Race Design Thread

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Stage 8: Messina –> Messina (ITT), 53 km

It's time to create some gaps in the GC!

The sprint icons indicate the time checks.
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This should indeed create quite some gaps, first with a climb and descent, and then 35 km of flat. The ITT is clockwise.
 
Stage 9: Messina –> Etna (MTF), 190 km

We'll finish the first week(end), with a great celebration of Etna, climbing it from 3 instead of the 2 times in '11.

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Etna:
1st time: 13 km @ 6.5 %
2nd time (the new one): 16.5 @ 7.5 %
final time: 18.5 km @ 6.2 %

Will we see the riders who lost time yesterday try to even things out, or will we witness once again true annihilation?

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Stage 3: Saint Jean Pied-de-Port - Col d'Ibardin, 146km

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Climbs:
Gastigarlepoa (cat.2) 4,5km @ 5,8%
Col d'Izpegui (cat.1) 8,1km @ 6,3%
Puerto de Otxondo (cat.2) 7,6km @ 4,3%
Col de Saint Ignace (cat.4) 2,8km @ 4,6%
Col d'Ibardin (cat.2) 4,5km @ 5,7%
Col de Lissuraga (cat.3) 4,4km @ 4,0%
Col de Saint Ignace (cat.4) 2,8km @ 4,6%
Ventas de Ibardín (cat.2) 5,3km @ 6,2%

Another day in Iparralde, another seemingly endless parade of climbs. Today we head from the capital of Nafarroa Beherea back into Lapurdi, easily the most populated part of the Pays-Basque, for our only summit finish of the race. While yesterday's stage was the big mountain battle, today is pretty short and to the point. The day starts with a loop to the northwest of Donibane Garazi, heading over the smallish climb of Gastigarlepoa before the two longest climbs of the day are got over with in the first 50km. The first of these is the Col d'Izpegui/Puerto de Izpegui, a generally pretty consistent (by Pyrenéan standards) climb on the border between Nafarroa Beherea and Nafarroa itself, as we cross from French-owned Basque country to Spanish-owned. This is then followed swiftly by the generally shallow Puerto de Otxondo, a pretty but uncomplicated pass entirely in Spain. After this the descent takes us back into France, down into the breathtaking village of Ainhoa, recognised as one of France's most beautiful and the source of a common name among Basque women.

The next part of the stage is simply rolling land, flattish terrain with a couple of gradual ups and downs as we head out to the north of Ainhoa before turning back south for the town of Sare. After this we have a small climb up to the Col de Saint Ignace, base of the Petit Train de la Rhûne, a small railway-funicular offering breathtaking views of the Côte Basque. Then, it's down to Urrugne before taking on the climb to the Col d'Ibardin, an uncomplicated climb on the border. Instead of going straight to the finish, however, the riders descend back down into Bera on the Spanish side of the climb, before returning to France once more over the inconsistent but unthreatening climb of Lizuniaga, known here by its French name of the Col de Lissuraga. Descending this takes us back to Sare, where with 20km to go we head back over the Col de Saint Ignace ahead of the final summit finish.

The final summit today is not the Col d'Ibardin, however. I have, patterned after the 2012 Vuelta al País Vasco, awkwardly glued on the final steep kilometre up to the Ventas de Ibardin. Although they climbed the opposite side of Ibardin in País Vasco, the final kilometre is the same, so relive that Purito-themed finish here - with stretched of 15% and 20%, it's one where some small gaps can be made between those select riders who came in together yesterday. And the road from the Col to the summit there is right on the border between Iparralde and Nafarroa - in fact, for much of that distance the road itself serves as the border, so riders will swap countries as they swing from side of the road to another jockeying for position.

Ventas de Ibardin:
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View of Ibardin from La Rhûne:
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Stage 4a: Hendaye - Hendaye, 15,2km (ITT)

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After the difficult stage on Friday where riders will have needed to spend some time solo or in small groups to take advantage of its opportunities, and yesterday's small-gap MTF, Sunday morning begins with a 15km ITT in Hendaye, the town best known as the termination point of most SNCF trains in the southwest, as well as being the easternmost station on the Basque Country's narrow-gauge Euskotren rail service (and the only stop in France).

