Race Design Thread

[SetonHallPirate]

Did another Puerto Rico ride, this one even more brutal (albeit without the 30+% wall), at 9,445 meters of climbing in 249.1 km. Follows, as much as ridewithgps will let me, the Ruta Panoramica, running through the spine of Puerto Rico.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1541796

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

I've been reading a bit in here and it seems like fun! So I'll give it a shot too. After looking arround a bit in different area's to see if I could come up with something creative, I think I got a pretty fun idea; the Tour of the Netherlands Antilles. There are six islands and I'll try to design a stage a every island; maybe two on Curaçao. Probably they will be mostly circuit based because of the islands being quite small. Some islands are so small that it is impossible to have a decent race there; Saba basically only has one road, so I'll probably do a short TT over that road or something. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands_Antilles

Maybe if Marc de Maar becomes an epic cycling legend, this tour could happen to his tribute?

Anyway stage one:

Tour of the Netherlands Antilles/Ronde van de Nederlandse Antillen
Stage 1: Sint Maarten (136.9km)
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1542136
It starts off with a hilly stage in Sint Maarten. Sint Maarten is divided up in a Dutch area and a French area. The stage will consist of three laps across the island, through both the Dutch and the French part, and finish on a hilltop at 227 meters. The stage is fairly hilly, with a total elevation of 2708 meters. The last 10km feature three hills, so it could result in decent gaps in the GC. This stage is definitely for the puncheurs, with the last two climbs being small and steep. The wind could also play a roll, because large areas of the parcour will be right along the shore with virtually no cover for the wind.

There are four categorized climbs, two of them appearing several times on the circuit.

1,0km at 5,5% starting after 1,6km, 45,5km and 90,2km
1,7km at 6,2% starting after 38km, 82,5km and 126,5km
1,0km at 9% starting after 133,7km
1,0km at 10% starting after 135,4km

After the final climb, that reaches a height of 241 meters there is a small descent and a about another 100m of climbing finishing at 227 meters. The last ten kilometers are very difficult with three categorized climbs in it. Of the 2707 meters of elevation this stage has in total 574 are in the final ten kilometers.

I'm not entirely sure how precise ridewithgps is, but it seems all these climbs are very irregular and all have ramps of over 10% and the last three climbs should all of ramps of about 20% or even steeper.

Some scenery in Sint Maarten along the route:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Big T - well, the Mt Wellington stage has some of the best continuity of climbs you can get in the area, so why not reuse it?

I'm looking forward to seeing what the Antilles have to offer, because it's somewhere completely off my radar, just like the Tour of Java - I simply don't know enough about the area.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

One minor issue: The Netherlands Antilles no longer exists...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

First big GC shake-up stage in Morocco...

Stage 3: مراكش - أوكايمدن (Marrakech - Oukaïmeden), 126km

Climbs:
Plateau du Kik (cat.1) 11,5km @ 5,7%
Tizi n'Taliouine (cat.1) 15,5km @ 5,0%
Station de Ski Oukaïmeden (HC) 19,8km @ 5,3%

Starting again from where we finished yesterday, this is a short stage, but with some real climbing to do, which will likely sort the GC status quo out, with three category 1 or HC climbs. The first third of the stage, from Marrakech to the shores of Barrage Lalla Takerkoust, is pretty much flat with some uphill false flat in there. There, the riders can look out over the lake and see the Atlas Mountains in the background, waiting for them. And then, the climbing begins. As the riders head up their first climb of the day, the views are nice but the road surface is troublesome, with some very worn tarmac. After passing a Berber village the road narrows down as we reach our first summit of the day at the Plateau de Kik. As the name would suggest, things flatten out here; the next 15km or so are rolling before any real descending takes place.

After passing through the small town of My Brahim and a twisty but not too steep descent, the riders now join the P2028, and start climbing again. This time the climb is a bit longer, but the gradients are pure tempo grinding, on the way to Tizi n'Taliouine, still with the imposing mountains ahead of us. This flattens out towards the top, but the toughest parts are only 6-7%, so this will be more about burning contenders off than pulsing attacks. Then it's a bit more rolling flat and a short (circa 6km) descent before starting our final climb at 1500m altitude.

