Race Design Thread

[OlavEH]

Tour de Suisse

Stage 7: Bern - Gstaad, 225 km

The longest stage of this TDS, 225 km and 3 categorized climbs. Again, the stage is probably too hard for the pure sprinters, but could either be won by a breakaway rider or in a sprint with a reduced peleton. A guy like Michael Albasini has done well in these kind of stages on home turf. And similar ridgers which are both good hilly riders and have a decent sprint, should have an opportunity on this stage.

The only climb in the first 180 km is the climb to Gurnigel. This climb consists of to parts, first a gentle and non-categorized climb to Rüti, before the categorized part starts with longer sections of 8-9-10 %. After descending, there is a distance of close to 60 km before the next climb to Jaunpass. Here there is also some steep sections in the last part of the climb, and with a distance of a little more than 30 km from the top of the climb to the finish in Gstaad, there is probably riders that will try attack at this point.

The last climb to Saanenmöser is not that tough and if there are several teams in the peleton wanting a mass sprint, there will be possible to close in and catch riders in a breakaway the last 20 km before the finish in the luxury resort of Gstaad.

Climbs:

120 km: Selibüel (Gurnigel): 9,8 km, 8,0 %
192 km: Jaunpass: 5,8 km, 8,1 %
215 km: Saanenmöser: 7,5 km, 4,4 %

Map of the last 200 km:

Profile of the last 200 km:

 

[OlavEH]

Tour de Suisse

Stage 7: Brig - Verbier, 153 km

The last stage of TDS isn't very long, but still has 5 categorized climbs the last 100 km, and a total of about 4000 height meters. TDS often uses either Crans Montana or Verbier, but these climbs are far too often the only tough climb on these stages. The area around Sion is packed with tough climbs, so it's really a waste that the don't use more of these in TDS.

This stage is an attempt to show the potential if the climbs in the Valais canton is utilized in a better way. It starts from Brig in the upper Valais and continues in the mountains both north and south of Sion. The area is litterally packes with famous ski resorts, and this stage visits several of these. First climbing towards Crans, before descending and starting the next climb to Anzere, a short and steep climb with several sections over 10 %.

After descending from Anzere the riders pass through Sion and continue in the mountains south of the city. First with the climb to Veysonnaz, then descending and a short flat section of 8-9 km before starting the last 2 climbs. Even though climbs like Col des Planches and Col du Lein is perfectly situated to connect with Verbier, I have never seen this combination be uses in a large race. And Verbier has been frequently used in TDS.

Well, in this version we would finally see such a combination. First the really tough and step Col du Lein. The climb is costantly at least 8 % with several sections of 10-11 %. A real cracker. After a 12 km descent they start the last climb to the ski resort of Verbier. The climb is not so long, only about 8 km, but with Col du Lein first and no flat between the to last climbs, there should be a good possibility to see some real action on the last 2 climbs.

Climbs:

49 km: Crans sur Sierre: 10,3 km, 7,1 %
66 km: Anzere: 6,2 km, 9,0 %
95 km: Veysonnaz: 10,5 km, 6,6 %
129 km: Col du Lein: 13,5 km, 8,3 %
153 km: Verbier: 8,3 km, 7,8 %

Map:

Profile:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Col du Lein is never used because race organizers are cowards (really it's because a km or so of either side of the summit is on sterrato, but it's perfectly raceable as long as the weather plays ball, which it should in mid-June). Col des Planches showed up in the Giro del Valle d'Aosta last year iirc, so at least there is some movement towards it being raceable.

