Race Design Thread

[rghysens]

Edit: also the road to do that version of Axamer Lizum isn't paved, I don't believe. The actual paved route is still a pretty serious climb, something like 13km at 7-8% after a slightly longer descent.

Could be, because when I drew the parcours from Axam to Axamer Lizum tracks4bikers automatically chose the longer road to the east of the one I used. I redrew it after I checked on Google maps and it didn't look unpaved to me (but it isn't very clear to be honest).

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Right, while you guys are usurping me by piling on the mountains in Austria and southern Germany while I'm still in the north, I'd better get a move on!

Stage 3: Schwerin - Lüneburg, 210km

Sectors:
1) Wodendorf
2) Lauenburg (Hohlerweg)
3) Alt-Lüneburg (1er Passage)
4) Westergellersen-Putensen (*)
5) Döhle-Wilsede (*)(1er Passage)
6) Wilsede-Undeloh (*)(1er Passage)
7) Döhle-Wilsede (*)(2er Passage)
8) Wilsede-Undeloh (*)(2er Passage)
9) Putensen-Westergellersen (*)
10) Alt-Lüneburg (2er Passage)

After the relatively benign beginning, the rouleur stages kick off in earnest today with a long and difficult day in the saddle for the flyweight climber, that's for sure. The first obstacle of the day, after only 10km, is a short cobbled route at Wodenhof, but that's the last we'll see for some time. There are a lot of cobbles today, however, so the Kopfsteinpflasterkönig classification will certainly see some action today, especially as six of the ten cobbled sectors have double points on offer for difficulty.

The rest of the first half of the stage is pretty straightforward, save for the uphill - but not really categorisation-worthy for the Bergkönig classification - cobbled stretch of Hohlenweg in Lauenburg after about 80km, before the riders arrive in the stage town of Lüneburg and pass through the well-maintained cobbles of the old town after about 110km. The second half of the stage is quite strange in layout, but is similar to the Olympic Road Race in that they head out from the finish to a circuit, which they then do a couple of times before returning on the same route they headed out on in the opposite direction. This will probably mean that there will be quite a lot of fans out for much of the course on the cobbled sectors as they will get to see the riders more than once, and the sectors furthest from the finish are also the sectors closest the finish as we head into the Lüneburger Heide, a famous region of heaths and woods and nature reserves that makes up this part of Niedersachsen.

At 88km to go, the riders hit the first really punishing sector of cobbles, which runs from the village of Westergellersen to Putensen. This starts off tarmacked but eventually gives way to almost 4km of dusty cobbles. The route is mostly straight, however, so positioning will be key. The riders then get 15km of respite before setting off into the next sector, but here it gets really hard; from Döhle to Wilsede there is nearly 5km of this kind of nasty cobble, normally reserved for more old-fashioned forms of transport. The village of Wilsede, at the far end, is picturesque, and once they move into the middle the riders get a joyful, blissful respite of tarmac for only a few hundred metres before another 3,2km taking us from Wilsede to the village of Undeloh, once more over tracks normally reserved for horses; it is this stretch that this well-known photo is from. At this point there are 60km remaining, and I therefore give the riders a bit of a break before they have to do it all again, starting in Döhle once more with 49km remaining and emerging 39km from the finish.

The run-in is comparatively uncomplicated, but the damage should really already have been done, and I expect to see groups split all over the road by this point. There are 18km of tarmac to take them back to Putensen before they handle that narrow stretch in the opposite direction this time back to Westergellersen; the stretches of these double-point cobbles end with 17km to go, and then it's the final drive for home, with only a (slightly different, easy, like the final stretch in Roubaix) stretch of cobbles through Alt-Lüneburg at the finish. So, lots of cobbles points to pay, lots of contenders gaining and losing minutes, and potential carnage - the race has begun in earnest, and it's going to be selective, but there's no telling who it's going to select.

Schwerin:

Lüneburg:

 

[WKA311]

Stage 2: Hamburg - Lübeck, 208km

I already like your Deutschland Tour, as your're so kind directing it through my hometown and region
But i find it hard to declare the city of Plön as a cobblesection, it really shouldnt bother the pros at all.
You're right about the wind, even when the region is not pan flat, it could be a real problem. The stretch from Preetz to Lübeck could be very interesting with some wind.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I already like your Deutschland Tour, as your're so kind directing it through my hometown and region
But i find it hard to declare the city of Plön as a cobblesection, it really shouldnt bother the pros at all.
You're right about the wind, even when the region is not pan flat, it could be a real problem. The stretch from Preetz to Lübeck could be very interesting with some wind.

I'm aware it probably wouldn't bother the pros at all, and it's quite a long way from the finish too so unlikely to be any issue, however unless it's been resurfaced it's definitely on cobblestones, easy as they may be, so I counted it.

I did say in the first stage introduction that in a lot of areas cobblestone sectors are likely to just be well-maintained city centre spots that aren't likely to be too much of a hassle to the pros. At times it's almost a substitute for an intermediate sprints competition, at others (like in the Lüneburg stage) it's designed with specialist rouleurs in mind, and these 'real' cobblestone sectors (i.e. more like the ones that make a difference in the cobbled races, less like the final sector in Roubaix, which is more ceremonial than anything else) pay double points accordingly.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 4: Rostock - Greifswald, 161km

Sectors:
1) Prerow (Plattenweg)
2) Barth-Altstadt
3) Alt-Stralsund
4) Andershof-Brandshagen (*)
5) Groß Miltzhof-Borgwarthof (*)
6) Reinberg-Tremt (*)
7) Kirchdorf-Kowall (*)

After a fair distance of transfer back in the direction we came from, we're back in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for another rouleur's special, this time all along the Baltic coast. This stage is the flattest one yet, with practically no hills whatsoever, even rolling uphill, to mark it. The riders are still going to have to be attentive however, as though this one's much shorter, all but the first quarter of the stage are right along the coast, and if there is any wind the riders could be blown all over the place.

