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Race Design Thread

Page 150 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Hello guys, I have a question.
I would like to know what area you think is the best one for race designing. With area I don't mean the whole alps or even the whole west alps. I mean a little area like for example the Aosta Valley. I want to know your opinion because I noticed that there are areas which I would like to use in almost every gt I create and so I want know:
1.) If I am the only one who has such preferences
2.) If yes I would like to know which areas you prefer
 
Salvaged it:
GIRO D'ITALIA STAGE 4: NAPOLI - AVELLINO - MEDIUM MOUNTAIN
A stage very much based on this year's to Verbania. A flat start will probably see a weak-ish break go, and this could be a stage for the break. Nothing much happens, apart from two TV's and a short 4th category climb, until we approach the climb and the national park. Then we go up at over 10% for a couple of kilometres, before a false flat, then up again, this time at over 15%(!) before we reach a plateau where you can see over Naples and the Sorrento landscape. A 20km kilometre descent into Avellino.

This stage is really either for the break or for the any GC guys far down on the classification who feel a need to attack, perhaps having lost a lot of time in the TTT or in the last stage, suffering in hills of Sardinia and the heat. anyway, this is a stage where it is possible to gain back a minute, especially if other people suffer.

Profile:
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Avellino (behind is the Monte Partenio):
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Re: Re:

BigMac said:
lemon cheese cake said:
Voted by popularity, I am doing a Worlds Course in San Fransisco. Thanks Togo 95!

I'm looking forward to it. I tried a few in the past but they always came short. Used to start somewhere south of SF, usually Santa Cruz and use the Redwoods National Park roads for some difficulty on the first half of the race. Then the scenic route 1 up north. The stressful part for me was always keeping it realistic inside San Fran because of all the tram lines and so on, the logistics of it are horrible. Not to mention the city's grid plan and the huge amount of intersections, it's traffic mayhem. Luckily enough, the steepest streets are all together.

Anyway, good luck. Can't wait to see how (if) you will use Filbert or Lombard.
No Filbert Street or Lombard Street. I'm also starting south of SF, on the outskirts of Daly City. Tram Lines are a problem as you said, so the road races are avoiding them, however the TT's will approach them from a straight on angle. The TT's are also very unrealistic, as they basically go from East to West.
 
GIRO D'ITALIA STAGE 5: FORMIA - ROMA -- FLAT
Not much to say about this stage. Flat until a a 3rd category over those hills you see when you are looking over the top of Rome. Small rises and a some parts of the Monti, before a finish in front of the Colosseo, like Roma Maxima. I think a visit to the capital is overdue, there are loads of good opportunities for stages. This is a boring stage, but it might be interesting to see the break vs Giro Sprinter team fight, especially after a hard day.

Profile:
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Finish:
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Gigs_98 said:
Hello guys, I have a question.
I would like to know what area you think is the best one for race designing. With area I don't mean the whole alps or even the whole west alps. I mean a little area like for example the Aosta Valley. I want to know your opinion because I noticed that there are areas which I would like to use in almost every gt I create and so I want know:
1.) If I am the only one who has such preferences
2.) If yes I would like to know which areas you prefer
There are a few areas I go back to in multiple routes. País Vasco in general, the Valle d'Aosta, Serra da Estrela, Steiler Wand von Meerane and the medium mountains around Karpacz are notable ones I guess.
 
Gigs_98 said:
Hello guys, I have a question.
I would like to know what area you think is the best one for race designing. With area I don't mean the whole alps or even the whole west alps. I mean a little area like for example the Aosta Valley. I want to know your opinion because I noticed that there are areas which I would like to use in almost every gt I create and so I want know:
1.) If I am the only one who has such preferences
2.) If yes I would like to know which areas you prefer
Like Bigmac I also like the Alpes Maritimes tegion of France. I have designed many a race there. Some i've published like a single day race there. The Paris Nice ginishes in the region and the last road stage had some brilliant racing this year.
 
Guys, there is something funny going on here. In January I started designing Tour of Alberta, but didn't finish it. I just had drafts of stages 2 to 5 on my RWGPS profile and didn't publish it anywhere.

Today I have learnt the actual Tour of Alberta route has been published so I had a look, and for some reason it looked familiar to me :confused:
You can imagine my surprise when I checked the stages I have designed back then to learn that stages 2 to 5 of the real race have the same start and finishing places as my fantasy design and that stages 3 and 4 (the mountain stages) are identical :eek:

My stage 2 has a flatter finish, but includes 55 km of dirt roads unlike the actual stage. However, my stage 5 is a little bit more hilly, while the actual design uses about 50 km of dirt roads (I had no idea about). :eek:

You can check the race route here - http://tourofalberta.ca/race/
 
Re:

togo95 said:
Guys, there is something funny going on here. In January I started designing Tour of Alberta, but didn't finish it. I just had drafts of stages 2 to 5 on my RWGPS profile and didn't publish it anywhere.

