Race Design Thread

[fauniera]

Yes, it's very open, but the region doesn't seem to be very windy. So no echelons, i guess.

click, click

 

[fauniera]

KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Thu) stage 5: Oradea - Marisel, 206 km

We are in Romania now, after a 75 km transfer from Debrecen. From Oradea (Großwardein) we head into Transylvania. After some 100 km we meet the Carpathians again, in the form of the Apuseni Mountains. Two climbs bring us up to over 1.300 meters, then we descend back to the valley and pass Tarnita Lake.

The final 10 km are on sterrato, and that starts with a quite hard climb (4,2 km at 9%) full of switchbacks. With this climb we leave the forests behind us, that dominates the region, and get to a high plateau full of meadows and pastures. The final 5 km are along a ridge, which provides plenty of nice views. Marisel is a tourist destination and is quite spread out over the plateau.


Oradea

Marisel

 

[McLovin]

Wow, are you from Romania? I ask beacuse you described very well the area. I just came from that valley 10 minutes ago as I live 50 km from your finish climb.
One suggestion: Before Calatele, climb to Margau (some 3km climb) and then from Rachitele you could have used the Dealu Botii climb before going downhill to Belis (it was surfaced in 2012). As a matter of fact I made it last Sunday so I attach my Strava. It's a leg breaker with slopes over 25% ( Strava says 31).

http://www.strava.com/activities/310688536

 

[fauniera]

Cool, thanks for the info. That should look like this:

I have never been in Romania, unfortunately. But i'm exploring it through streetview.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Giro della Campania Stage 7 Naples - Naples (144km)

Climbs:
Via Orazio x9 (Every lap)

Primes:
Finish line (Every lap apart from the first crossing (end of neutral zone))

Feed zone:
Finish line (Available every lap apart from the first two (excluding end of neutral zone) and with one lap to go (under the 20km rule: 16km to go)

Today is the final stage of the race (I've got no ideas of other races after this) that continues the Tour of Catalunya with a TT style race that I haven't mentioned yet. This starts on the Via Nazario Sauro. That is the start where the real racing starts. But the roll out is in the Piazza del Plebiscito. After the official start they will head down the Via francesco Caracciolo where Mark Cavendish won the first stage of the 2013 giro. They wil then head up theVia Orazio. This is the catorgorised climb on the circuit. They will then descend on a rather technical road. A slight rise will take them below the Castle Sant'Elmo. They will then do a second descent down the cobbled Via Toledo. Then they will pass theCastel Nouvo. A final bit through the square where the race actually started. They will then finish by the sight third castle. The Castel dell'Ovo.

Naples:

Start/Finish:

 

[McLovin]

Exactly . A lot of climbs here but sadly not all are in good condition at the moment.

 

[fauniera]

KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Fri) stage 6: Cluj-Napoca - Sighisoara, 175 km

Don't let the openrunner profile confuse you, this is a flat stage. It starts in Cluj (Klausenburg), the biggest town of Transylvania (and McLovins home town?) and leads across the softly rolling hills and open fields of central Transylvania. There are no real difficulties and the day should belong to the sprinters. There is a little twist, however. With 1,2 km to go, the riders enter a 0,8 km long section of cobbles. This section starts with a short hill, followed by a wide road. This could be a chance for the classics specialists to jump away. The final 400 meters are on tarmac again.

My original plan for this stage was a puncheurs finish up one of the cobbled climbs to the lovely center of Sighisoara (Schäßburg). Unfortunately all three routes are impossible for different reasons (like stairs taking up half the road).


Cluj-Napoca

Sighisoara

 

[rghysens]

Tour Complet de France n°2, stage 8: Jonzac - Mont-de-Marsan: 215.5km, flat (Poitou-Charentes - Aquitaine)

After another transfer in between stages (60km westward) the peloton will assemble in Jonzac, a sous-préfecture of the Charente Maritime.
On today's menu is a flat stage of 215.5km, heading south. Many riders will try to make it a glorified rest day, as behind the horizon the Pyrenees are looming. This stage passes east of Bordeaux for an intermediate sprint in Libourne after 70km. 40km later the race crosses the Garonne in Cadillac.
Following the D11 through Landiras, the course enters the Landes de Gascogne, a large plain between the Atlantic Ocean, the Pyrenees and the river Garonne. Being close to the sea and completely flat, this region is highly susceptible to crosswinds. One might expect echelon forming, and that would probably be the case if not for the vast pine forests in the whole region.
So I think it's safe to assume that this stage will finish in a bunch sprint after a final straight of 1.3km in Mont-de-Marsan.

Mont de Marsan

Map:

Difficulty: *

Climbs:
none

Intermediate sprint:
Libourne, km 70

 

[McLovin]

KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT


Don't let the openrunner profile confuse you, this is a flat stage. It starts in Cluj (Klausenburg), the biggest town of Transylvania (and McLovins home town?)