The seven sectors paying points for the Kopfsteinpflaster classification are all in the second half of the stage, and one of them, the first, isn't even a cobblestone sector at all, instead it's this, an old Plattenweg typical of those often found in the Friedensfahrt. This isn't long, however, and the riders ought to be able to negotiate it without difficulty as long as they aren't stupid. Organisers had probably best trim the overgrown middle of the tracks, but they can easily skip the sector without affecting the stage if it is too much of a trouble. The next sector, once the riders are done circumnavigating the Barther Bodden, is a picturesque road by the old town walls in Barth. After this it's head down and drive through the wind to Stralsund, where some more city centre roads welcome the riders.

After this, the stage really hots up. After leaving Stralsund, the riders hit the village of Andershof, with 31km to go. Here, the old B96 to Greifswald separates from the L222, which joins the new B96. The old B96 is a classic old DDR road, and that means Kopfstein, and lots of it. It would genuinely be possible to ride almost all the way to Greifswald on cobbles, but even I balk at making the riders handle 25km of cobbles without respite, so instead for 25km we hop intermittently between the new, shiny tarmac of the 105, and the old, painful cobblestones of the old route that runs parallel to it. Here are a few pictures of the road, cobbled and scenic, which the riders will be tackling. The first stretch is just under 5km in length, the second starts 3km later and lasts about 1,5km, the third is just 1km later, and lasts for nearly 4km, then the final sector starts with 14km remaining and lasts for 2km. The final 11km are a very straight and fast power route into Greifswald, although there are a couple of corners in the last kilometre to look out for. The cobbles here are smoother and more negotiable than yesterday's, plus they are mostly cramped close to the finish, so time gaps should be smaller, however riders will need to be attentive especially if it's windy, and certainly great care will need to be exercised when it comes to who to ride with here. For the most part the cobbled sectors are dead straight however, in an attempt to minimise the safety risk as there could well be crashes here, however we would prefer there not to be too many injuries. So far it's been all about the northern cities, but tomorrow we will say goodbye to the Hansestädte once and for all.

Rostock:

Greifswald:

 

[WKA311]

Great work so far Libertine, looking forward to see what your route is gonna look like.
You really must be investing some time in researches to find all the cobblesectors and photos, didn't know there were so long stretches of cobbles like the old B96 still existing.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 5: Prenzlau - Berlin, 154km

Sectors:
1) Sommerfelder Straße/Saarlandstraße (Eberswalde)
2) Mehrower Weg
3) Altlandsberg
4) Dahlwitzer Landstraße (Friedrichshagen)
5) Alt-Köpenick
6) Simplonstraße

After a couple of very difficult stages for the GC, where I can imagine groups will be all over the road and some of the more featherweight climbers will already be well down the order, the riders will have earnt themselves a nice (early) rest day, as they leave the old Hansa behind and travel through Brandenburg today, heading into a living breathing monument to all the foibles and follies of the 20th Century: Berlin. The stage is comparatively short and the riders will probably be thankful for this. Nevertheless, the King of the Cobblestones will still need to be alert as there are still a fair few points to play for in the classification today.

The first sector in Eberswalde is straightforward, and at 90km from the finish it's just an ersatz meta volante. The other 5 sectors of cobbles are inside the last 50km, and many of these are familiar both to the U23s who race in the Tour of Berlin every year, but also as nods to the past of the historic Rund um Berlin, one of the oldest (1896) one-day races and the biggest single-day Classic in the Eastern bloc. In the days of the DDR large parts of the area travelled through in this last 50km, circling the city's Eastern flank, were Kopfsteinpflaster; now of course much of this has disappeared, though a few legacy sections still remain. One of the first is the road from the village of Blumberg to Mehrow, narrow and diagonally cobbled. Shortly after this we have the old town in Altlandsberg, home of many cobbles and also the surreal paean to the bike that is Fahrradhof. The Tour de Berlin held a stage over these cobbles a few times recently, with 2010 being the most recent. Then, the riders get a few kilometres of tarmac to recover, and what small gaps are created by these sectors will likely come back together. With 24km to go the riders hit the short and inconsistent stretches of cobbles on Dahlwitzer Landstraße (and yes, they'll be restricted to the side of the road with the cobbles), which are shortly followed by the light sections in Alt-Köpenick. The riders then cross the Spree and head west, into the heart of the city, pausing only briefly for the easy cobbles of Simplonstraße, which really ought to barely slow the trains down, although to be fair this section of the run-in is quite technical.

After this, however, it gets wide open and easy, and the pace will likely be very high as we join Karl-Marx-Allee at Frankfurter Tor, pass the famous Fernsehturm at Alexanderplatz, crossing the Museumsinsel (seeing sights like the Altes Museum) before heading down the historic Unter den Linden to finish outside the Brandenburger Tor. This one's more about the spectacular setting of the finish than the excitement of the race itself; for many this would be the finish point for the Tour, but like when the 2009 Giro did the circuit race in Milan (or tried to), we're only passing through; Berlin hosts a rest day but the riders have more to do yet.