The start-finish area is around the Collège d'Irandatz, as I have tried to minimise disruption around the centre of Hendaye and at border crossings as much as possible. The first part of the stage is a gradual uphill on Chemin d'Agoretta, with views out over the town and the Bidasoa estuary. This is broken up before another small uphill, maxing out at about 7%, around the hamlet of Erreka, and joining the route nationale towards Urrugne. The climbing is hardly strenuous though - we climb just over 100m in about 5km before heading on a very gradual downhill into rolling terrain for the last 10km.

There are some technical corners as we leave the route nationale and head to the hamlet of Mendixokoa along some narrow roads. We then turn right and head back towards Hendaye, snaking alongside the much more important Autoroute de la Côte Basque (which becomes the Autopista del Cantábrico after crossing the Bidasoa), with some occasional short uphill digs to keep the riders on their game. This isn't a TT for a pure power guy, but it isn't hard enough for the climbers to be the top guys either. Most of the way back to Hendaye will be on the wooded Route de Kurleku, all the way to the border, where at 3km to go we turn right and ride along the banks of the Bidasoa, turning inland for our final uphill digs after going past the Puente Internacional at Béhobie before a gradual uphill drag into Hendaye, with a couple of technical corners preceding the finish. This one should sort out the GC if people are still on same times after Donibane Garazi and Ibardin.

Hendaye:
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Stage 4b: Hendaye - Bayonne, 73km

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Climbs:
Côte d'Abbadie d'Arrast (cat.4) 1,0km @ 7,9%
Côte de Solorzano (cat.4) 2,8km @ 2,3%

The final semitappe of this second edition of the Tour du Pays-Basque Français is, like the final stage of the first version, a circuit finish in Bayonne, the main city of the region. The stage is short (even for a semitappe), proceeding up the Côte Basque through some of its most famous spots, including the beautiful town of St Jean de Luz (Donibane Lohitzun in Basque), and heading past (offering great views from the helicam) Biarritz and Anglet, with only a couple of small climbs to interrupt them, the first being the short puncheur-styled rise in the port of Ciboure, the second being a very gradual drag as the race heads inland to avoid causing too much disruption at Biarritz airport. The rest of the trek to Bayonne is very much about rolling terrain, and those rises on the profile would be barely perceptible in the other stages of the race.

The riders will arrive in central Bayonne from the southwest (as you might imagine from a route like this), entering the finishing circuit at Stade Jean Dauger, the home of Aviron Bayonnais, the local rugby team. We then cross into Petit-Bayonne, the more expressly Basque part of the city, home of some delightful traditional Basque architecture and, erm, graffiti. The Musée Basque is here, and we do get some pretty scenery along the Bords de la Nive as well. The riders meet the banks of the Adour, and ride along it before a left and right where Pont Saint-Esprit meets Place de la Liberté (outside the national theatre), before rolling to the finish on Avenue Maréchal Leclerc. The straight leading into here is short, so good choice of lines through the preceding double bend will be key. After this it's a long straight road back to the rugby stadium, past the memorial, the botanical garden and the ramparts of the Citadelle now in a park, surrounding the cobbled streets and shops of Grand-Bayonne, built around the city's famous cathedral. The riders will take 7 circuits (bearing in mind they've already done most of one loop by the time they cross the line the first time), meaning the fans on the circuit will see the riders eight times in all.

So this may be a sprint, but it will be an unusual one (I doubt too many frontline sprinters will start this race), and the scenery will at least be great.

Bayonne:
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Hey guys.

I decided to create a one week race through my home country, the Bavarian/Bohemian Forest.

I think late August/Early September would be a good place in the calendar.


The Tour starts with an 8km prologe in Regensburg

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Both start and finish are in fron of the cathedral of Regensburg. The route is a bit technical as it leads through the old parts of the city. So same roads are rather small, there are cobbled sections and all so some sharp corners.
Although it's mostly flat, this makes the prologe quiet difficult.
Rders will also cross the danube on the Stone Bridge which is almost 900 years old.
TV pictures will be very pleasing for this prologe as the road is really embeded in gorgous medieval scenery.

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Netserk said:
Just mapped a new Giro Di Lombardia course while watching the race (I had to do something when nothing happened in the race)

Giro Di Lombardia

This is a VERY untraditional and mountainous course starting in Como and ending in Lecco.

Map:
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Profile:
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Final 60 km:
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Climbs:
Passo San Marco
Dossena
Passo Di Valcava

Certainly much better than today's course. :)

Nevertheless, it seems to me this route is perhaps a bit too radical on the opposite side: it limits the range of riders who could win it.

Pretty much no flat at all in the last 100kms. I think the route should make organised chasing possible in order to open up a variety of different scenarios.
 