Yes . I made the first climb, The Feleacu Hill (7km @ 5%) 12 times this year. Nice to see a race around this places. I have prepared a 3 weeks Tour of Transylvania I think since January but still hesitated to post it as it's too mountainous.

 

[fauniera]

Come on, post it! Since i don't know the region i am restricted to the roads that have streetview. I'm sure there is much more to be found there, especially in the mountains.

 

[fauniera]

KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Sat) stage 7: Sighisoara - Balea Lac, 110 km

It will surprise nobody that after coming all the way to Sighisoara, we head directly to the monumental Transfăgărășan. This spectacular mountain road through the Făgăraș mountains was built under Ceausescu and leads up to 2034 meters. The north side of this climb is the first serious test of this tour, it is 24 km long and at average 6% steep. At the top the Balea Lake is situated, which serves as our finish location.

It is the longest climb and the highest point of the entire Rundfahrt. It is not, by the way, the highest paved pass in Romania. That is the Transalpina, which culminates at Pasul Urdele at 2.145 m. The climb up there is not as challenging though, as it goes up in steps. (Also i have already used Pasul Urdele as a MTF at my first Kakanien Rundfahrt, where i made use of Transfăgărășan as a downhill ITT).


Balea Lac

Transfăgărășan

 

[togo95]

Tour of California 5

Tour of California Stage 5: Red Bluff - Yuba City; 169 km





The fifth stage is the first of three totally flat stages (the other ones are stages 6 and 21). The wind in this area is almost exclusively from south or north so no echelons throughout the stage and even in the last part when the route heads east, much of the time it is in a valley sheltered by hills. So yeah, a bunch sprint to be expected.

Last kilometers:

 

[togo95]

Tour of California Stage 6: Williams - Sacramento; 161 km





More of the same in California as we head to the capital city of California - Sacramento. The first part of the stage heads to the hills, without tackling any serious ascents though. The section from km 85 to 125 is quite open and there is possibility for crosswinds here, but they are unlikely to be decisive as the rest of the stage runs into the city of Sacramento for 3 loops around the downtown, each over 6 km long. The finish line is located in front of the capitol after fairly easy run in.

Sacramento:

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Unfortunately all three routes are impossible for different reasons (like stairs taking up half the road).

Cyclocross?

 

[May0maniac]

I've posted the route of this years Österreich-Rundfahrt in the General News Thread, it's not great but a little bit better than the usual stuff and I thought that those who normally visit the Race Design Thread would be interested. This year the Race starts in Vienna with a Teamprologue and ends in Bregenz.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

What should I do next?
I have a few ideas:
Tour of Switzerland
Tour of Austia
Tour of Britain

Or a World Champs course:
You name a city for me

 

[rghysens]

Tour Complet de France n°2, stage 9: Mont-de-Marsan - Argelès-Gazost: high mountains, 205km (Aquitaine - Midi-Pyrenées)

While the 8th stage was somewhat of a let down for an intermediate weekend stage, this one (partly) makes up for it.
The riders will be happy that they don't have to endure a transfer in between stages, but the prospect of what lies ahead will make most of them less enthusiastic.

The first half of the stage is still benign, as the course follows the D933 south. In Orthez the Gave de Pau is crossed, a river that flows between the foothills of the Pyrenees.
Next en route are Navarrenx and Oloron-Sainte-Marie, where the line for the intermediate sprint is drawn along the banks of the Gave Aspe. This river is followed upstream for 15km, the last flat kilometers of the stage.

In Escot, the peloton takes a sharp left hand turn and this marks the start of the first 1st category climb of the race: the Col de Marie Blanque, a narrow and ever steepening road that crests a bit over 1000m above sea level.
Its irregular but not overly technical descent is followed by 8km uphill false flat that leads to the main climb of the day: the legendary Col d'Aubisque. That's not the most difficult climb of France, not even in this Tour, but its flanks saw many heroic feats, being part of the Tour since 1910.
The fast descent towards the Col de Soulor isn't continued by the direct road to Argelès-Gazost. Instead the course uses the D126 that leads from the Soulor to Pau. That road will only be used for a bit more than 10km, as soon enough the final climb of the day awaits the peloton. The Col de Spandelles was never used in the course of the Tour, but a few years ago it was in the Route du Sud, in a stage where Nairo Quintana completely obliterated the field.
The descent is, just as the ascent, on a narrow, badly maintained road, so it might pose some problems to those who overcook it a bit and take to many risks. The finish is in the valley , at the foot of the well known climb to Hautacam.

This first high mountain stage (the climbs aren't that high, a recurrent feature for the rest of the Tour) will be followed by a well-deserved rest day.

