Race Design Thread

[Finn84]

My Tour de France, stage 3: Rennes-Saumur, 229 km

After transfer to Rennes, it's time for a long stage. This one still belongs to easy category. Due to doing this via two different pages (as Tracks4bikers won't allow to build 200+ route), the profile may seem flatter than it is. The route has two climbs worth mentioning: In around 30 kms the route goes up to 100 and around 180 kms uo to 180. 4th category values still the biggest they can get. That pretty much explains why the route makes the detours.

Coming to Saumur by Rue du Pont Fouchard, it goes past Le Thouet, turns right to Boulevard de la Marne, left to Rue Hoche, right to Rue du Mouton and finish is at Rue Marceau.

 

[Finn84]

My Tour de France, stage 4: Saumur-Châteauroux,

Another flat stage, where sprinters are expected to shine. More so due to fact that most of them are in trouble for some days after that, but more about that later. Finish line at Châteauroux is on Avenue de la Châtre.

Distance is 195,5 kilometres as the graph shows.

 

[TheBigT]

So I've wanted to do some one-day races in Australia for a while now, and given I'm undecided on my Victorian options, I decided to knock up a NSW classic.
The Kiama - Wollongong - Nowra is a 250km race featuring 8 categorised climbs, 4600m of vertical ascent and plenty of opportunity for cross winds off the Pacific.

We start in the coastal town of Kiama, pop. 12000, and home to the Kiama Blowhole. We head north along the coast for some 40km, until we reach the city of Wollongong. Here we see the first two climbs of the day, up the Illawarra escarpment.
We then head south again, with some 25km of flat roads before the longest climb of the day, up Macquarie Pass. The descent of the escarpment is followed by the tough climb up Saddleback mountain, before we return to Kiama.
From here, we turn inland heading towards the finishing point in Nowra, shortly before the town the riders turn right to complete a 70km return circuit, featuring 4 more climbs, before crossing the Shoalhaven river to finish in Nowra.

Kiama

Nowra

Climbs
Mount Ousley Road @ 39.8km, 6.35km at 5.9%
Cordeaux Road @ 60.2km, 3.90km at 7.6%
Macquarie Pass @ 94.1km, 10.20km at 6.3%
Saddleback Mountain @ 134.2km, 4.61km at 8.3%
Moss Vale Road (South) @ 184.0km, 5.01km at 8.2%
Woodhill Mountain @ 204.5km, 1.87km at 12.3%
Berry Mountain @ 218.6km, 6.81km at 6.9%
Moss Vale Road (North) @ 235.2km, 4.17km at 8.4%

Map

Terrain

 

[Finn84]

My Tour de France, stage 5: La Châtre - Clermont-Ferrand, 201 km

As said earlier, time for some tougher terrain. A medium mountain stage with six climbs, the toughest of them being the penultimate one, which begins about 33 kilometres before the end. A kind of two-part climb, first 1,2 km of 5,8%, then 3,65 km of 7,7%.

After that another climb, the second hardest of the day, 5,5 km of 5,1%.

The route is pretty much straightforward in the beginning, but at the end there is two swings to the hills, and that's why I put second map which shows the end of the stage better.

Probably not a stage for overall contenders for the stage win, as breakaway may well take this. However, a small possibility to make some gaps.

Finish line at Boulevard Berthelet/Dueleux/Aristide Briand.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

Another Tour de France of mine...here's my starter, Stage 1 (Mont Ventoux-Bedoin):

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3033064

As promised, a descent time trial down Mont Ventoux is my starter, and I'll leave you all hanging from here.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Resurrecting this because, well, I'm me.

This is an attempt at something a bit away from my typical fodder. I'm having a go at working on one of the older and more traditional, yet lowly-esteemed World Tour races. A race that has resorted to experimentation and holding its key stages on the other side of the continent from, you know, the place it's supposed to be Touring, in order to escape from the accusations of dull racing. That's right, it's Hitch's beloved Tour de Pologne, a race which dates back to the 1920s but is currently seen as the soft target for World Tour opponents, being as it is typically a bunch of second tier sprinters duking it out before a hilly stage or two... or held half in Italy, as this year.

My Tour de Pologne does not resort to such gimmickry as travelling to Italy in order to provide its challenge; instead it looks to the past of the Tour de Pologne, the Friedensfahrt and the days of the Ostbloc amateur races, with some truly tough rouleur stages. Naturally, a lot of the difficulties of those days would be hard to recreate now, but I've had a bit of a go. I've also looked at making the race a bit more of a comprehensive Tour of Poland, which is perhaps somewhat unrealistic given that most of the support for cycling can be seen in the South of the country, and indeed in addition to the Tour de Pologne, most of the biggest races in the country outside of its solitary World Tour event are either central or southern.