Stage 2a: Klatovy - Bodenmais 179km

Today's stage offers the first difficulties of the Tour.
The finale of this Tour is very interesting, as it offers 2 mountains and a little killer cobbled uphill finish section. Punchy climbers should like this one.

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8,1km 5,7% gradient
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8km, 6,3% gradient
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Final 0.42 km, 23% average gradient. (cobbled)

The street the riders go up today is used for a ski race which is held in midtown during winter.

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Sep 8, 2010
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Libertine Seguros said:
23% average!? Seems a little excessive (the picture doesn't look like 23% to me, but camera angles can be misleading).

That's one kickass little finishing ramp.

I will never forget the story of the Course de la Paix in 1987. There was a time trial to Harrachov, that ended with the climb of the ski jumping hill. No rider knew, that he had such a beast to climb, when he started his tt. :D

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Stage 3 Bodenmais - Rusel 176km

Today's stage is a very demanding "roller coster" type of stage. There's hardly a flat km on the route. It's up and down all day. Not big mountains, but challenging never the less.
The mountain finish however, is fairly long with almost 500m of climbing.

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Descender said:
Certainly much better than today's course. :)

Nevertheless, it seems to me this route is perhaps a bit too radical on the opposite side: it limits the range of riders who could win it.

Pretty much no flat at all in the last 100kms. I think the route should make organised chasing possible in order to open up a variety of different scenarios.

With the same flat 80 km:
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This should do the trick IMO, as the 25 km of flat before Passo Di Valcava will ensure a reasonable sized field hitting this beast and starting the final.

The great thing about this 3 climb final is that the first is climb is 13 km long and steep enough to split the field, yet not steeper than that there is room for tactical riding, so an outsider group can get away. It's also so tough that it's worth for the favourites to make an attack that can stick.

Then after the (technical) descent there comes this 6 km uneven wall. First half is ~11 % then one quarter with 5-6 %, before it ramps up again. No one will attack before entering the 5-6 % section, so the gaps on the top should be many, but not big enough for a solo home.

Then there is only some false flat until the final km of the last climb, which is 10 %, then downhill and 8 km of flat, where both regrouping and attacking should happen.

This way if raced passively on Valcava Gilbert would still be the favourite, but also the likes of Costa and Visconti should have a chance, though it might actually would be harder for Purito to win than this year's race. It could be anything from a 30 km solo, to a 12-man sprint, and as such have a far greater range of possible outcomes than the current curse.

No matter who is the favourite, there is a realistic possibly to negate him. Either use you team to put pressure on Valcava, or let teammates attack and while your captain wheelsuck the opponent.

tl;dr With this short editing it should be a great race, where the last 70 km should be entertaining.
 
After a forced break, here are the next four stages of my

Vuelta a España

In this Vuelta I have set myself a special goal: to include as many decisive climbs as possible that have never been used in the Vuelta a España.


Stage 9, Granada --> Lanjarón (219kms)

The first big weekend ends with a spectacular stage featuring an incomprehensibly unused climb: Haza del Lino. This mountain pass has up to 5 asphalted sides, two of which are truly hard. The possibilities it offers are endless. I decided to use my favourite side twice, the one that goes through the town of Polopos and which was used in the last Vuelta a Andalucía (except the last 4 kms which they didn't ride since they descended down another road).

The stage finishes in a very Aprica-like style in the town of Lanjarón, famous for giving its name to a well-known brand of bottled water.

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Climbs:

Alto de Conjuros, cat. 2 (10kms at 5%)
http://www.cyclingcols.com/profiles/GualchosW.gif

Puerto de Haza de Lino, HC (17,6 kms at 7,2%)
http://www.cyclingcols.com/profiles/HazaDelLinoS.gif

REST DAY (Monday)


Stage 10 - Ciudad Real --> Toledo (195 kms)

Mostly flat stage with an uphill finish at the breath-taking Alcázar of Toledo.

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Stage 11 - Talavera de la Reina --> La Covatilla (226 kms)

Finish on a well-known climb in the Vuelta in recent times. This long stage features two cat. 1 passes: El Pico and Honduras.

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Climbs:

Alto de El Pico, cat. 1 (15,6kms at 5,7%)
http://www.altimetrias.net/public/Pico21.gif

Puerto de Honduras, cat. 1 (17kms at 5,2%)
http://www.altimetrias.net/Caceres/Honduras1.gif

Alto de La Covatilla, HC (20kms at 5,6%)
http://www.altimetrias.net/Salamanca/Covatilla.gif

Stage 12 - Salamanca --> León (202 kms)

Flat stage for sprinters. Watch out for echelons.