Prenzlau:

Berlin:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 6: Cottbus - Bautzen, 179km

Climbs:
Ohorner Steinberg (cat.4) 1,4km @ 5,7%
Schwedenstein (cat.4) 2,2km @ 4,2%
Mönchswalder Berg (cat.3) 2,0km @ 8,0%

Sectors:
1) Bagenz
2) Sedlitz
3) Senftenberg-Steindamm
4) Alt-Kamenz
5) Rehnsdorf-Obersteina
6) Alt-Bischofswerda
7) Unterm Schloß/Alt-Bautzen (*)
8) Obergurig
9) Unterm Schloß/Alt-Bautzen (*)

After the rest day we're in the south of Brandenburg, for a stage connecting the two great metropoles of the smallest Slavic nation, the Sorbs, with a stage running from the capital of the Niederlausitz to the capital of the Oberlausitz. And after three straight stages with not a single climb to mark them, we have a bit more complication today, with 9 cobbled sectors and three categorised climbs.

Unlike many of the other stages thus far, however, these are split out throughout the day's racing, with the first three sectors in the first 60km, so we could well see a jersey-holder on the attack for the points. Those who have followed this thread for a while will know that I already designed a race in this area, so many of the cobbled sectors will already be familiar to them. Certainly these early cobbled sectors such as Bagenz, Sedlitz and Senftenberg Steindamm will be familiar from my Lausitz Rundfahrt. After a period of tarmac, the tough surfaces continue with a sector through the middle of Kamenz. This also features the starting point of a small, uncategorised climb which begins on these cobbles, before we start the real climbs of the day. The first two of these are fairly benign; no gradients much over 10% at all, though between them they are interrupted by some cobbles. With 65km remaining however, these ought to be won by the break. With 50km to go, more cobbles await in the centre of Bischofswerda, before another long, straight tarmac section.

The riders cross the finish line for the first time with 29km remaining, and this comes just after a long stretch of cobbles Unterm Schloß, which then turns into an uphill cobbled drag into the city centre. Bautzen is a very picturesque place, the capital of Sorbian culture and history, with many towers and castle walls punctuating it, and so this finish is perhaps the Deutschland Rundfahrt's answer to Ávila. The circuit itself features one more strip of cobbles, in the provincial village of Obergurig, with 22km remaining, and shortly after this, our first serious climb of the race, the Mönchswalder Berg. At just 2km long it's still not destructive, but there's plenty of opportunity to make a gap here if you want to; it starts out at around 9%, but most of the first kilometre is at 5%. After this, however, things get very serious. It never dips back below 10% and reaches heights of 23%... and the last 300m average nearly 15%. You can make a gap here if you want to, for sure... but you've got nearly 20km solo to try to hold on as the race twists its way back into Bautzen... and that the final couple of kilometres will be mostly on those same cobbles by the city walls, dragging up into the city centre, means that a range of outcomes are possible here.

Cottbus:

Bautzen:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 7: Dresden - Grünhain, 230km

Climbs:
Altenberg (Zinnwald)(cat.3) 10,5km @ 3,5%
Langewiese (Dlouhá Louká)(cat.2) 7,0km @ 7,9%
Paß Gebirgsneudorf (cat.2) 7,5km @ 5,9%
Kleinhan (Malý Háj)(cat.4) 2,7km @ 6,6%
Kupferberg (Měděnec)(cat.2) 10,0km @ 5,2%
Keilberg (Klinovec)(cat.1) 17,0km @ 4,5%
Antonshöhe (cat.4) 1,0km @ 9,4%
Teufelstein (cat.2) 3,2km @ 10,3%

The first real taste of climbing today, with a difficult and very long stage through the Erzgebirge, which spends much of its time in the Czech Republic, but where the key moments will take place mostly in Sachsen. The first 30km not shown on the profile are rolling, with no categorised climbs as the riders get a bit of an easy, rolling beginning heading out of the beautiful rebuilt city of Dresden. The first categorised climb is the ascent to the biathlon arena at Altenberg, which is probably not surprising to those of you who've followed the wintersport season as you'll inevitably know I'm big on my biathlon. The tough part of the climb, into Altenberg itself, is about 4km at 5%, however some false flat before and after drag the percentages down. The descent from here heads into the Czech Republic, before the climb to Dlouhá Louká (we join just before the 2km mark on that profile), our first category 2. This is quite steep but it only 7km long so riders can recover plenty on the high Erzgebirge plateau before we descend back into the Bohemian plains, rising straight up again once more on Paß Gebirgsneudorf, which is followed immediately by another short climb to take us to the peak overlooking it.

After this there is a long period of flat, before the last 75km, where any action on the stage is likely to take place. This starts with another cat.2 climb, the 10km drag up to the guardtower at Měděnec. The descent from here takes us into Perštejn, from which the first Category 1 climb of the race begins. Though the points are given out for the first to the summit of the ski resort at Klinovec (Keilberg), the real summit from a climbing point of view is just before 13km up the climb and about 4km from the actual summit, for the first 12,9km take us to Melužína at an average of 5,6%. The toughest part is early, a stretch leading into Srní averaging 10%, but after this it eases up. The climb flattens at its summit (called Wirbelstein in German), and then we have a kilometre of flat before the road turns upward again for the 'real' summit at Klinovec, which is the highest point in the Czech Erzgebirge, sitting directly across from Fichtelberg, the highest point in the German Erzgebirge.

There still remain 37km from the summit of Klinovec, most of them back in Germany. And most of them make up a gentle downhill, which is fairly straight and lacking in steep sections and will therefore probably make long-range attacks fanciful at best. The target of this descent is Schwarzenberg, though we do break the descent up at one point by taking the riders over an extra small climb, the very steep but short puncheur's climb on narrow roads up to Antonshöhe, which is crested with 18km remaining. Again, it's now downhill and downhill false flat, crossing the river Schwarzwasser with 5,1km remaining. At which point the GC battle will come alive.