Stage 1: Olsztyn - Elbląg, 182km

Climbs:
Pasłęk (cat.3) 620m @ 5,0%

The first stage of the race links two classic Teutonic cities, linked eternally to the Knights of the Teutonic Order, who once ruled over the whole of the Baltic Chain, and remained German all the way until 1945, since they were part of the Ostpreußen province that was a German exclave in the interwar period. The cities are the two largest in the warmińsko-mazurskie voivodeship, so plenty big enough to host the race. For the most part the first half of the stage is slightly rolling, but really, this is a flat stage. Absolutely flat. One thing I can't change about the Tour de Pologne is the giving away of some very odd mountains points in the early, flat stages - there's not a lot that can be done about that. We do have one categorised climb today, a very short, but at least cobbled, drag into the town of Pasłęk, but that won't even drop Guardini, realistically.

For the most part the stage will be about scenery, since the region is known for its wonderful lakes and medieval castles, however, amidst this scenic backdrop there will be some real challenges on the circuit around Elbląg that makes up the second half of the stage. And those come in a form well suited to the tough rouleur, too. As the riders encircle Jezioro Drużno, they come across a few difficult stretches of road where the tarmac - which has been of varying quality all day - becomes a real issue. When I say it becomes an issue, I mean it stops. There's a stretch of 3km beginning 78km from the line which are on concreted horizontal slabs, which will cause some bone-jarring challenges to a rider's technique. This is followed by another stretch of 3km, which begins at 70km from the line, where the second half is similar concreted slabs but the first half is cobbled roads through the woodland to remind the riders of the Classics. They then cross the finishing line with 60km to go before embarking on a long loop to the west of the city formerly known as Elbing, mostly on narrow and difficult roads, which could allow attacks to gain a bit of traction through many bends with tree-lined roads making the old out-of-sight-out-of-mind trick feasible. With 34km remaining the riders hit the village of Szaleniec, after which the toughest 3km of the stage begin en route to Stalewo. These cobbles are rougher than before, stretching out into the distance and more than likely thinning out the bunch. One-dimensional sprinters will likely struggle, though they have 12km to get themselves back before the second go at the Plattenweg we took on earlier, which ends with 16km remaining; the final stretch ends with just 7km remaining so there will be chances to get away; yes it's possible there's still a sprint in Elbląg, but sprinters will have had to work really hard to be there, so they'll deserve the chance if they get it. Small climbers will lose time. It's all about the rouleurs here.

Olsztyn:

Elbląg:

 

[togo95]

Tour of Bulgaria

Stage 1: Varna - Burgas; 182 km

This is a climbers race, but to balance all the mountain stages there is also one ITT, quite long for a week race. I tried to minimize transfers and stay close to big towns, but in the end it was more about some interesting stages in this region.

Climbs:
Royak (km 60) - 3,3 km; 4,7%
Yasenovo (105) - 3,5 km; 5,8%
Snezha (108) - 2,3 km; 5,4%
Kamenyak (113) - 3,8 km; 6,1%
Podgorets (131) - 1,5 km; 7%

First stage of this week race is the only one for sprinters, but they still have to survive some hills. Another difficulty thrown in is (besides narrow roads between kms 100 and 137) unpaved, 5 km long, strech starting on km 110. However, remaining kms are ideal for pulling back any attacks. There is one roundabout 1,2 km to go, but from there it is just wide and straight road.

 

[togo95]

Tour of Bulgaria - 2

Stage 2: Burgas - Stara Zagora; 188 km

Climbs:
Stara Zagora (Golyamata Usoyna) (km 188) - 4,8 km; 4,8%

Second stage is very straightforward and the only obstacle is ascent to the finish line above Stara Zagora, which begins with easier gradients, but last 2 kms have 7% average. Therefore this will be battle between climbers and strong punchers for the stage, but even on a bad day one won't lose tuu much time here.

 

[togo95]

Tour of Bulgaria - 3

Stage 3: Stara Zagora - Uzana; 165 km

Climbs:
Kavakliyka (68) - 14,7 km; 4,5% (last 7 km; 7,3%)
Shipka (124) - 13,7 km; 4,6%
Uzana (164) - 15,8 km; 5%

First mountain stage begins with rolling terrain near Stara Zagora, but soon riders have to tackle climb to Kavakliyka with some nasty slopes in the end. Finish is still far away though. After some false flat parts, the second climb to Shipka starts in village Shipka 55 kms to go. After descent to Gabrovo, third climb with similiar characteristics lies in front of reduced peloton. Uzana climb tops at 1 km to go, last km is basically flat.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The big question has to be... did you dare make them climb on the cobbles to the Aleko Hut?