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Library post

Fantasy versions of other Europe Tour Stage Races (Britain, the Low Contries, Scandinavia, Germany & Austria)

Bayern Rundfahrt: Prologue Stage 1 Stage 2a Stage 2b Stage 3 (Bavarianrider)

Bayern Rundfahrt: Entire parcours (roundabout)

?sterreich Rundfahrt: Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 (Mayomaniac)

Österreich Rundfahrt: Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 (fauniera)

Österreich Rundhart: Stages 1-3 Stages 4-8 (rghysens)

Österreich Rundfahrt: Entire parcours (roundabout)

Post Danmark Rundt: Stages 1-2 Stages 3-4 Stages 5-6 Stages 7a-7b (togo95)

Thüringen Rundfahrt: Entire parcours (roundabout)

Tour of Belgium: Prologue/Stages 1 & 2 Stage 3 (Buffalo Soldier)

Tour of Britain: Prologue (Caruut)

Tour of Britain: Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 (Libertine Seguros)

Tour of Britain: Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 (Pricey_sky)

Tour of Britain: Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 Stage 9 (Pricey_sky)

Tour of Norway: Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 (cartman)

More will be added here as they are posted. All library posts are linked from the first post in this thread.
 
Here the last part of my

Vuelta a España



Stage 13, León --> Ponferrada (168 kms)

A tricky stage featuring the cat. 2 climb Foncebadón followed by a descent and the short but steep Lombillo before hitting the town of Ponferrada.


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Stage 14, Ponferrada --> Cangas del Narcea (200 kms)

Mountain stage featuring four climbs, including one with the most bad-a$$ name ever: Pozo de las Mujeres Muertas (Dead Women's Well). :-D :-D

The riders will tackle the hard passes of Connio, Pozo de las Mujeres Muertas and then the Alto del Santuario del Acebo, used often in the Vuelta a Asturias but never seen in the Vuelta a España. The climb is actually a mountain pass with several sides. I didn't use its hardest side, but rather the hard first 5,4 kms of the Castro de Limés side (profile below).

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Climbs:

Puerto del Connio, 1st Cat (14 kms at 5,4%)
http://www.cyclingcols.com/profiles/ConnioW.gif

Puerto del Pozo de las Mujeres Muertas, 1st Cat (12,5 kms at 6%)
http://www.cyclingcols.com/profiles/MujeresMuertasN.gif

Alto del Santuario del Acebo, 1st Cat (5,4 kms at 10,1%)
http://unavueltamejor.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/acebo-por-limes_7f23f962.jpg


Stage 15, Navia de Suarna --> Estación de Esquí del Morredero (189 kms)

The Vuelta has finished on top the Morredero ski resort several times, but they've always tackled the climb through the easier side. This time they'll ride through two long, hard climbs that have never featured in the Vuelta.

The Puerto de Fonte da Cova, (also known as Puerto del Sestil, or Collada Trevinca) is a 25 km long, 6% climb, very similar to climbs like the Madeleine (hardest side).

The Llano de las Ovejas is the southern side of the Morredero-Portinillos climb, also very hard, also asphalted and also unknown.

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Climbs:

Puerto de Fonte da Cova, HC (24,7 kms at 6,1%)
http://www.cyclingcols.com/profiles/FonteDaCovaW.gif

Alto del Llano de las Ovejas, HC (18 kms at 6,3%)
http://www.altimetrias.net/Leon/Ovejas.gif


REST DAY (Monday)

Stage 16, Zaragoza --> Tremp (199 kms)

Mostly flat transition stage, except for the 2nd cat. climb before the finish in Tremp.

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Your Morredero finish looks very similar to a stage I had planned for another Vuelta. I'm liking this route, because unlike my one with African stages, Balearic circuit races and the Canaries, this is not a radical Vuelta route. You've used a lot of the race's supportive towns, just used them better.
 
Dec 16, 2011
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Good work, Descender!

I also need to finish off my Vuelta. The last week is a lot less original as the second one, but who cares. ;)

Stage 15: Ponferrada - Zamora (209 KM)

Today's stage is pretty easy, and therefore likely to end up in a bunch sprint. However, the long uphill drag right after the start may help creating a very strong attackers group.

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Dec 16, 2011
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