Race Design Thread

[fauniera]

KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Tue) stage 15: Karlsbad - Pilsen, 169 km

The third week begins with an easy stage in Western Bohemia. It's a sort of reward to the sprinters for making it through the Alps. The theme of the first 100 km is the spa triangle of Bohemia:

Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary) is the logical starting point, as it's the biggest of the three towns and has its own airport (and also i have designed a worlds road race in Karlsbad in the past). There will be intermediate sprints in Franzensbad (Františkovy Lázně, km 50) and Marienbad (Mariánské Lázně, km 87) as we indulge in the wonderful architecture of these once world famous spas.

The rest of the stage is flat to Pilsen (Plzeň), which is famous for its beer and for Skoda (certainly the vehicle sponsor of this tour). The finish is at Republic Square. Pilsen is the European Capital Of Culture in 2015, by the way.


Karlsbad

Pilsen

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The Merthyr Tydfil stage of the ToB is very nicely played, with the last climb being in that interesting zone where you can't tell if it is a puncheur's climb or will suite a full-on climber, a bit like Montée Laurent Jalabert. I think as a two week course though maybe the TT mileage could be bumped up to around 30k? Cambridge is a nice setting for it, perhaps a more central start/finish may be beneficial for the TV coverage but otherwise strong.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

The Merthyr Tydfil stage of the ToB is very nicely played, with the last climb being in that interesting zone where you can't tell if it is a puncheur's climb or will suite a full-on climber, a bit like Montée Laurent Jalabert. I think as a two week course though maybe the TT mileage could be bumped up to around 30k? Cambridge is a nice setting for it, perhaps a more central start/finish may be beneficial for the TV coverage but otherwise strong.

Thanks, yeah I do love designing those stages in South Wales, it's such a shame the Tour of Britain don't use some of those climbs.

I did toy with the idea of using more TT km's and the first thought I had was around 30k's (5k prologue and a 25k main iTT) but in the end settled for 25k.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

@Priceysky: whats the difference between the Lecht and The Lecht Ski Station?

 

[rghysens]

Tour Complet de France n°2, stage 20: Albertville - Uriage-les-Bains: 193km, high mountains (Rhône-Alpes)

Last meaningful stage GC-wise. Would probably be a queen stage in many GT's (apart for the lack of high altitude).

Map:

Profile:

Difficulty: *****

Climbs:
Col du Barioz: km54.5; 9.1km @ 6.4%; 1st cat; 1038m
Col des Ayes: km64; 3.8km @ 8%; 3rd cat; 944m
Col du Coq: km93.5; 12.8km @ 8.5%; HC; 1434m
Col de Porte: km111.5; 4.8km @ 6.9%; 2nd cat; 1326m
Col de 4 seigneurs (only first 8.5km): km140.5; 8.5km @ 6.9%; 1st cat; 799m
Col de Laffrey: km161.5; 6.4km @ 9.6%; 1st cat; 900m
Col Luitel: km180.5; 10.3km @ 8.7%; HC; 1262m

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I had a similar type of stage set up for a Tour I had been planning before I got distracted by the EPO-era tribute Tour for the doping draft, which was from Albertville to Grenoble via Col de Marcieu, Coq, Porte, Quatre-Seigneurs, only I didn't include Laffrey and went via Luitel all the way to Chamrousse before descending to the finish.

 

[rghysens]

Re:

I had a similar type of stage set up for a Tour I had been planning before I got distracted by the EPO-era tribute Tour for the doping draft, which was from Albertville to Grenoble via Col de Marcieu, Coq, Porte, Quatre-Seigneurs, only I didn't include Laffrey and went via Luitel all the way to Chamrousse before descending to the finish.

Originally I had planned a stage finish in Grenoble too, but I thought those final 10-15 flat km would be detrimental too racing. It is however the last meaningful stage, so no reason to hold back.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's been a while since I added to my Giro, so let's recap.