A legendary climb of the Friedensfahrt, the Teufelstein is nasty, steep and unforgiving, with an average gradient of 10,3% and long sections of 18% on its cruel slopes. It isn't a long climb, but its difficulty will easily be enough to open up some GC gaps, especially as when the riders pass the tower at the summit there will be just 1,9km remaining, of gentle downhill into Grünhain (one half of the Grünhain-Beierfeld municipality). Truly, this is Germany's answer to Xorret del Catí, but perhaps a more appropriate comparison would be the Côte de la Croix-Neuve aka Montée Laurent Jalabert in Mende. It's shorter but steeper than Arrate, though the style of finish with the mini-descent is certainly similar. After 230km, however, this will certainly be difficult enough to shake things up, especially bearing in mind the climbers will probably have reason to need to make up time after the difficult rouleur stages in week 1. The early rest day means this is on a weekend too, so maximum chance for the audience to tune in to see the péloton duelling on one of the east's Classic climbs.

Dresden:

Grünhain:

 

[Cannavaro]

Really great stages so far. In stage 4 one could add two very nasty cobblestone sections in the beginning by extending the distance by only 5 km. The first one is nearly 2 km long and lies between Teschendorf and the B 110 you use in the beginning of the stage. There are little elevation changes as well, which make the passage even harder. Not far from this there is another 2 km long cobble stone section between Groß Lüsewitz and the L 191.

By the way, do you know the cobbled climb to Jagdschloss Granitz on Rügen? There are (horrible) cobbles from Lancken Granitz to the top and the climb has some good percentages too. Quäldich http://www.quaeldich.de/paesse/tempelberg/ has only the soft version from Binz (with nice cobbles).

Here is a photo from the harder side at the beginning of the climb:

 

[jsem94]

Brutal stuff. Would love to see more cobbles etc in actual GTs.

 

[togo95]

Libertine, could you post links to the actual route page (on tracs4bikers)? I would like to make a PCM version of this race (Deutch GT).

 

[Netserk]

Libertine, could you post links to the actual route page (on tracs4bikers)? I would like to make a PCM version of this race (Deutch GT).

http://www.tracks4bikers.com/tracks/index?name=&user=LibertineSeguros&tags=&bounds=

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Sure - I'll probably post the lot up when I get to the end of the race.

For now...

Stage 8: Chemnitz - Meerane, 58,8km (Einzelzeitfahren)

Climbs:
Steiler Wand von Meerane (cat.4) 0,4km @ 12,0%

Sectors:
1) Karlstraße (Hohenstein)
2) Glauchau Stadtmitte
3) Steiler Wand von Meerane

The second weekend concludes with this, the longest and toughest time trial of the race, which ought to continue to expand the GC gaps. It has a few cobbled sectors, so naturally there will be a number of intermediates, including ones before and after each cobbled sector. However, with the same kind of immediate results coming from the transponder like we get at races like Castilla y León (and that we've got from País Vasco itself lately) I don't see why that should be a problem.

The time trial starts in Chemnitz, formerly Karl-Marx-Stadt. One of the cities that still has quite a clear, obvious legacy of the old DDR, it was a regular host of the Peace Race in its time, but has now been lost to top level racing for a long time. The first 15km or so are rolling terrain that will enable the powerhouses to really step on the gas. Then they step off the main road and head up to Hohenstein-Ernstthal, a town which sits on a ridge so is reached by a couple of kilometres of gradual climbing. The town itself features our first section of cobbles, before a sharp left takes us back downhill and after the descent we have 10km of absolute pan flat, almost totally straight roads for the specialists to gain time.

Then, there's a small climb into the town of Glauchau, where we head for the old market square which, as you can see, is paved with cobbles, as are many of the roads through the town we take, most notably Schloßstraße and Leipziger Straße. Then we have a power drag of a road up to Crimmitschau before some serious rolling terrain on the road into Meerane for the finish.

With 2km remaining in the time trial, the riders hit the toughest part of it, and a categorised climb despite just 350m of length. Partly because it's also paying points for the Kopfsteinpflasterkönig classification, and partly because this is one of the most iconic spots in German cycling - the infamous Steiler Wand von Meerane. This was the trademark climb of the Peace Race, and the fans have lined up deep to see the action from the early days of the history of the race to the very end of the event, and even further thanks to its inclusion in the Sachsentour. It wouldn't be right not to see the old beauty once more. It will hurt the riders after over 55km of individual time trial, too, but the summit is close to the finish and it's just a gentle downhill roll into the town centre to finish afterward.

Either way, a near 60km ITT with cobbles the day after a 230km mountain stage should really shake the GC up.

Chemnitz:

Meerane:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Library post

Fictional Stage Races: UK, Ireland & Scandinavia

Tour of Iceland (Libertine Seguros): Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7

Tour of Ireland (iwasonbwh): Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5

Tour of Scandinavia (Bubban): Prologue & Stage 1 Stage 2

Tour of Scandinavia (Another Dutch Guy): Prologue Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 Stage 9 Stage 10 Stage 11 Stage 12 Stage 13 Stage 14

Tour of Scotland (siriuscat): Stages 1 & 2 Stages 3 & 4 Stages 5 & 6 Stages 7 & 8 Stages 9 & 10 Stage 11

Tour of Wales (Geraint Too Fast) Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6

More will be added here as they are posted. All library posts are linked from the original post in the thread.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 9: Halle - Clausthal-Zellerfeld, 198km

Climbs:
Büchenberg (cat.3) 3,5km @ 5,9%
Torfhaus (cat.2) 9,8km @ 5,1%

Sectors:
1) Quedlinburg Altstadt
2) Halberstadt Bakestraße
3) Ströbecker Straße (*)
4) Heudeber - Minsleben (*)
5) Alt-Wernigerode
6) Ilsenburg Mühlenstraße
7) Bad Harzburg Altstadt

After a short transfer (probably the riders staying overnight mostly in Leipzig) we have an odd stage moving from Sachsen-Anhalt through the pretty Harz region back into Niedersachsen, although far from the pancake flat early stages. However, the tricky cobbled Lüneburg stage is perhaps more appropriate as a warning blow. This stage could be one of General Classification truce, allowing the breakaway to have their day in the sun, or it could be GC carnage, with the options there for almost all types of rider to profit.