 

[togo95]

The big question has to be... did you dare make them climb on the cobbles to the Aleko Hut?

Good guess, it is the place of the final battle.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 2: Małbork - Gdańsk, 162km

Climbs:
Święty Wojciech (cat.3) 400m @ 7,0%
Zamiejska (cat.3) 600m @ 6,5%
Stoczniowców (cat.3) 800m @ 5,5%
Święty Wojciech (cat.3) 400m @ 7,0%
Święty Wojciech (cat.3) 400m @ 7,0%
Święty Wojciech (cat.3) 400m @ 7,0%
Święty Wojciech (cat.3) 400m @ 7,0%
Święty Wojciech (cat.3) 400m @ 7,0%
Ulica Zamiejska (cat.3) 600m @ 6,5%
Ulica Stoczniowców (cat.3) 800m @ 5,5%

With 10 categorised climbs you may have been forgiven for thinking that this is more of a mini-Amstel Gold type stage than it is - it's still a pure rouleur's race, as we move out of the former Ostpreußen region, although remain in the Vistula delta. Starting in the historic city of Małbork (Marienburg to Germans), there will be plenty of scenery available at the start, for Małbork is home to Ordensburg Marienburg, built by the Order of the Teutonic Knights and holding the distinctions of the largest castle by area in the world, and the largest brick building in Europe. The opening part of the stage consists of 60 very, very flat kilometres to Pruszcz Gdański, before things get interesting.

Just north of Pruszcz Gdański lies the tiny settlement on a hill of Święty Wojciech. There are a couple of ways to access this. The main one is a narrow road, however we are descending that and climbing up to it by the other way, which is a short climb of 400m averaging 7% on tiled and holed concrete blocks; there is a further short flat stretch on these at the summit before the descent. Nevertheless the rough texture of these will require riders to put some power out to evade the bone-rattling nature of them. The riders then head into the centre of Gdańsk, our finishing city, via a couple of short climbs, but both of these are tarmacked. Just after these climbs we roll into the city centre for our first passage of the finishing line on Targ Węglowy, which marks the approximate halfway point in the stage, allowing the riders and the TV cameras to soak up the images of this beautiful port city, formerly known as Danzig, that has caused so much controversy over the last century.

From here the riders head back to the south and take five loops of a circuit of just under 15km in length, each one punctuated by a rolling stretch including some concrete roads and the nasty Plattenweg-styled road up to Święty Wojciech - I can imagine some flyweight riders suffering with the repetitions of these - with the final ascent of this nasty surface coming with 13,1km remaining on the day. From here the riders take on the double act of Zamiejska and Stoczniowców once more, the final climb, the longest of the day at 800m, topping out just 4,5km from the line. This final stretch in to the finish is quite technical, with 9 real corners and a few smaller curves in it, the last being at Plac im Dariusza Kobzdeja with 500m remaining. The finishing line is slightly cobbled but not in any way more severely than, say, the Champs Elysées are cobbled. Nevertheless the closing stretches will be quite well suited to a small group or solo attacker if they only have a few seconds over the bunch, so even if the hill circuits haven't thinned the group out too much the closing stages of this one could be quite interesting.

Małbork:

Gdańsk:

 

[togo95]

Tour of Bulgaria - 4

Stage 4: Gabrovo - Panagyurski Kolonii; 193 km

Climbs:
Vrabtsite (10) - 4 km; 4,8%
Bogolonta (50) - 2,5 km; 6,4%
Drashkova Polyana (70) - 3,2 km; 4,2%
Beklemeto (108) - 18,3 km; 5,5%
Klisura (151) - 11,5 km; 4,7%
Asarel Medet (188) - 8,3 km; 6,2%

Another tough stage with few high gradients, but many ascented metres all together. First half of this stage is not very hard, the real climbing begins in the town Troyan, where starts the longest ascent of the day to Troyan pass, near Beklemeto mountain. There are really nice views from up there, but what will be bothering cyclists more is almost 20 kms long climb, reaching 1565 m. It is still long way to go, but if someone has strong team of climbers willing to work, peloton could be quite thin at the top.

Following ascent is not suited to attacks either, because of its low gradients, wide road and fact that, from the top it is still 25 kms of false flat untill the start of last ascent to copper mines like Asarel Medet. This last climb shoud be the place of the battle for the stage win, since only 5 kms remain to the village Panagyurski Kolonii from Asarel Medet.