The Oukaïmeden ski resort in the shadow of the Toubkal Heights is one of only two fully-functional, constant ski resorts in the country; it lies at over 2600m of altitude, enabling a good coverage of snow for enough of the year to make it worthwhile. A dramatic and nicely paved road that twists and turns its way through the valley from which the resort takes its name, this is about 20km in length, climbing at over 5% most of the way, with some tougher kilometres at up to 8%. This should most definitely be the place where some significant GC gaps are opened, and also functions as the ceiling of the race, as our main High Atlas Mountains stage. The riders will be grateful to reach the Ski Station and make use of some of its more relaxing facilities, that's for sure.

Station de Ski Oukaïmeden:

View from Oukaïmeden observation tower:

 

[Progsprach]

Niedersachsenrundfahrt Stage 4

Langelsheim - Brocken (221km)

It's the queens stage of this race and you already guessed what's on the program. But before any of that an intermediate in Goslar will offer some bonuses. The first climb of the day leads up to Torfhaus (cat.3; 11,5km@4,5%), a little later they climb the somewhat steeper climb to Thale (cat.3; 4,5km@7%) and to finish it off the long inconsistent mostly gentle ascent to th top of the Brocken is to be done (cat.2 24km@3,5%). After this one the GC should be mostly settled although there's some bonuses left.

Route:

Profile:

 

[Ferminal]

One minor issue: The Netherlands Antilles no longer exists...

Marc de Maar disagrees.

Or did it sink?

 

[TheBigT]

Big T - well, the Mt Wellington stage has some of the best continuity of climbs you can get in the area, so why not reuse it?

Given this is a fantasy race thread, I'm just going to assume my Tour of Australia was raced first, and the ToT simpley takes some stages from it as a tribute it.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

Marc de Maar disagrees.

Or did it sink?

It dissolved.

 

[Ferminal]

So the collection of islands formerly known (collectively) as the Netherlands Antilles dissolved into the Caribbean?

 

[Arnout]

Marc de Maar disagrees.

Or did it sink?

Nobody knows actually. It's ridiculously complicated. As far as I know Aruba and Curacao now have an own parliament (Curacao parliament failed a few days ago though) and Bonaire is a special municipality of the Netherlands, as well as the islands of St Maarten, Saba and the other one.

They are all still part of the kingdom of the Netherlands and the crown. Bit like Isle of Man I think.

 

[the asian]

Thought of doing a tour of my country Sri Lanka.
so here is stage 1.

Tour De Sri Lanka
Stage 1. Individual Time Trial (42.8 Km) Colombo.
The riders will be doing 4 laps of the 10.7 Km circuit.

The riders will go past the Town Hall

The Vihara Maha Devi Park

and the newly built Nelum Pokuna Theater.

 

[the asian]

Anybody here using Ride With GPS? How can insert a Route and Stage Profile created with it here?

 

[Arnout]

I make screenshots and upload it with Photobucket. There might be a better way though.

 

[the asian]

I make screenshots and upload it with Photobucket. There might be a better way though.

Have to find a better way. I have created a short stage race of my country Sri Lanka. Want to up load the profiles and routes.

 

[togo95]

Anybody here using Ride With GPS? How can insert a Route and Stage Profile created with it here?

When you've finished mapping, just click on the "Elevation Profile Image" or "Map Image" in "Share" tab. However it is sometimes better to make screenshots (fo this I use 5 clicks application, which has all you need).
Once you have the image just upload it with any image sharing site.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Man, this is harder than I thought. Some of these Antilles I'm trying to design a stage for are just too small. I need to design a stage for Saba now and then Sint Eustasius. However, Saba is 13 square kilometers and Sint Eustasius is 21 square km.