The first third of the stage is pretty featureless, mostly on dull flat roads through Sachsen-Anhalt, before the middle section, punctuated with cobbles, begins. The first sector is the old town in Quedlinburg, but it is another 20km until the sectors begin for real. Bakenstraße in Halberstadt starts us off for real with a kilometre of cobbles that could be slippery if wet. Then, after leaving Halberstadt, more that may be familiar to those who remember my Peace Race, with the 2km of cobbles on Ströbecker Straße and the 4 (!) km of the old rough cobbles on the former road from Heudeber to Minsleben both having featured in that race, however much closer to the finish than today. Nevertheless both sectors pay double points despite finishing 80km from the finish.

The 5th sector is pretty easy, heading through the fairytale backdrop of Wernigerode, before a category 3 climb into the elevated Harz breaks up the sectors with some Bergkönig points. A rolling loop around Elbingerode and we return to Wernigerode (the route doesn't do a loop-de-loop although it might look like it - that little circuit is done in a clockwise direction). Then we follow the route along the Harz foothills, underneath the range's highest peak, Brocken, pausing briefly for another kilometre of Kopfsteinpflaster in Ilsenburg, with 45km remaining. There is then nearly 20km of rolling terrain with normal tarmac (to please Bavarianrider of course) before a final town centre cobble section in Bad Harzburg.

Then, the rouleurs have had their fun, and if they haven't taken the opportunities to take some time on the more mountain-oriented GC men, they may come to regret it, for the road now turns upwards, for a 10km slog up to Torfhaus, a stop-off on the road up to the signal station at Brocken. The roads are wide and straight and the gradients mostly fairly consistent (although at times it ramps up to 9-10%), so if we still have a big bunch here, expect it to be slowly whittling down rather than being punctuated by attacks; however if the stage to this point has been raced hard and the bunch is already reduced, things could get spicy. The summit of the climb is 19km from the finish, and much of this is descent. There is then a phase of uphill false flat that could make for interesting cat and mouse games, before the small (5km) flat run-in to Clausthal-Zellerfeld, the largest town perched within the Harz mountains rather than along their perimeter. The city, comprised of two former municipalities that were merged in the Weimar era, is Germany's northernmost wintersports hub, being the home club of several of Germany's biathletes and cross-country skiers, and its convenient location makes for an interesting finale in the stage. The final 500m are on a slight incline too - not enough to really prevent this from being one for the sprinters as the gradients aren't really ones for the Gilberts and Puritos of the world, but certainly enough that it isn't a pure power man's game.

Halle:

Clausthal-Zellerfeld:

 

[screaming fist]

Wow, that reminds me I've been toying around with an Ardennes-like one day race in the region I live in. Gotta put it together for that thread...

I'm pretty sure it will be buried in this thread somewhere, but if you don't mind one of you could tell me what use for those profiles (the green-yellow-red ones used in the latest posts)? I've been using bikemap.net but the profiles I get there are not only totally lame but also really off sometimes.

Ah, seems to be tracks4bikers!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Don't worry about it being lost - everything's libraried in the first post of the thread (links to various other library posts).

Stage 10: Weimar - Oberhof, 219km

Climbs:
Jägersberg (cat.4) 1,2km @ 6,8%
Hühnerschenke (cat.3) 7,8km @ 4,7%
Neuhaus am Rannweg (cat.3) 5,8km @ 4,4%
Waffenrod (cat.4) 2,2km @ 7,1%
Waldauer Berg (cat.4) 1,2km @ 7,4%
Keulroder Berg (cat.4) 2,8km @ 5,6%
Friedbergsiedlung (cat.4) 2,3km @ 4,5%
Ringbergpass (cat.2) 7,6km @ 5,2%
Oberhof (cat.3) 5,4km @ 5,3%
Ruppberg (cat.3) 4,2km @ 5,6%
Grenzadler (cat.3) 4,1km @ 5,0%

Sectors:
1) Neuhaus am Rennweg Stadtmitte
2) Schleusingen
3) Alt-Suhl

Another long, and difficult, day in the saddle for the riders today. After a southward transfer back into the former DDR, we have a long and strength-sapping, leg-breaking stage through Thüringen, with no fewer than eleven categorised climbs on the menu as it snakes its way through the Thüringer Wald.

The stage starts in the immensely historically and culturally significant city of Weimar. Though perhaps best known for giving its name to the failed inter-war democracy in 20th Century Germany, the charming and attractive city has also had a very high impact on almost all aspects of cultural life in Germany. The authors Goethe and Schiller lived here, and it became a focal point of German Classicism; the Bauhaus architectural movement has its roots here; and artists such as Kandinsky and Klee spent much time in the city as well. Therefore its rich history makes it a significant stop-off for the Deutschland-Rundfahrt, ahead of a difficult day of racing that ought to be for the more discerning viewer.