Today I have learnt the actual Tour of Alberta route has been published so I had a look, and for some reason it looked familiar to me :confused:
You can imagine my surprise when I checked the stages I have designed back then to learn that stages 2 to 5 of the real race have the same start and finishing places as my fantasy design and that stages 3 and 4 (the mountain stages) are identical :eek:

My stage 2 has a flatter finish, but includes 55 km of dirt roads unlike the actual stage. However, my stage 5 is a little bit more hilly, while the actual design uses about 50 km of dirt roads (I had no idea about). :eek:

You can check the race route here - http://tourofalberta.ca/race/
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:D
 
TransAlp stage 5: Martigny-Lauterbrunnen (165km)
I hope there is still someone who remembers this race because I didn't post a new stage in the last few days :D
Whatever. After the queen stage of this tour the next stage will be a little bit easier. The start is in Martiny a city where numerous stages of the tour de suisse and also french races went through. From the start the route goes northwards to Aigle where the first and by far most difficult climb of the day starts. The col des Mosses is a pretty famous climb which is long but not very steep. After a descent which isn't that long the riders arrive in Saanen and from there the climb to the Saanenmöser Sattel starts (4th category because it is very flat) After the next descent the route gets really flat and the only interesting thing before the finish is an intermediate sprint in Thun. The last 5 km of the route will be slightly uphill but I think that wouldn't be a big problem for the sprinters because the elevation gain never is higher than 5%.

As you might remember I try to finish every stage in a town with a famous alpine skiing downhill slope. As you also might know there has never been a skiing event in Lauterbrunnen so why do I finish the stage there? The answer is simple. I wanted to use Wengen as a stage finish because that one is probably the second most famous skiing slope of the world but there are no streets in Wengen. I think it would be possible to use a paved path up there but I couldn't figure that out with google maps so I just finish the stage in Lauterbrunnen. The extremely dangerous Lauberhornabfahrt is the longest downhill slope and IMO also the most spectacular which is the reason why it is my favorite skiing race (and that although I am austrian ;) ) Usually the Lauberhorn weekend consists of an Alpine Kombination on friday, the downhill on saturday and a slalom on sunday, however the downhill is by far the most famous race and a downhill victory there is by far more important than a win in almost every other skiing race.
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Lauterbrunnen:
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climbs:
Col des Mosses (1st cat.)
Saanenmöser Sattel (4th cat.)
 
Tour Complet de France n°2, stage 15: Obernai - La Bresse: 186km, medium mountains (Alsace-Lorraine)

The 15th stage of this Tour, on the 2nd intermediate sunday of the race will be organised in the same two regions as the 14th stage. The direction will be opposite as the previous stage, and the profiles will differ a good deal too.

After a short transfer (from the mountaintop to the foot of the Mont Sainte-Odile) the peloton can take a deserved sleep in Picturesque Obernai, with its typical Alsatian architecture.

From the official start a bit out Obernai the course follows a road at the foot of the Vosges, through the vineyards of the Alsace to the first landmark of the day.
High on a hill overlooking the Rhine valley lies château Haut-Koenigsbourg, a heavily restored medieval fortress. If the break of the day hasn't established itself yet, this climb seems like a suited launching pad. Its descent is followed by the last substantial flat part of this stage, with the intermediate sprint in Ribeauvillé.

Next on today's copious menu is the climb to Les Trois-Épis, followed by a fast and sinuous descent on a good road towards Colmar, the main city in this area. A few kilometers before Colmar, the course takes a few sharp turns and climbs to the cinq châteaux, also climbed in the 2014 Tour in the stage to Mulhouse, just like the next climb: la Côte de Gueberschwihr. Instead of following the course of that stage we take a shortcut to a part of the 10th stage of the 2014 Tour, namely the climbs to le Petit Ballon, the Col du Platzerwasel and the Col d'Oderen. Where that stage ventured south to its difficult final, this one will go north to a slightly less difficult, but still demanding final with a finish in the winter sport town of La Bresse.

This stage is followed by a well-deserved restday with a short transfer.