1 - flat stage in München
2 - intermediate stage around Garmisch-Partenkirchen with a cat.4 climb 16km out
3 - slightly uphill TTT
4 - entering Italy via the Brennerpass, then a short uphill finish after Valparola and Fedaia (Fedaia!)
5 - descending to the Adriatic with a flat finish
6 - mostly flat with a couple of hills in the run-in
7 - 40km flat ITT

Stage 8: Rimini - Cagli (Monte Petrano), 200km

GPM:
Monte Nerone (cat.1) 13,7km @ 8,5%
Monte Catria (cat.1) 15,5km @ 6,5%
Monte Petrano (cat.1) 10,4km @ 7,8%

Traguardo Volanti:
Cagli, 189km

As we enter the second weekend of the race, the GC should already have been shaken up somewhat by the chronos and the tricky Val di Fassa stage. With that stage having an easy finale to try to entice moves on Fedaia (Fedaia!), today is the first real mountaintop finish, as we head into the Apennines. The start is just a brief stroll across the Adriatic coast from the finish of the ITT, so we're being kind to the riders with zero transfer. And the first half of the stage is mostly flat along the coast or gradually rolling uphill inland. Part of the early running of the stage follows the route of the 2013 ITT along the coast near Pesaro, which had a difficult rolling parcours and was won by Movistar's Alex Dowsett, which is arguably his career peak thus far, at least on the road (there's the Hour, of course). After passing through the town of Fano the riders turn inland, and then it's a long and gradual uphill through the valley carved by the Metauro until reaching the small town of Piobbico. It is here where the stage changes style and the high mountains begin.

The Nerone-Catria-Petrano combo will obviously remind everybody with the memory of the by-default-thanks-to-weather-problems-on-stage-10 queen stage of the 2009 Giro:

That stage, over 240km and 7 hours in the saddle, was a spectacular event (in fact so spectacular there's even a monument to it!) which was won by Carlos Sastre and included the moment which passed into cycling lore, when Sastre, Menchov, di Luca, Leipheimer, Basso and Pellizotti were off the front and Lance Armstrong put in a herculean effort to battle across to the leading group, only for, literally two seconds after he made the junctino, Sastre - the man who Armstrong had disrespected in justifying his comeback - attacked again and dropped the Texan forevermore. The reigning Tour champion was on strong form in week 3 that year, and won the stage solo, which you can relive here. I have somewhat cloned the closing stages of that stage, however because of the direction of the approach I am taking a harder ascent of Monte Nerone than was climbed that day, instead choosing the narrow and brutal Piobbico side of the climb, which averages 9% for its first 10km. This will hopefully negate the impact of the shorter stage when it comes to the closing stretches.

After Nerone, there is an uncategorized climb (it could perhaps be categorized in earlier stages or in other races, but the Giro has quite the tradition of not giving out mountain points even for quite distinct climbs!), before Monte Catria. This ascent's statistics are rather misleading thanks to the false flat beginnings; there are two distinctive stretches averaging around 9% that ramp up the difficulty, as you can see from the profile; with the summit just 33km from the line there's the potential for the speculative dart from strong climbing riders who are not a GC threat, and also GPM contenders. The bonus seconds available at the intermediate sprint in Cagli come just 11km from the end, all of which are uphill. Monte Petrano is far from the hardest climb the Giro has - or indeed this Giro will have - but at 10km at 8% it is enough to let the flyweights put down a marker and we can really start to see who has the form and who doesn't. And of course, with this being arguably the fourth GC riders' test in the first week (after Garmisch, Rifugio Monti Pallidi and the ITT yesterday) there's every possibility that riders gambling on peaking for the final week will have a lot to make up.

Rimini:

Monte Petrano:

 

[Brullnux]

GIRO D'ITALIA STAGE 10: SESTOLA - LA VOLTA 55.3km -- ITT
The first key stage of the Giro. There have been many tricky stages - especially the Monte Catria stage - beforehand, but this is where the GC guys will experience splits of 2 minutes between the best TT-ers and the pure mountain Goats.

The stage starts with a small uphill before descending steadily for 10km. This is a fairly simple descent until the final 2km, where it begins to get more technical. To help the climbers, now comes a 4.6km climb at 9.6%. This is not an easy climb, and the quickest time up it will gain points towards the Maglia Azzurra. We will soon see who is going strongly, or who has set out too quick, or who is saving their energy, with a time check 5km after the climb. There is nod descent after the climb, only 18km of flat after, maybe slightly downhill in places. Then we start the second climb. Uncategorised, this is much shorter and easier, 2.7km at 7.1%. The last time to see your performance compared to the rest comes at the top of this hill, before a long descent to the finish line, in a very small village in Emilia. This long descent is not technical and suits the more powerful riders, rather than the skilled bike-handlers. This long TT will force the climbers to attack in the mountain stages, and a stage in a few days time will give them the opportunity to do just that.

Profile

Map

 

[Brullnux]

GIRO D'ITALIA STAGE 11: PARMA - CREMA 158.5km -- FLAT
An easy stage before we head into the mountains. Having said that, a light uphill rise at the finish and narrow roads could prove difficult.