The first, small, climb is early in the stage - so early it doesn't even appear in the profile I gave you since it's more than 200km from the finish. Then there's a long transitional phase as we head into the Thüringer Wald and the banks of the Loquitz. Then the climbs start in earnest, with ten in 150km, normally the preserve of the Ardennes. The first is the wooded slopes of Hühnerschenke, whose unthreatening statistics belie that the majority of the height gain comes in the last 3km, which are reasonably steep (close to 8%). We then head around the Rennweg/Rennsteig for a while, a long path linking a number of summits through the range, through sights like the cobbled centre of Neuhaus am Rennweg (which summits another climb).

The riders then head out the other side of the Thüringer Wald, briefly returning for the sharpish rise to Waffenrod. Then there's an undulating stretch for about 40km. This section of the stage, ending with 50km remaining, includes three categorised climbs and a cobbled sector, but only Keulroder Berg is likely to be any real difficulty for all but the most tired members of the day's breakaway. The last 50km of the stage could be carnage, with more than 40% of them spent climbing and a similar amount spent descending. Everything after the town of Suhl, which gives us another easily negotiable, Meta Volante-styled cobbled sector, has the chance to be GC relevant, styled after stages like the San Lorenzo de El Escorial stage in the 2011 Vuelta. The first of these climbs is the longest, being the wide open roads to Ringbergpass. This wears its toughest gradients early, maxing out at 14%, before a rolling finale. This backs onto a 10km stretch of rolling terrain, although it is seldom actually flat. This gives way to descent before the narrow and wooded climb which rises into the small city of Oberhof, nominally our stage town for the day, although the finish is not in the city - though it does host a summit. Like many of these climbs, the average gradient is not too high, but there is some inconsistency to deal with as well as the accumulation - this is the 9th climb of the day.

This is followed by a 9km descent which is fast and technical, and gives good opportunities to those who prefer to be out of sight and out of mind, before with 14km to go we arrive in the city of Zella-Mehlis.This final 14km offer two climbs, because otherwise the stage would be too easy, no? The first of these is the sweeping Ruppberg, which although not steep is fairly constant, and should give ample opportunity to attack, as after cresting the summit there is literally 2km of descent before the road turns upwards again. Passing the Sprungschanze is the sign of seriousness as the road turns to the hilltop yet again. It isn't mega steep or anything - starting as false flat and gradually turning the wick up to finish with 2km at 7% or so as shown in the last 4km of this profile - but the idea of this stage is that with the last climb being fairly comfortable yet the last 50km being relentlessly up and down, and with the long rouleur stages preceding it, those who aim to make their gains in the hills and mountains will need to make this a very difficult race early. Of course, it could always just be left for the break, but in that case at least we'll get an intriguing battle for the stage win from Suhl onwards. The stage finishes at the summit of a climb known as the Grenzadler, which overlooks Oberhof... there's plenty of room for the finish here, since it is the sight of the prominent international cross-country skiing and biathlon centre (yea yea, I know, this is meant to be a cycling race, not a biathlon tourist's trip), along with Germany's first ski tunnel.

Weimar:

Oberhof (DKB-Arena):

 

[Fus087]

Following this GT of Germany with interest. Looks great so far.

I certainly hope that the Hainleite is next...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 11: Kassel - Paderborn, 194km

Climbs:
Bramwald (cat.3) 5,5km @ 4,9%
Höxter Kuppe (cat.3) 3,7km @ 5,4%
Saurenberg (cat.4) 3,5km @ 3,9%
Hossengrund (cat.3) 2,9km @ 5,6%
Hermannsdenkmal (cat.3) 3,0km @ 5,7%
Gauseköte (cat.4) 5,4km @ 3,7%

Sectors:
1) Bad Driburg Altstadt
2) Horn - Bad Meinburg
3) Detmold

We've moved over the Land boundary into Hesse, the historic city that served as the base for the Brothers Grimm, to start today's stage, and we're in the Rhön mountains. Well, their foothills - we're not approaching the Wasserkuppe or anything along those lines.

Realistically, although there are six categorised climbs and three cobbled sectors in this stage, this one is likely to have little effect on the GC, as this is a sure-fire stage for the breakaway, negotiating the boundaries between Hesse, Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen on our way to the well-known university city of Paderborn. The stage starts off easily enough - the first half of the stage contains just one of the categorised climbs and none of the cobbles - then the action will slowly ramp up as the stage wears on. Arguably the hardest climb of the day marks the start of the second half, the slopes of Höxter Berg, which is then followed by some gradual, undulating slopes through narrow lanes and then the cobbles of Bad Driburg lead directly into the slopes of Hossengrund.

The rest of the obstacles are crammed into a short stretch from 45km remaining to 20km remaining, with the cobbles in Horn-Bad Meinberg and Detmold up first, then the steepest climb of the day, the inconsistent sloped from Detmold to the famous Hermannsdenkmal statue. This comes with 28km remaining and is immediately followed by a more gradual climb, before a 20km flat run-in to Paderborn. The GC men are unlikely to be tempted into action after the up-and-down-all-day action into Oberhof yesterday, so we will probably see the break duking it out to get away on the last couple of climbs, otherwise it's going to be a Sagan day, with the pure sprinters burnt off and a reduced bunch coming to the line.

Kassel:

Paderborn:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 12: Osnabrück - Gelsenkirchen, 152km

Sectors:
1) Werne
2) Lünen

The last stage before the second rest day is the most straightforward of the entire race, a totally flat stage taking us from the northern tip of the Teutoburger Wald to the heart of the Ruhrgebiet. I could have picked any of a number of cities in that industrial beating heart of Germany to pay host, but I've gone for a relatively central one. It gives the teams more choice when it comes to picking their spot for the rest day.

