff there. Go all the way! Post the whole thing!