 

[killswitch]

Good guess, it is the place of the final battle.

I have climbed it a couple of times.
It's shaping to be a decent route. Some of the city/village names are wrong btw (google's fault) and some streches of road have very bad surface.

 

[togo95]

I have climbed it a couple of times.
It's shaping to be a decent route. Some of the city/village names are wrong btw (google's fault) and some streches of road have very bad surface.

That's true, I didn't check allways for road quality, but from what I have seen in Street View (I tried to use only roads included in SV) all theese roads (except maybe the unpaved one) are way better than ones used in our real Tour of Slovakia, which were in horrible state after winter. Many teams there had considerable loss from damaged equipment.

 

[togo95]

Tour of Bulgaria - 5

Stage 5: Pernik - Sofia; 31 km

Climbs:
Marchaevo (14) - 3 km; 5%

Apart from the hill in Marchaevo in the middle and following descent with technical passages in village Vladaya, this ITT is very well suited to pure TT specialists. It should ba a fast course, even though the hill and some cobbled roads will decrease the average speed. First 10 kms are very fast with almost no corners whatsoever and flat terrain. Then, with the start of the only climb on the route, road surface changes from tarmac to cobblestones. This cobbled Tsar Simeon street is 4,7 kms long, so it includes a downhill part too.

From Vladaya to Sofia, it slight descent again, but this time on straight and wide tarmac road, so very fast again. Approaching the downtown of Sofia, we switch to cobbled road again, This time it is 6,7 kms long and ends just 600 metres before finish.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 3: Gdynia - Kołobrzeg, 216km

This is the first 'traditional' styled Tour de Pologne stage (in that it apes the recent versions of the event, so not truly traditional!) - a long flat stage. There are no climbs at all to mark it. However, while the first 140km are fairly drab and featureless, there is still reasoning behind this stage in the last 75km. The riders turn off the main road in the village of Malechowo, and onto a narrow, scenic route which at times features some very worn tarmac that could cause some trouble. This is exacerbated after passing through the village of Bielkowo, when the riders join EuroVelo Route 10 along the Baltic Sea coast, for a 2,6km Plattenweg. Then, after a couple of kilometres of tarmac, a second Plattenweg between Rzepkowo and Osieki, which lasts for 2,8km, gives more chances for the race to break up. Especially as, while there may be little more in the way of these sectors, after just 2km further the riders find themselves on a narrow road on the isthmus between Jezioro Jamno and the Baltic. For the first couple of kilometres this is sheltered by trees, but after that it's pure echelon heaven if the wind blows, for almost all of the last 50km. Which, if you remember that the Plattenweg sections will probably have ensured the strongest riders clustered near the front, could make for an interesting closing stretch rather than the typical bunch sprint. There's even some mild rolling roads. After that, the final 20km are very flat and very straight in to Kołobrzeg, formerly Kolberg, a historic Pomeranian city as well as popular health and tourist destination on the Baltic coast, so chasing groups will have the opportunity to pull things back for the sprint if they can.

Gdynia:

Kołobrzeg:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 4: Poznań - Zielona Góra, 211km

Climbs:
Droga na Bukowa (cat.3) 1,0km @ 4,8%

After a transfer southwards, the fourth stage of the Tour de Pologne kicks off in the large and historic city of Poznań. The city is one of the oldest in the country and was where the historic Kingdom of Poland began (along with being its earliest capital), so it has deep historic and cultural significance within the country, despite the fact that it was the centre of a Prussian and subsequently German province (named Posen, after the German name for the city) and for much of the last 2-300 years has been tied to that history. With over 500000 inhabitants it's also one of the largest, so hopefully a decent crowd will be on hand to cheer the riders off at the start.

The stage is another lengthy affair at 200km+, heading southwest from Wielkopolska into Silesia. The first half is fairly straightforward fare, just as yesterday, but the real challenge comes with several laps of a circuit between the villages of Kręcko, Kożminek and, most importantly, Smardzewo. There are 5 and a half loops of a 15km circuit between these three, beginning with a 3,2km stretch of cobbles with the option of dirt as an alternative, rattling the bones, and also a dusty 500m section in the village of Smardzewo itself. The former sector is tackled 6 times, the latter 5, with the final time across the first sector coming with 38km to go. Shortly after this comes the only climb of the day, a short and gradual rise of little consequence, although the roads are narrow and the tarmac is worn and will certainly take a bit more effort to get over for the riders than the pristine tarmac of California. These narrow, tree-lined alleys take us into Sulechów, almost exactly 20km from the line, from which it's uphill false flat to take us into Grünberg im Schlesien, now known as Zielona Góra. It was originally settled by Slavs, but less than 50 years later became predominantly German during the Ostsiedlung; it has only comparatively recently returned to its Polish roots, as it has been a split population for most of its existence. Translating as "Green Mountain", it's not exactly very mountainous, but we'll take what we can get. The rouleurs have had their fun, now it's time to even the score.