The stage is comparatively short, travelling by a very direct route to its destination; it's therefore likely to be one of those stages where the break are controlled well by the more organised sprinters' teams, and with few obstacles it is unlikely that we will see many riders burnt off the back of the péloton. There are no categorised climbs at all, but unlike those painful stages in the Lüneburger Heide and on the Ostseeküste in week 1, the riders aren't going to be subjected to several kilometres of unforgiving Kopfsteinpflaster today. In fact there are just two sectors, both of which are easy city centre cobbles that serve as de facto intermediate sprints. The first is in Werne, about 60% of the way through the stage, and the second is in the pretty old part of Lünen a few kilometres later. Both are with over 50km to go, so this one's obviously coming back together for a sprint on the run-in, which bypasses Dortmund and then bisects Herne and Bochum on its way to Gelsenkirchen. There is a brief circuit between Gelsenkirchen and Wanne, but the last 30-40km of the stage will be all through the industrial centre of the country with the finish in the city that hosts both Germany's largest solar power plant and the highest coal chimneys in the country. Hey, even *I* need to throw the sprinters a bone sometimes.

Osnabrück:

Gelsenkirchen:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 13: Nürburg - Nürburg, 25,8km & 62,3km (Jagdrennen)

Climbs:
Hohe Acht (EZF)(cat.3) 4,2km @ 5,7%
Hohe Acht (1er Passage)(cat.3) 4,2km @ 5,7%
Hohe Acht (2er Passage)(cat.3) 4,2km @ 5,7%
Hohe Acht (3er Passage)(cat.3) 4,2km @ 5,7%

On the first day after the second rest day, it's Saturday, and that means time for a bit of experimentation - that's right, it's our second 'special attraction' stage! There was a bit of a fad a few years ago for using motor racing venues in cycling (Monaco in the 2009 Tour, Assen in the 2009 Vuelta, Monza in the 2010 Giro Donne, Circuit de Catalunya in the 2008-10 Voltas), but one racing track above all has the cycling legacy behind it. That track is the Nürburgring, also known as "the Green Hell", a 20+km expanse of narrow tarmac that undulates over more than 100 corners in the Eifel mountains. It has hosted the UCI World Championships on 3 occasions; in 1927 Alfredo Binda walked away the champion, in 1966 Rudi Altig was the victor, while Gerrie Knetemann triumphed in 1978. Since then, however, it's been rather dormant. Until now! The course itself is technical and twisty at times, and constantly rolling; there is precious little flat terrain for riders to get into a rhythm on, instead it will be continual changes of pace and effort, with a fairly serious climb halfway through the circuit which is hallmarked by arguably the most famous of all the corners at the Nürburgring, the concreted, banked hairpin that is the Karussell. After the climb there's no real descent to speak of, for the finish is at one of the highest elevations on the circuit; instead it's a phase of rolling terrain, with the final 2km being almost entirely straight on an uphill false flat.

As you will no doubt be aware (and following this Deutschland Rundfahrt will likely have made you aware if you weren't already), I am very into my biathlon and cross-country skiing, and like a couple of others before me have been looking to the Nordic disciplines for ways of innovating within cycling. Lupetto, in their Tour of Japan and their different Tour Méditerranéen routes, included stages influenced by the cross-country sprint stages, with one rider from each team going in a series of short parallel races. I have gone the other way, however, borrowing from biathlon the sprint and pursuit concept. This has been discussed on a few occasions, how we could incorporate the pursuit format into the cycling world, and no consensus has ever been reached. To be fair, even the skiing world isn't totally sure. After all, in biathlon only the top 60 qualify, so as not to have too much traffic for the leaders on later laps, while in the Tour de Ski the pursuit race to the summit of Alpe Cermis features all athletes more than 10 minutes down on the GC being released together. Both formats have their drawbacks when applied to cycling. We have discussed its value to short stage races with small time gaps, as opposed to Grand Tours where you'd be releasing some riders hours after the leaders have already finished, roads would be closed for far longer than normal and the public will have little interest in who goes by once the leaders have sorted out their battle.

I have come to a solution, in my opinion. No GC times being used here, as after all, there could be hours won and lost by this point. Instead, this will be a fully UCI-baiting split stage. In the morning, the riders will set off in reverse GC order for an individual time trial, as per any normal race. The time trial is a loop of the full Nürburgring, including both the Südschleife (current GP-Strecke) and the Nordschleife, and is just under 26km in length. This should create some reasonably-sized gaps. Riders will then take their spots on the start ramp for a 3-lap race on the Nordschleife only (which brings the finish closer to the top of the climb as well as making the distance a bit shorter), where they will be released in order at intervals from the leader according to the ITT times they set earlier. Importantly, however, the ITT times do not affect the General Classification. They merely set the start times for the pursuit race later. The reasoning behind this is that if a rider finishes 1'00 behind a GC rival in the time trial, and then finishes 1'00 behind them in the pursuit, they have in fact matched their rivals' performance in the pursuit, so over the two races they have only lost 1'00. However if both races count for the GC, they lose 2'00. Therefore, the GC times will only be set after the pursuit race. At a length of 62,3km, the pursuit will ask a number of questions of the riders. It's a length that is pretty long for soloing away, but then, will the group behind be organised? Should you wait for the group behind? A lot will depend on what the chasing group is comprised of - if there are several from the same team or several who are willing to work together, then it may wind up being small group racing at the front for much of it, unless a team leader loses much time in the time trial and a good time triallist who placed very high in the ITT has to drop back to help. It also brings in another issue: a lot of teams often have domestiques not give everything in the ITT. Here, if the leader needs them, they will need their domestiques to be close to them in TT time. Do you tell your domestiques to give their all in the ITT and risk them being tired and unable to assist in the closing stages of the pursuit? Or do you try to keep them strong for the following days and risk your leader being isolated in the pursuit race? There are lots of things to take into account with a race like this, as not only do cyclists not have the same experience of dealing with this kind of race situation as the skiers and biathletes, but also incorporating it as part of a stage race, as well as the general characteristics of cycling as opposed to other endurance sports, introduces a whole new set of variables that no amount of studying the tactics in the Nordic sports' versions of the race will be able to help with.