Profile:

Map:

Crema:

 

[Brullnux]

GIRO D'ITALIA STAGE 12: PIACENZA - LORISCA 156.8km -- MEDIUM MOUNTAIN & MTF
Not that mountainous, but the first real MTF and also one of the hardest of this year's Giro. A rolling stage into the Maritime Alps. It is a stage which takes us straight from Emilia to Liguria without any detour. The first climb averages almost 145 an is 2km long, and there is a longer but less steep climb after. Then comes a genuinely difficult climb which averages 10% over 5.5km. After a technical descent we finish the long period spent in Emilia-Romagna and go to Liguria. Then comes the Passo Del Fregarolo. After a long flat, a technical descent takes us into the valley before the final rise of 5km at 9%. A difficult finish suited to the like of Valverde and Purito, the puncheurs who can also cope the longer climbs. An explosive climber could also do well here.Th final kilometre is at 15%. This could mean we don't see many attacks, before the last km, but a rider could take advantage of the fear of that kilometre and attack before. I don't expect a GC guy to take it. It will be suicide if they did. The 20 odd seconds gained today are nothing compared to the minutes you can lose tomorrow. If raced hard today, then it will be an incredible stage, with a finish on a typical Italian village clinging onto the hillside.

Profile:

Map:

Lorsica:

 

[Brullnux]

GIRO D'ITALIA STAGE 13: CUNEO - SESRIERE 237.9km -- MOUNTAIN
Arguably the Queen stage. Probably the stage that this Giro will be remembered for. I have already expressed my desire for a monster Agnello-Izoard-Mongenevre-Finestre-Sestriere combo, and I know that the Giro probably won't use it any time soon, so I decided to do it myself. The Finestre-Sestriere usually causes time splits of about 2 minutes, but that is when people approach the Finestre rested after 150 or so kilometres of flat. Here they get to it with more than 40km of climbing in their legs. Time gaps will be monstrous. Not 3 or 4 minutes, but possibly even 5 minutes(!). After 7800 metres of climbing it is possible.

The stage starts off from Cuneo with quite a bit of lat before we climb 2200 metres to our Cima Coppi - Colle del'Agnello. The beak will probably be formed here and the sprinters will be dropped. the peloton after this will be probably about 40-50 riders if raced normally, and not too easy or too hard. Then we cross into France for the only excursion out of Italy for this Giro. And what an excursion it is. We only have 60km outside of Italy and all of it is either uphill or downhill. The Izoard awaits after the descent from Agnello. This will expel any doms who are tired from the Agnello or from yesterday. A stage hunter or an outsider for GC who has already lost >8 minutes could try to attsck here and really push for an effort that will go down into the history books. we head to Briancon for a TV, and then we climb the Mongenevre. This is mostly to soften up the riders before the finale.

We head back into Italy with a long descent through Cesana, Oulx and Val Susa. Mountains either side this is a great valley. Then the riders take our 2nd TV at Susa before they ascend Finestre. A mythical climb, we will not see anything like this year where Astana pushed for the first 7 or 8km of the climb. No-one wants to push here, and no team we likely have more than 5 riders in the main group. If race well enough, the Finestre might be encountered by only 10 or 15 riders. The group of the GC guys will be anywhere between 10 and 35. riders will be jettisoned out the back straight away. When we reach the sterrato the group will be whittled down to just 10 or so rider at most. Then the first attacks will start. If someone cracks with 4 or 5 km to go to the top then it will be incredibly difficult to win the Giro from there. The attacks will continue until we reach the summit. The riders will take the KOM points and happily take the descent, absolutely exhausted. Before the riders know it, Sestriere starts. The false flat will put even more time between them, and then anyone with enough legs will attack and try to win this stage solo. It should be easy to spot the freshest, whoever is not near tears with distress is the freshest.Finally, after what must feel like 238km of torture the riders can enjoy the applause of the fans, and one rider will be forever remembered.

Profile:

Map:

Sestriere

 

[Libertine Seguros]

You have two consecutive stage 12s there - assume the latter is stage 13

Now to try and not confuse the two Giri, as I'm in a completely different part of the country from you at present:

Stage 9: Macerata - Chieti, 250km

GPM:
Villa Bozza (cat.4) 3,0km @ 6,1%
Pretoro (cat.3) 8,0km @ 5,4%
Chieti (Via Turre) (cat.4) 3,9km @ 6,8%

Traguardo Volanti:
Bucchianico, 228km

The longest stage of the race, at a UCI-baiting 250km, the second Sunday of the race hosts a hilly stage through Marche (something of a hallmark of my Giro designs is a weekend hilly stage inspired by the best that Tirreno-Adriatico had to offer before it went the Prati di Tivo route). Although only three climbs are classified, this is an Ardennes-type up and down stage with no fewer than nine ascents, linking two great cycling cities that have hosted Tirreno and the Giro more times than I care to remember.