Argelès-gazost as seen from Hautacam

Map & Profile:

Difficulty: ****

Climbs:
Col de Marie Blanque: km119.5; 8.5km @ 7.7%; 1st cat; 1035m
Col d'Aubisque: km156; 16.6km @ 7.2%; HC; 1709m
Col de Spandelles: km189; 10.2km @ 8.4%; 1st cat; 1380m

Intermediate sprint:
Oloron Sainte-Marie; km96

 

[togo95]

Re:

What should I do next?
I have a few ideas:
Tour of Switzerland
Tour of Austia
Tour of Britain

Or a World Champs course:
You name a city for me

WCH course in Bilbao or San Francisco.

 

[rghysens]

Tour Complet de France n°2, stage 10: Rennes - Mamers: 195km, flat (Bretagne - Pays de la Loire)

During the rest day the riders take a plane from Tarbes to Rennes, leaving southern France for the remainder of the Tour. The remainder of that day they can use to get rid of sore legs and get accustomed to the more temperate climate.

The first day after the rest day won't be the most exhausting either. When leaving Rennes the peloton will head for lovely Vitré, with plenty of half-timbered houses and a medieval castle. Later it will cross Mayenne, where the line for the intermediate sprint is drawn. Although the elevation until this point of the course varies from about 40m asl to more than 200, there are barely any noticeable hills.

The terrain won't change much for most of the stage, but with 30km to go, as course enters the forest of Perseigne in the regional nature park Normandie - Maine, some hills have to be climbed. They are just mere northern French hills, not to be compared with the hills in stages 4 and 5, but those who respond bad to the rest day may be brought in to troubles when the pace picks up on the last climb, with just 15km to go. The descent, not steep or technical at all, ends with 2.3km to go. At that point there's a final bump (1km @ 4.5%) that might disrupt the sprinter's lead-out trains. That bump is followed by a roundabout and a last straight line of 1km.

Map & Profile:

Difficulty: *

Climbs:
Côte du Bois Pendant: km 51.5; 1.2km @ 5.3%; 4th cat
Côte des Vents du Four: km 179; 2.3km @ 5.6%; 4th cat

Intermediate sprint:
Mayenne, km 87.5

 

[Pricey_sky]

Hi guys I'm having problems with my picture sharing site to post maps ect, what are the best ones to use in your opinions?

 

[Netserk]

imgur.com

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

imgur.com

Thanks Netserk will give it a try.

 

[Gigs_98]

First of all this race is a little bit random. Its just a stage race which doesn't take place in a certain country but in the whole alps. However there was a main objective when I created the route. After I saw Libertines giro del trentino which only used biathlon or cross country skiing areas as stage finishes I wanted to make something similar but with alpine skiing. First thought about a tour de suisse or a österreich rundfahrt but that would have been pretty boring because most towns which I could use are in the same area. Races in france and giro also would have been possible but again the most famous towns I could use were only few kilometers away of each other. (For example courchevel, val d isere and meribel) So I decided to use the whole alps instead of a certain region. Now I had the problem that something like that would probably even be too easy because every second skiing region of europe has already held a world cup race. So I decided only to use towns of famous downhills which means that there has to be a downhill slope which was used either in a world championship or in olympic games, or the slope has to be very very famous

TransAlp stage 1: Turin-Sestriere (131 km)
The first stage starts in Turin, the city which hosted the olympic games 2006. The first part of the stage goes westwards. The first obstacle of the route is the colle di braida, a second category climb. the average elevation gain isn't that high but there is a little descent in the middle so there are some steeper sections. After the descent, a flat section and an intermediate sprint in pinerlo, the Cote de Pramartino starts. This pass is pretty famous because there was a tour the france and a giro stage which used this climb directly before a stage finish in pinerlo. Although both times the climb was used from the other side this one is actually more difficult. After the descent the extremely long ascent to the mtf in sestriere starts. After this years giro even persons who are completely new to cycling might know this climb, and I think you can say generally that Sestriere is one of the most famous climbs of the giro and the tour. Despite the length it is only a second category climb because it is very flat. Sestriere is the skiing area where all the alpine skiing races of the olympic games 2006 took place. It also held the world championship 1997 and many world cup races in all disciplines for example the world cup final 2004 when Heman Maier won his last overall world cup title.
By the way some of you might ask themselves why I didn't use the finestre before sestriere or why I didn't make the stage longer. The answer is that there will be enough very hard mountain stages (although I tried to balance the route as good as possible) so I tried to make a stage which doesn't cause extremely big time gaps.

Sestriere (you can see the skiing slopes in the background):

Profile of the mtf:

 

[rghysens]

...
Tour de Alpes(because I had no idea how to call this race)stage 1: Turin-Sestriere (131 km)...

TransAlp?

It's the name of an existing MTB cyclotourist event.
I used TransAlp as name for a 10-day stage race through the Alps, from Vienna to Nice. I also created a second edition from Nice to Vienna (but never published it).

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Tour des Alps? It's Tour of the Alps.

It would be Tour d'Alps if you call it that, as the french knock off the vowl (in this case an E) and put an apostrophe in between the Consenant and the first vowl of the second word. It applies to H aswell, as it's a vowl in French.