 

[BigMac]

Indeed. Col du Lein is the only climb there can be before Verbier, yet it's never used. Instead there's the dull false flat da Martigny resulting in stages with a single climb. Recently I was mapping in Valais and discovered Croix de Cœur, to my excitement, some sort of Sarenne that would take the climb up to Verbier even higher, making it possible to conect the Val de Bagnes to the other side of the massif without having to turn back and follow the same route. Verbier else than MTF. Problem is, though, it is unpaved near the top and it's fate pretty much sealed. I honestly don't know what's the big deal with a small portion of sterrato, while not so long ago cyclists where climbing entire roads consiting of nothing else than dirt and gravel. Such sad policy almost makes me want to see Col de Tende paved on the french side, which I really don't.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 3: Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Mittenwald, 23,3km (TTT)

On the first weekday of the race, our final day in Germany is in a format that actually I strongly dislike; however there can be no doubting that the Team Time Trial is a style of stage that has a strong history in German cycling. However, I dislike the opening a race with it, and so have gone with this option, linking two beautiful Alpine towns over a shortish route that should hopefully balance things out.

The stage itself I have little to say about, mainly as after the start in the city centre of Garmisch, at the location of the annual City-Biathlon show event that takes place shortly before the Four Hills, the loop around Garmisch is as per yesterday's stage... the finish yesterday was in Partenkirchen so today we start in Garmisch and loop around before heading onto Ludwigstraße...

The TTT basically sees the riders head around the final 6km of yesterday's course, culminating in Ludwigstraße, before rejoining the main road that leads to Mittenwald rather than heading onto the Gsteigstraße. This means that the section of yesterday's stage from around km190 to km206 is then done in reverse. As a result, the TTT results should not be too skewed and the gaps shouldn't massively favour the rouleur teams, as there is enough to give the goats a chance to limit their losses; for example, by the main road from the Olympiaschanze to Kaltenbrunn is a little under 4km at a little over 4%, while after the second intermediate time check in the mountain village of Klais there is a distinct amount of up and downhill gradients before the finish in Mittenwald, some 220m higher in altitude than Garmisch - so that's only 1% average, but with a few ups and downs so though the short distance means that the TT won't be totally lopsided it should create some concerns for teams looking for cohesion, because when - if at all - to drop riders has to be a consideration.

Mittenwald, as described yesterday, is another chocolate box piece of scenery right on the Austrian border; home to biathlon star Martina Glagow, the town park has now been named after her; as the last town before the border with Austria, it also marks our final stage wholly outside Italy, so the Giro returns home tomorrow... though sights like the Karwendel peeking out between houses tells us a little of what to expect is coming... the finish in the old market square will nevertheless be a nice way to say goodbye to Bavaria.

 

[MikeTichondrius]

Indeed. Col du Lein is the only climb there can be before Verbier, yet it's never used. Instead there's the dull false flat da Martigny resulting in stages with a single climb. Recently I was mapping in Valais and discovered Croix de Cœur, to my excitement, some sort of Sarenne that would take the climb up to Verbier even higher, making it possible to conect the Val de Bagnes to the other side of the massif without having to turn back and follow the same route. Verbier else than MTF. Problem is, though, it is unpaved near the top and it's fate pretty much sealed. I honestly don't know what's the big deal with a small portion of sterrato, while not so long ago cyclists where climbing entire roads consiting of nothing else than dirt and gravel. Such sad policy almost makes me want to see Col de Tende paved on the french side, which I really don't.

On the subject of unpaved sections...While mapping around the Alps I've often wondered how hard would it be, considering Finestre is commonly raced nowadays, to go over the Col Bassett above Sestriere? Is this a Jandri/Rosael like impossibility? I've never seen it mentioned around here.

Would be a downright nasty climb done from Oulx I figure,. Street view went by and it's really narrow (Errozate tight, but on sterrato, guess I just answered myself). Maybe the Giro would be up for it one of these days. Can we get Zomegnan back?

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Stage 3: Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Mittenwald, 23,3km (TTT)

What's the weather like around here in early/mid May?

Col du Lein is never used because race organizers are cowards (really it's because a km or so of either side of the summit is on sterrato, but it's perfectly raceable as long as the weather plays ball, which it should in mid-June). Col des Planches showed up in the Giro del Valle d'Aosta last year iirc, so at least there is some movement towards it being raceable.