After the start in Macerata, the route takes the riders towards the Adriatic coast once more, via three small uncategorized ascents (were this a Tour route, they would certainly be at least cat.4 climbs, but with RCS' more stingy approach to GPMs, nothing is available here). Many towns in the region are on hilltops for strategic historical purposes, and the ascent into the old Roman town of Fermo is particularly notable. After this there are over 60km of pure flat along the coast, including passing through San Benedetto del Tronto, which hosts the annual Tirreno-Adriatico closing ITT. A gradual rise into Atri is followed by the first categorized ascent of the day, the 3km climb into the small commune of Villa Bozza, which gets up to a maximum of 15%.

As the image shows, the terrain around here doesn't really do "flat", so there are some more uncategorized ramps to follow. After the two-stepped ascent of Pianella we arrive on the outskirts of Chieti, however there's no simple solution here; that would be about a 180km rolling stage and that's not bad, but not really a worthy weekend stage. Instead we're heading back to the south and climbing once more. The climb to the junction above the town of Pretoro, which bears the same name, is approximately the same as this profile to Blockhaus, if you only take the section from about 3km to 11km. It's not a super hard climb, but coming over 200km into the stage and with another 45 still remaining it's going to have some effect on people's in-stage recovery. It will fulfil the same role it had in the stage that inspired this one and from which I stole the closing stages, the 2010 Tirreno-Adriatico queen stage. That day, the field was shredded both by the Pretoro climb and the two uncategorized, Ardennes-like hills on the way back to Chieti, before they got to the final climb.

Over the years 2010-13 there were a variety of uphill finishes in Chieti, all of which finished on the Corso Marrucino. 2011 and 2012 featured a more gradual ascent with the short and steep ramp of Via Salomone, like this; while in 2013 they retained Via Salomone but took a much steeper route into town via Pietragrossa. However, my favourite, and the one used here, was the 2010 model, where the final ramp wasn't steep; the actual sustained climb was steeper than the 2011-12 version and longer than the 2013 version; the final ramps were actually very short, barely 500m with only a brief steep section, while the penultimate ascent, the sustained climb, featured steep ramps near the top, but these were 3,5km from the finish so riders had to calculate their efforts.

After 240km of relentless punishment (especially if the wind blows, which will mean that even the flat section isn't too relaxing) a run-in like that is likely to cause trouble. When Scarponi won solo in the 2010 Tirreno-Adriatico, it was in front of a rapidly splintering bunch of 10, with another group a few more seconds behind, and then another about a minute back. Time is there to win and lose here, especially with a rest day tomorrow. Yesterday the MTF means that riders won't have had the chance to play safe and conserve energy, so today's long stage comes with riders fatigued and with legs filled with suffering - the contenders will have had to work hard in the flat TT on Friday and the MTF on Saturday, so this is the culmination of a trifecta of stages to set up the GC at the end of the first week.

Macerata:

Chieti:

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

@Priceysky: whats the difference between the Lecht and The Lecht Ski Station?

IF you come from the south it's pretty much one road which ascends and descends twice before the final rise to the ski centre, I've used the 2nd ascent as another categorised climb just for extra mountain points.

 

[Brullnux]

@libertineseguros thanks for pointing that out a bit embarrassing I won't lie
Actually the stage to Crema stage 11 and the latter is stage 12. I've edited it now

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Question, Brullnux, where are you placing your rest days? Only I've realised you didn't have a prologue, so if you're going with the normal rest days (after stage 9 and stage 15) you've put the Finestre stage on a weekday, but if you go with early rest days like the 2008 Vuelta (after stages 6 and 12) to have a long final week, it's on the Saturday.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Question, Brullnux, where are you placing your rest days? Only I've realised you didn't have a prologue, so if you're going with the normal rest days (after stage 9 and stage 15) you've put the Finestre stage on a weekday, but if you go with early rest days like the 2008 Vuelta (after stages 6 and 12) to have a long final week, it's on the Saturday.