Poznań:

Zielona Góra:

 

[SetonHallPirate]

BTW, I have the Mont Ventoux downhill stage 1 Tour about two-thirds of the way done, it's mountain-heavy, and frankly, doesn't see much of the northern part of the country. Also, the first rest date is the earliest date possible, the first mountain stage is the day after that, and the team time trial is (on the last possible dates) somewhat lumpy, albeit with enough flat sections to make it interesting as well.

Stay tuned.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

Stage 1 (Mont Ventoux to Bedoin ITT): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3033064
Stage 2 (Bedoin to Le Pointu): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3074250
Stage 3 (Apt to Palavas-les-Flots): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3074295
Stage 4 (Montpellier to Beziers): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3074412
Stage 5 (Beziers to Les Martys): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3074428
rest day
Stage 6 (Perpignan to Plateau de Beille): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3101183
Stage 7 (Foix TTT): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3101225
Stage 8 (Tarascon-sur-Ariege to Superbagneres): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3104231
Stage 9 (Bagneres-de-Luchon to Luz-Ardiden): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3104249
Stage 10 (Argeles-Gazost to Pamplona): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3104287
Stage 11 (Mont-de-Marsan to Bordeaux): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3196915
Stage 12 (Angouleme to Limoges): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3196945
Stage 13 (Clermont-Ferrand to Puy de Sancy): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3197206
Stage 14 (Brioude to Chavanay): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3197248
Stage 15 (Annecy to Chamechaude): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3197408
rest day
Stage 16 (Fontaine to Railletiere?): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3199687
Stage 17 (Grenoble ITT): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3199694
Stage 18 (Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Mont Chaberton): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3199720
Stage 19 (Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Le Deux Alpes, the Libertine Special): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3199726
Stage 20 (Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne to Galibier ITT): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3199754
Stage 21 (Saint Denis to Paris, only first lap through Paris shown): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3199763

Probably a bit too difficult and south-heavy for ASO to seriously consider (although if their sisters at Unipublic can do what they did with the 2012 Vuelta, anything is possible), but definitely different than anything ASO has cooked up lately. Needed the four time trials to balance out the mountain stuff, although only one of the time trials is what anyone would consider a flat ITT. Pays homage to the past (particularly with the ride around the Puy de Dome at the start of Stage 13), present (quite a few traditional climbs in there) and future (downhill ITT of Mont Ventoux, plus the third side of Alpe d'Huez up Station d'Olmet).

 

[togo95]

I like stages 2, 15 and 18. TdF should have more stages like the second one and also I would like them to go more often to that region, there are many possibilities for great racing there. Stage 15 probably would not have too much action before finish, Col du Coq would be an excellent choice for this finish (the stage should finish at about 1330 m, since there is no road and no room up there AFAIK). And for 18th stage I would consider finish in Sestriere or Cesana Torinese to increase the impact of Finestre, but otherwise it is a mighty combo.

 

[Netserk]

As for stage 19 a better combo IMO (and more realistic) would be Glandon - Alpe - Sarenne - Deux-Alpes.

 

[togo95]

As for stage 19 a better combo IMO (and more realistic) would be Glandon - Alpe - Sarenne - Deux-Alpes.

Yep, exaclty my thoughts, that would make for a nice stage.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

As for stage 19 a better combo IMO (and more realistic) would be Glandon - Alpe - Sarenne - Deux-Alpes.

Would badly shorten up an already-short stage (and an already short tour), unless you're talking about swinging around to Bourg d'Oisans and taking the traditional route up, but I'm not a huge fan of that approach to l'Alpe.

Frankly, I would think ASO could spring for enough money to pay to pave the 4 kms from Station l'Olmet to l'Alpe.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

I like stages 2, 15 and 18. TdF should have more stages like the second one and also I would like them to go more often to that region, there are many possibilities for great racing there. Stage 15 probably would not have too much action before finish, Col du Coq would be an excellent choice for this finish (the stage should finish at about 1330 m, since there is no road and no room up there AFAIK). And for 18th stage I would consider finish in Sestriere or Cesana Torinese to increase the impact of Finestre, but otherwise it is a mighty combo.

You don't think there would be much action on Stage 15? Maybe before the natural sprint point at Chambery, you're right, but I think the attacks would come fast and furious starting with the climb up to the Col du Granier.