I think I'll do a short TT on Saba and a criterium like stage on Sint Eustasius. Since these islands are right next to each other it should probably work as a stage 2a and 2b.

Saba stage is going to be crazy though whatever I do, because it seems like every meter of road on that islands goes either >10% up, or >10% down. No flat on that island whatsoever, everything goes up and down. And everything goes up and down very steep. Here's a picture, where you can see the main road on the island going up from the airport to a village (there is a much bigger town on the other side of the island and a harbor so there should be enough hotels and infrastructure and stuff to be able to theoretically host a stage):

Fortunately after that the remaining three islands are significantly larger. Still probably going to need circuits, but two or three laps of such a circuit should suffice, so those arn't really going to be like a crit.

 

[Finn84]

So I had to plan a circuit near Tokyo as part three of 2020 Summer Olympics candidate cities. This probably works best as Beijing style route, start at Tokyo and end on this circuit. It's mostly placed in Sagamihara suburb. That profile has a bit too much , it should end without that drop in the end, the circuit being about 13,5 kilometres long.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Now for a real collector's item...

Stage 4: ورزازات - ورزازات (Ouarzazate - Ouarzazate), 20,8km (TTT)

On the southern tip of the Atlas Mountains, the 56 000 predominantly Berber inhabitants of the city of Ouarzazate affectionately know the place as the "door of the desert" due to its location just to the north of the beginnings of the Sahara. The riders will probably be thankful I didn't send them over Tizi n'Tichka on the bike after yesterday's climbs, but anybody who is suffering after yesterday's long climbs could find themselves in trouble in today's Team Time Trial, only the second I've posted in this thread, after the prologue of my Vuelta a Argentina.

The teams set off from one of the most impressive-looking starting points around, the Kasbah Taourirt. The course is a virtual rectangle, heading first to the traditional town of Tarmigte, before turning northwest, before turning back towards the main road at the Kasbah Tiffoultoute.

The riders will then rejoin the N9 directly opposite CLA Studios, which along with the adjacent Atlas Studios make Ouarzazate into an international filming capital, with many major films being shot in whole or in part here. After this it's a long straight drag back into the centre of Ouarzazate, where the riders take a couple of quick corners to finish at Piazza el Mouahidine, the city's central market square.

At 20,8km, this TTT will not be long enough to open up gaps that will be truly decisive, but riders will need to be careful given the efforts some of their teammates will have put in the previous day.

Ouarzazate:

 

[Progsprach]

Niedersachsenrundfahrt Stage 5

Hameln - Hannover (135km)

We lead into Hannover for our parade with 44 pretty flat kilometers until we reach our finishing circuit. 10 laps are to be done of about 9km, three times an intermediate with time bonuses will occur and each laps contains a short 500 meters cobbled section of Espace Charles Crupelandt difficulty, so it's unlikely to do anything, but it may at least serve as a hint that this race could also contain more difficult cobbled sections. The sprinters will get this one and the corresponding time bonuses. I will also edit this library post to add the PCM version.

Route:

Profile:

 

[TheBigT]

Tour of Australia - Stage 10

Well the day after the rest day, and we're back in Victoria, for a 195km romp through the hills and mountains east of Melbourne, with the second MTF of the tour so far. For those of you interested in more detail on the major climbs in this stage (and some stages to come) http://theclimbingcyclist.com/ is a great source of information.
We begin today just outside of Melbourne, in the town of Emerald, home of one of the stations of Puffing Billy. Early action sees the riders take on popular training climbs for Melbourne cyclists, including Terry's Avenue, the 1 in 20 and the Wall. After descending off the slopes of Mt. Dandenong for the 3rd time we turn east, passing through the towns of Yarra Junction and Warburton. From here the real climbing of the stage starts, with the 15.4km climb up Mt. Donna Buang. After descending the west side of the mountain into Healesville, we again swing east, taking the magnificent forested road through the Black Spur to Marysville. From here we head up the final climb of the day, to the carpark of Lake Mountain Resort, a cross country ski resort.