One between 3+4 because Sardinia to Naples with two difficult stages is a bit harsh. Another one after 12 and a long final week.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re: Re:

@Priceysky: whats the difference between the Lecht and The Lecht Ski Station?

IF you come from the south it's pretty much one road which ascends and descends twice before the final rise to the ski centre, I've used the 2nd ascent as another categorised climb just for extra mountain points.

Ok. Thanks. I've just noticed it on a profile I created for my forthcoming Tour of Britain:

Bits of it like in wales are the same, however the whole race was created over a week ago.

 

[Gigs_98]

I was just about to post the first stage of my first giro but I think that would cause too much confusion because there are already two giros which are posted at the moment. btw that was the second time I wanted to post this race, the first time I also didn't post it because of too many giros

 

[fauniera]

KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Wed) stage 16: Pilsen - Prag, 175 km

first 115 km:

Another stage in Bohemia, but a more interesting one than yesterday. After 115 kilometers Prag (Praha) is reached, where the riders will do the final 8,5 km of a 10 km circuit, and then five full laps.

The circuit begins (and ends) at Hradschin (Hradčany), the castle district. The first kilometer is slightly uphill on cobbled streets, then we leave Hradschin and enter the Altstadt via Štefánikův most, one of 15 bridges over Moldau river. In total there are about 180 bridges in Prag. The route leads along the Moldau for a while, then turns toward the center. As you can see from the pictures, most of this is on light cobbles.

At km 7 of the circuit, we come by the Kafka monument, half a km later we reach Altstädter Ring, where Kafka spent a big part of his life. Altstädter Ring has been the center of Prag for centuries, until Wenzelsplatz overtook it in importance.

Then we cross Moldau again via Manes bridge. That's the bridge in the foreground, the one behind is the famous Karlsbrücke.

This leads us to the Kleinseite (Malá Strana), the district of the rich, situated on the left bank of Moldau. The final kilometer is uphill and leads to the Prager Burg, the biggest castle complex in the world. We take the Nerudagasse, which gets quite steep at the end, then a 180 degree turn at 400 meters to go leads to this ramp, which seems to be clearly steeper than the profile suggests.

A left hander takes us to Hradschinplatz, without doubt one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. A final lefthander takes us to the finishing straight, still on the same square. This is another one for the puncheurs, much like Budapest. The gc riders should try to stay out of trouble.


Prag

 

[fauniera]

KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Thu) stage 17: Prag - Spindlermühle, 242 km

The by far longest stage of the race leads to Riesengebirge (czech Krkonoše, polish Karkonosze). There are a lot of smaller climbs on the way there, including a cobbled one at km 198, and while none of them are really hard, they will add to the fatigue. In the end it all comes down to the final climb, the mythical Spindlerpass.

As you can see from the profile, the first 8 km are relatively easy, but the final 4 km are hell. To be exact, the final 3,7 km average at 11,6%. And that includes a kilometer at 6,5%! To understand why this climb is such a beast, a look at the map is useful. As you can see, the road simply goes up the mountain in a straight line, while the descent to Spindlermühle behaves more like mountain roads usually do.

Let's have a closer look. After 8 km of climbing, there is a stretch of 0,6 km at 15,8%. Even harder is the final ramp: a full kilometer at 15,8%. At the top of the climb there is Spindlerbaude at the czech-polish border. The descent is far less steep than the ascent. Spindlermühle (Špindlerův Mlýn) is one of the main tourist centers in Riesengebirge.


Spindlerpass

Spindlermühle

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Straight up the Contour Lines. Nice!
Even if it means finishing over the Czech border, I wouldn't mind seeing in in the Tour of Poland.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yay Spindlerpass! I put that finish in my second Peace Race too.

It's probably a bit excessive for the Tour de Pologne, but that's why we need the Peace Race back.

 

[BigMac]

Lol what kind of monstrosity of a second half of a climb is that!

 

[Brullnux]

GIRO D'ITALIA STAGE 14: CESANA TORINESE - LANZO TORINESE 141.8km -- MEDIUM MOUNTAIN
An much easier stage for the riders to rest in. Everyone will be tired after yesterday, so the better climbers who didn't really go deep will have a good chance today in the break. It will probably be a break to win, or a reduced sprint between the likes of Felline, this is where he lives, Matthews, Sagan or Alalphillipe, provided they're not too tired. We could see attacks at the top of the last climb but it will be unlikely. With every stage until stage 19 being mountainous, this will be taken as a bit of a break.

Profile:

Map:

Lanzo Torinese