Nürburgring:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 14: Koblenz - Großer Feldberg im Taunus, 216km

Climbs:
Seelbach (cat.3) 3,4km @ 6,3%
Weißer Stein (cat.4) 2,2km @ 6,5%
Hohe Wurzel (cat.2) 6,5km @ 6,8%
Taunus Platte (cat.2) 5,8km @ 6,0%
Hardt-Berg (cat.3) 3,9km @ 6,1%
Kleiner Feldberg (cat.3) 5,8km @ 5,4%
Sandplacken (cat.3) 4,4km @ 5,1%
Mammolshainer Berg (cat.3) 2,8km @ 7,0%
Großer Feldberg (cat.2) 8,0km @ 6,1%

Sectors:
1) Wiesbaden Stadtmitte

The racing continues on the penultimate Sunday in more 'normal' fashion. Once more it's medium mountains that are the order of the day, as one might expect in this part of Germany, so what they lack in brutality I have tried to make up for with number and length, with another 200km+ mountain stage with nine categorised climbs, this time making the most of the Taunus mountains, a range along the Rhein-Main area overlooking the city of Frankfurt, nicknamed 'Mainhattan' for its position on the river Main and for its dramatic skyline dotted with the ubiquitous Wolkenkrätzern. Using one of Germany's greatest symbols, the mighty Father Rhine, as a guide along with the historic Roman Limes, this promises to be a tough day that could spell real danger for those rouleurs who've been able to hold on to the gains they made in the first week despite Teufelstein and Oberhof.

Rolling hills and river valleys will be the day's visual supply. We begin with a short run along the river before hitting a couple of introductory climbs, into the settlement of Seelbach then up to Weißer Stein. While hardly Monzuno and Loiano, they are still a nice little double act to warm up the riders' legs. After this there's some rolling along the high plateau before descending back into the valley that the Rhine has cut in the landscape, to enter the capital of Hesse, and enjoy a brief sector of cobbles in the streets of Wiesbaden. Then, it's time for some climbing, with the category 2 sweeping bends up to the Hohe Wurzel reaching up to 13%. From here there is a passage through Taunusstein before returning to Wiesbaden to tackle a slightly smaller, but less consistent, climb to the highly dramatic Jagdschloß Platte.

From here, the route via Eppstein takes us into familiar territory, land the riders should be well aware of from the Rund um den Finanzplatz, the Frankfurt May Day race. This, many of you will know, is one of my favourite races, so it's only sensible to pay it some sort of tribute. But not quite in the way that they would do it. Firstly, the riders undergo a two-stepped climb to the Kleiner Feldberg, which as you can see affords the riders a view of their later target. This climb consists of the fairly constant rise up the Hardt-Berg (which is categorised in and of itself) into the Frankfurt commuter town of Königstein im Taunus, where Roman antiquity meets German romanticism as in much of the area. Then the road turns back uphill and the riders get a fairly steady rise to the Kleiner Feldberg before turning left and continuing to head north. 42km now remain. The highly technical descent - which starts off very steep, leads directly into the next climb, which is the first half of the Northeastern approach to Großer Feldberg, via Sandplacken. This is again fairly consistent at a gradient that shouldn't punish any challengers (5-6%), however cumulative effort may start to grind people down. The descent from this climb - which crests with 32km remaining - is the majority of the route to Großer Feldberg climbed from the most conventional side, as used in the Rund um den Finanzplatz; meaning we descend into the fairytale town of Oberursel via Hohemark, a station at a roundabout surrounded by forests at the base of the Taunus mountains, one of the strangest places for a commuter U-Bahn to stop.

The last part of the stage is the important part. Although categorised as two separate climbs, it is probably fair to think of the last 14km as one continuous climb. Quäldich certainly does, and since the bottom part could be the most important part for making moves on, that's probably within reason. The final summit finish, climbing up to the highest point in the Taunus, the Großer Feldberg, is one of the key climbs of the Rund um den Finanzplatz, however we're not climbing the conventional side since we just descended it. Instead, we're climbing via THE key climb of that race. Affording sweeping vistas of Frankfurt whilst punching the riders in the face with gradients of up to 26%, this short (just under 3km) burst at the start is the Mammolshainer Berg, one of Germany's nastiest short, punchy rises. This is parallel to the Hardt-Berg from earlier, so the same summit rising into Königstein takes place. And then we retrace our steps from earlier. But whereas before we turned left and continued on our way at just before the 11km mark on that profile, this time, the seriousness must continue. The last 8km average just over 6%, which is not too extreme, but the ramps of 15% followed by some stretches of 9% will give ample opportunities for riders to attack and open up some timegaps, as surely the Mammolshainer Berg will cut us down to the elites, and given that time will be at a premium riders will need to be making time, ensuring the summit finish today is active and that while riders may not have been able to make major gaps on the way to the tower at the summit today, it is unlikely that this will be through lack of trying.

Koblenz:

Großer Feldberg im Taunus:

 

[Eshnar]

Beware you fools! The 3rd edition of the mighty Giro of the Mountains is coming! We're just minutes away!

 

[Ferminal]

How many MTFs in France?