Speaking of weather.
As you say, it should play ball, but there again I've been to Switzerland in october around Zurich. It snowed pretty heavily, which they weren't expecting. Thing is, Zurich is low altitude compared to the Col du Lein. So it could snow in June, like it did on the St Gottardpass last year.

 

[fauniera]

Question to the cronoescalada users. Is it possible to do an overall stage map with cronoescalada? Would be useful for my next project. I really miss that feature from old tracks4bikers.

 

[Netserk]

Question to the cronoescalada users. Is it possible to do an overall stage map with cronoescalada? Would be useful for my next project. I really miss that feature from old tracks4bikers.

No it's not (afaik). You can do it with openrunner though (you can have several stages on the same map, but they won't be numbered, but you can add that yourself to your image of it). I'll show you how to a little later.

Edit: Quick example, added dots and numbers with imgur (In the future I'd change the routes to black)

On the subject of unpaved sections...While mapping around the Alps I've often wondered how hard would it be, considering Finestre is commonly raced nowadays, to go over the Col Bassett above Sestriere? Is this a Jandri/Rosael like impossibility? I've never seen it mentioned around here.

Would be a downright nasty climb done from Oulx I figure,. Street view went by and it's really narrow (Errozate tight, but on sterrato, guess I just answered myself). Maybe the Giro would be up for it one of these days. Can we get Zomegnan back?

I think it's a possibility. The gravel looks nice enough, but I doubt they would pave the Sestriere side, as they already have Finestre nearby. I have made a stage that went over Basset and finished in Briancon, but I just don't see the Giro making any stage where they would use it instead of Finestre.

Col du Lein is never used because race organizers are cowards (really it's because a km or so of either side of the summit is on sterrato, but it's perfectly raceable as long as the weather plays ball, which it should in mid-June). Col des Planches showed up in the Giro del Valle d'Aosta last year iirc, so at least there is some movement towards it being raceable.

Planches was used as the first climb in the queen stage in Romandie last year.

 

[Gigs_98]

Deutschland Tour stage 10: Waldshut Tiengen-Friedrichshafen (145 km)
After the first and only rest day of the Deutschland Tour, the sprinters will get another chance to win a stage. The day starts in Waldshut Tiengen, which was the finish of stage 9, so no transfer although there is a rest day. The first part of the stage goes along the border of switzerland. Here there will also be the first categorized climb to the village Randen. After the climb the peloton will go straight to the north side of the Bodensee, the biggest lake of germany. Henceforward the route goes along the Bodensee until the riders arrive in Meersburg. There they will turn left to climb the last pass of the day, the Gehrenberg. From the top there are still 22 flat km to the finish in Friedrichshafen.

Friedrichshafen:

Gehrenberg:

climbs:
Randen (4th cat.)
Ludwigshafener Höhe (4th cat.)
Gehrenberg (3rd cat.)

 

[fauniera]

Thanks Netserk. Will try that.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 3: Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Mittenwald, 23,3km (TTT)

What's the weather like around here in early/mid May?

I was there a couple of weeks ago, in fact. Not too hot, but it's unlikely the riders will have to deal with anything worse than a bit of rain, not at this altitude anyway.

 

[Gigs_98]