Climbs
Terry's Avenue11.0km, 3.20km at 6.7%
The 1 in 20 30.5km, 6.75km at 4.2%
the Wall 50.2km, 5.50km at 6.0%
Mt. Donna Buang 101.8km, 15.39km at 6.4%
143.7km, 3.35km at 5.0%
151.7km, 5.26km at 5.9%
167.5km, 2.71km at 7.7%
Lake Mountain 174.7km 21.6km at 4.3%, first 9 at 6.4%

 

[Arnout]

Man, this is harder than I thought. Some of these Antilles I'm trying to design a stage for are just too small. I need to design a stage for Saba now and then Sint Eustasius. However, Saba is 13 square kilometers and Sint Eustasius is 21 square km.

I think I'll do a short TT on Saba and a criterium like stage on Sint Eustasius. Since these islands are right next to each other it should probably work as a stage 2a and 2b.

Saba stage is going to be crazy though whatever I do, because it seems like every meter of road on that islands goes either >10% up, or >10% down. No flat on that island whatsoever, everything goes up and down. And everything goes up and down very steep. Here's a picture, where you can see the main road on the island going up from the airport to a village (there is a much bigger town on the other side of the island and a harbor so there should be enough hotels and infrastructure and stuff to be able to theoretically host a stage):

Fortunately after that the remaining three islands are significantly larger. Still probably going to need circuits, but two or three laps of such a circuit should suffice, so those arn't really going to be like a crit.

Ah, you didn't know Saba? That's basically one road of some 15 kilometers over the island. The only flat part of the island is the runway, which is the shortest runway of the world in regular usage for a reason (recommended to Youtube it, it's scary).

 

[rgmerk]

From here the real climbing of the stage starts, with the 15.4km climb up Mt. Donna Buang. After descending the west side of the mountain into Healesville, we again swing east, taking the magnificent forested road through the Black Spur to Marysville.

Two problems with this from a racing point of view:

1) The descent of Donna is partly dirt road. Rideable on a road bike in good weather, but I wouldn't like to race down it.
2) Lake Mountain sucks as a MTF. All the climbing is in the first few kilometres; the last 10 are false flat.

Unless a pseudo-MTF was your intention, I reckon you'd be better off doing a stage that goes to Marysville, climbs the first bit of Lake Mountain, turns down the Reefton Spur to Warburton and finishes with an ascent of Donna Buang all the way to the summit (which adds another km at around 7-8%).

To start such a stage, you could (for instance) start in Healesville, climb Myers Creek Road (a beautiful little warmup climb) and descend back down Chum Creek Road to Healesville before heading to Marysville.

 

[TheBigT]

Two problems with this from a racing point of view:

1) The descent of Donna is partly dirt road. Rideable on a road bike in good weather, but I wouldn't like to race down it.
2) Lake Mountain sucks as a MTF. All the climbing is in the first few kilometres; the last 10 are false flat.

Thanks for the reply. Just addressing your concerns.
1. Provided we got an actual Tour of Australia running, i'm assuming there would be the capacity for government funding for road/facility upgrades. Donna Buang, as well as some dirt roads that feature in stage 12/15 would hopefully be upgraded. Alternatively, we could climb it from the Healesville side, but that presents the same problem as with point 2 which is
2. Lake Mountain, whilst not providing a proper MTF at least has some continuity of climbing. Finishing on Donna Buang after climbing out of Marysville gives us 45km of pure downhill/flat before the final climb (albeit a more decisive one), rendering most of the early stage useless for racing purposes. This gives us a better stage for the GC guys, but given Stage 11, I don't see this as a stage for the GC guys to attack anyway, so it's more set up for a breakaway victory. Lake Mountain more than serves the purpose of allowing breakaway attacks towards the finish.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I'm still reeling with shock at the presence of an MTF in Niedersachsen!

According to this profile from CBB it's not too bad either - mostly false flat for sure, but after several km of tempo climbing at 3-4%, the final 2km at 9% means we will at least see GC gaps.