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La Bresse

Map & Profile:
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Difficulty: ****

Climbs:
Côte de Haut-Koenigsbourg(only first part of this profile): km35; 5.6km @ 6%; 3rd cat; 565m
Côte des Trois-Épis: km64.5; 5km @ 7%; 2nd cat; 661m
Côte des Cinq Châteaux: km81; 5.4km @ 6.3%; 3rd cat; 590m
Côte de Gueberschwihr: km93; 3.6km @ 8.3%; 3rd cat; 563m
Col du Firstplan: km100; 3.4km @ 6.3%; 3rd cat; 722m
Le Petit Ballon: km118; 8.9km @ 7.5%; 1st cat; 1163m
Col du Platzerwasel: km135; 7.1km @ 8.4%; 1st cat; 1193m
Col d'Oderen: km164.5; 6.8km @ 5.6%; 3rd cat; 884m
Col du Brabant: km181.5; 4.4km @ 7.9%; 2nd cat; 881m

Intermediate Sprint: Ribeauvillé; km46
 
Gigs_98 said:
Hello guys, I have a question.
I would like to know what area you think is the best one for race designing. With area I don't mean the whole alps or even the whole west alps. I mean a little area like for example the Aosta Valley. I want to know your opinion because I noticed that there are areas which I would like to use in almost every gt I create and so I want know:
1.) If I am the only one who has such preferences
2.) If yes I would like to know which areas you prefer

To me, the Jura (both Swiss and French) offers some nice but often overlooked possibilities.
 
Jun 30, 2014
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Gigs_98 said:
Hello guys, I have a question.
I would like to know what area you think is the best one for race designing. With area I don't mean the whole alps or even the whole west alps. I mean a little area like for example the Aosta Valley. I want to know your opinion because I noticed that there are areas which I would like to use in almost every gt I create and so I want know:
1.) If I am the only one who has such preferences
2.) If yes I would like to know which areas you prefer
The Dolomites of course, not the Dolomiti di Brenta just the classic Dolomites.
I don't have one region that I always want to use, maybe the Pustertal/Val Pusteria, there are a few not well known harder climbs and many short steep climbs on narrow roads with technical descents and the fact that I know them very well also helps.
 
KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Wed) stage 10: Dubrovnik - Neum, 70 km ITT

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Dubrovnik is probably the most famous of all the beautiful cities in Dalmatia. It was an independent or semi-independent area over centuries. The main time trial of the tour begins inside the medieval walls, which for the most part were constructed during the 14th and 15th centuries. The start is right here at Stradun, Dubrovnik's main street, in front of the cathedral and the Sponza palace. The first 300 meters the riders will not be accompanied by teamcars, as they have to tackle narrow alleys and spectacular doorways on the way out of the fortress.

Once out in the open we turn south and climb up to Jadranska Magistrala, the big road along the Adriatic coast. The climb is 3,7 km long and 5% steep. As soon as we reach Jadranska Magistrala, we change direction and and go north, passing Dubrovnik one last time.

The rest of the stage consists simply of following the coastal road. The terrain is flat, but not completely, as the road sometimes does rise to a higher level. The hills are not steep at all however, for instance the climb that begins at km 45 has an average gradient of 3,6%. The time trial specialists will love this stage, the climbers will hate it.

After this bridge we leave Croatia and enter Bosnia and Herzegovina, which possesses only 20 km of the Adriatic coastline. Neum is the only port in this section and Bosnia's only access to the Adriatic Sea. It is our finish town, too.


Dubrovnik
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Neum
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Gigs_98 said:
Hello guys, I have a question.
I would like to know what area you think is the best one for race designing. With area I don't mean the whole alps or even the whole west alps. I mean a little area like for example the Aosta Valley. I want to know your opinion because I noticed that there are areas which I would like to use in almost every gt I create and so I want know:
1.) If I am the only one who has such preferences
2.) If yes I would like to know which areas you prefer
I just noticed that I haven't answered yet :D
For me it is the province of Turin and with that of course I mean the italian area in the west of pinerlo (with climbs like sestriere, col de mont cenis, finestre, jafferau, ...). The reason why I use this area so often is that its possible to use it in the giro as well as in the tdf extremely well. In the giro I always try to use the alps as good as possible which means that I always want to go to the western alps too, but in fact there aren't even so many possiblities for really difficult mountain stages there, so the province of turin is often integrated. In the tdf the reason why I use this area so often is because you can combine it so well with famous passes in france (galibier, izoard, Isere, and even Croix de fer and Madeleine)
 
KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Thu) stage 11: Makarska - Trogir, 121 km

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We continue our trek northwest on Jadranska Magistrala, which reaches a high pont of 230 meters at km 18. The first 55 km we stay at the coast, passing through Omis at km 38. To avoid riding through Split there is a little climb at km 60, and 20 km later the main climb of the day (8 km 5,4%) leads us into the Karst hinterland.