Deutschland Tour stage 11: Wangen im Allgäu-Kühtai (203 km)
So, today the gc contenders will be nervous and that´s legitimate. As I wrote some days ago, one of the best things about germany as a cycling country is that although there aren't so many difficult passes in the country itself there are great possibilities for hard stages like this one near the border. Stage 11 starts in Wangen in Allgäu. After a hilly start and a 30 km long pan flat section the real climbing starts in germany. The first categorized climb is the Oberjoch. After the top there is only a short descent and then false flat 11 km of up to the border of Austria. In Austria there will be two easy climbs (Berwang, 3rd cat.; Namlos Sattel, 4th cat.) before the hardcore stuff starts. The Hahntennjoch has a flat section in the middle but the beginning as well as the last km´s of the climb are extremely steep and there are some beautiful views. However there won't be any attacks here because there is a flat section between this and the next climb and the next pass is hard enough to cause serious time gaps itself. Its the Silzer Sattel an really steep climb with over 10% average elevation gain, which may cause some attacks. After the top of the pass and even after the descent the stage is still not finished. The riders still have to climb up the Kühtai from Ochsengarten. This 2nd category climb is very irregular, with some flat sections but also with some sections with over 10% rise. The Kühtai was also a mtf in the Österreich Rundfahrt in 2013 but in that year it was climbed by different side so you can't really compare the two ascents.

Silzer Sattel profile:

Kühtai (finish of the Österreich Rundfahrt stage 2013)

climbs:
Oberjoch (3rd cat.)
Berwang (3rd cat.)
Namlossattel (4th cat.)
Hahntennjoch (1st cat.)
Silzer Sattel (HC)
Kühtai (2nd cat.)

 

[roundabout]

Re:

Col du Lein is never used because race organizers are cowards (really it's because a km or so of either side of the summit is on sterrato, but it's perfectly raceable as long as the weather plays ball, which it should in mid-June). Col des Planches showed up in the Giro del Valle d'Aosta last year iirc, so at least there is some movement towards it being raceable.

Planches was used in the big mountain stage in the Tour de Romandie last year, but as the first climb of the day.

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 20 Cuneo - Vigevano; 171km

People will hate me for having a plain flat sprint stage on the last saturday of the race, but I wanted to give the favourites an easier day between the queenstage and the final ITT, having an easy stage for the sprinters should encourage the oure climbers to go all out on the queenstage, the should loose a decent amount of time in the final ITT.
Vigevano:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The ones that will hate you most are RAI, due to the difference in audience figures in Italy between flat and mountainous stages

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 21 Rho - Milano ITT; 34km

This TT is plain flat and a pure power test on large roads and very few corners, so the pure climbers should loose a big amount of time, even if it's a third week TT. An ITT in Milano is always a nice way to end a iro
This is the end of my 2nd Giro and right now I don't know what will be my next race, I have finished my own version of the USA Pro Challenge, but I think it's pretty obvious that I'd use 2 very long climbs at high altitude thaat we all would love to see in a race and to be honest Colorado isn't the greatest place to design interesting hilly stages. Maybe I'll try to design a TdF, this time I'd finish the race, the 2nd and the 3rd week are already finished, I'd only need to revamp the first week.
Another option would be a Giro del Triveneto, a race that consists of 9 stages and goes through the regions Veneto Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, which option do you prefer?

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

The ones that will hate you most are RAI, due to the difference in audience figures in Italy between flat and mountainous stages

I know that, but I don't really care too much about them, all the other weekend stages should be exciting to watch, maybe I could get away with it.

 

[Progsprach]

Gijon - Santander (178km)
It's the calm before the storm as the riders make their way along the coast from Gijon to Santander. The early intermediate sprint at Villaviciosa may either be contested by the sprinters or given to a break depending on the state of the points classification, the second one at Llanes is likely out of reach for them. This stage should go to a sprinter and they should make good on this opportunity because it will be the last one except for the final stage.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Stage 3: Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Mittenwald, 23,3km (TTT)

What's the weather like around here in early/mid May?

I was there a couple of weeks ago, in fact. Not too hot, but it's unlikely the riders will have to deal with anything worse than a bit of rain, not at this altitude anyway.

So no snow on the road like when the Biathlon takes place.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

I was supposed to post a stage of the Giro della Campania today, but Imgur isn't working for me today.

 

[rghysens]

Tour Complet de France n°2, stage 2: Marseille - Orange: 161km, flat (Provence - Alpes - Côte d'Azur)

Like almost al GT's the first stage in line is a flat stage. The official start is at the outskirts of the city that hosted Le Grand Départ a day earlier, after a neutralised start of about 13km.

The organizing committee will seize the opportunity to show some of the touristic sights in the Provence and more precisely in the two départements that host today's stage: Bouches-du-Rhône and Vaucluse.

After some 20km the peloton crosses the center of Aix-en-Provence, the biggest inland city of the Provence. When leaving town, the roads immediately goes upward to the first categorised climb of the day and of this Tour. Being of a wide road a not even 5% average, this rise will pose no problem at all on anyone in the bunch. The course follows the D7n for 30 more kilometers, going through Saint-Cannat and Lambesc before it bridges the Durance river. Next is Cavaillon, a small town at the foot of the Montagne de Lubéron, which on itself will be carefully avoided.
Instead the peloton will head for some of the best known Tour hosting cities: Carpentras. Stages going to or starting from Carpentras often involve the climb to the mythical Géant de Provence, le Mont Ventoux. Not so this time. En route to Malaucène, the beginning of the never used western side of the Ventoux, the course crests the second climb of the day. The Côte du Barroux is rather a long stretch of false flat than a proper climb, however. But it still is the highest point of today's stage. The summit will be followed by almost 40km of false flat descending roads.

Next on the road is almost postcard-perfect Vaison-la-Romaine, a town with a rich Roman and medieval heritage, although a lot of it is in ruins.

When leaving Vaison-la-Romaine the peloton will race along the Ouvèze river for some 25km, until it reaches the D950, the wide road that connects Carpentras with today's finish town: Orange.

Orange is one of those southern French towns with a rich historical past: it was founded by the Romans, as testified by its most famous edifices: the triumphal arch and Roman theater. During the middle ages it was the seat of a small pricipality, among the descendants of the princes are the current Dutch royal family (and that's why the Dutch are clad in anything orange when there's something to celebrate).

The finishline, on the Avenue Maréchal Foch, comes after a last straight line of 2.5km. No doubt the fastest men of the peloton will try to clutch the stage victory, as they won't have that many opportunities the next few days.


Map & Profile:

Difficulty: *

Climbs:
Côte de Celony: km23.5; 2.8km @ 4.4%; 4th cat
Côte du Barroux: km115; 6km @ 3.3%; 4th cat

Intermediate sprint:
Carpentras, km100

 

[Progsprach]

Bilbao - Durango (88km)
This is a very short road stage that is up and down almost all the way, so we should hopefully see an active race. The first few km until the early intermediate sprint in Amorebieta-Etxano is bumpy, but without any longer climbs. It is followed by an unclassified climb of about 2.4km@4.8% and some more varied terrain until a series of 3 classified climbs in the second half of the stage. The first climb to Arieta is rather consistent and steep, but rather short (3km@6.7%, cat4), with the second one to Malats being similar, but a bit longer (3.8km@6.9%,cat3). The final one to Goita is a lot more inconsistent starting at about 4-6% ramping up to a maximum of 11% with the final section having only 4% gradients again (4.2km@5.8%, cat4). After the descent there are about 4km of flats before the finish line.

 

[Netserk]

What a bait to go all the way to the foot of Ventoux on a sprint stage

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Progsprach, your unidentified uncategorized climb is Autzagane (3,2km @ 5,0%), often used from the other side in the Klasika Primavera Amorebieta:

The second categorized climb is Lekoitz-Gane (Gane is the Basque word for a col), 4,4km @ 5,8% but that's not really accurate as from the profile the first 350m or so are downhill:

The final climb is Trabakua, which is officially about 7,2km @ 4,3% but includes a lot of false flat in that:

If you wanted to add some bonus pain, instead of Trabakua you could take the narrow Muniozguren, which starts in the same place as Trabakua and is connected to it by 4km of false flat.