After descending towards the sea (at 5%) there are two flat kilometers left to race. The finish is at the famous quay of Trogir. The lampposts and dustbins will have to be removed and obviously there is only space for the audience on one side of the road.

This is a chance for a breakaway to succeed. The shortness of the stage gives us the chance for a transfer, by using the nearby airport. The flight won't be long, we stay in Croatia.


Makarska
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Trogir
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KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Fri) stage 12: Rovinj - Gorizia, 184 km

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Today stage takes place entirely in what once was known as Österreichisches Küstenland. In todays borders we start in Croatia, cross through Slovenia (twice actually) and finish in Italy. As usual openrunner overblows the difficulty of an easy stage. It does get interesting in the final 20 kilometers, as we head into Collio, a wine region in Friuli.


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Two hills have to be climbed in the vineyards. The first one is 1,4 km at 5%, the second one leads to San Floriano del Collio (2,1 km at 7,5%). From there 9 km are left to race. Should be a close fight between attackers and sprinters to the line at Piazza della Vittoria in Gorizia (Görz).


Rovinj
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Collio
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Gorizia
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KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Sat) stage 13: Cividale del Friuli - Stari vrh, 198 km

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You are a tiny scalatore puro and have lost tons of time in the 70 km time trial? Well, today is your lucky day, as there are tons of climbs from start to finish where you can gain plenty of time. We start with Madonnina del Domm (7,6 km 8,6%), followed by Porzus (7,4 km 9%, the first 8,5 km in the profile) and the easier Breginj. Starting with serous climbs right from the gun nearly guarantees that real climbers will be in the break of the day. And this break might even succeed, as the terrain is very difficult for controlling the race. Think Rujanito and Parra in the Ortisei stage 2005 for instance.

At km 80 the hardest climb of the day begins: Kolovrat. The first 4 km are 11% steep at average. The next km is nearly flat, for the following 2,8 km the gradient is a bit over 10%, before it gets easier for the final 2 km. Nice welcome to Slovenia, yes? The descent leads to Tolmin, the next climbs to Ljubinj and Bukovo are easier.

The climb to Jesenica, topping at km 140, has a steep section of 2,8 km at 11%. The descent leads to the lovely village of Cerkno. 47 km are left to race at this point, and there is not a lot of flat in these. The climb to Podjelovo Brdo is quite long but steady (10 km 6%). Let's have a closer look at the final 28 km:


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The penultimate climb to Kladje is 4 km long, the central 2 km are 12% steep at average. Nice place to attack, i would think. The final climb goes up in three steps, all of them have really steep sections. The first step (3 km 10%) is followed by a short descent. The second step is 1,9 km long and 12% steep. This section also includes 600 meters of gravel, which has to be paved for the race.

Then we have 4 km of undulating terrain, where we are riding through meadows and passing through the tiny village Cetena Ravan. The final 2,5 km are steep again, beginning with a ramp of 0,7 km at 13,7% and finishing with 0,7 km at 15%. That should be fun, me thinks. Stari vrh is a ski resort, which is rather small but quite popular thanks to the vicinity to Ljubljana and Kranj.


Cividale del Friuli
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Stari vrh
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As promised here is the worlds from San Francisco

San Fransisco World Team Time Trial Champs: Fishermans Wharf - Golden Gate Heights 26.3km

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Time Splits:
Haight Street
Sutro Heights Park

For the TTT World we start in the city on Pier 29. They will head up The Embracadero before a going back on themselves by Pier 35. They will head onto Broadway Street. This has a short rise punctuated by flat sections for streets that crossover. They will then fump onto the diagonal road of Columbus Avenue. This is followed by the rise on Bay Street. Another 90 degree turn is negotiated to get onto the Van Ness Avenue. They will then wiggle for a bit before joining Geary Boulevard. During the wiggly bit they will cross the first of two split points on Haight Street. The second Split follows at Sutro Heights Park (in the bottom left corner). A short spin on the coast will take them intoGolden Gate Heights. A short rise is followed by flat all the way to the finish, however the road does narrow with 1k to go before widening for the rest of the kilometre.

San Fransisco:
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Re:

BigMac said:
Nice lcc. Surprised you even managed to come up with a TT that long in SF. Can't wait for the RR.

Meanwhile I'm finishing my Fantasy Tour of Virginia, hopefully I will start postng it later today.

PS: Fauniera, that's raw brutality.
The TT will be a similar course (with the edition of Twin Peaks!) to the TTT that I just showed everyone. That finish is the same for all of the events.
 

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