Race Design Thread

[fauniera]

excessive

monstrosity

You ain't seen nothing yet.


KAKANIEN RUNDFAHRT

(Fri) stage 18: Karpacz - Schneekoppe, 13 km ITT

The final decider is a mountain time trial to Schneekoppe (czech Sněžka, polish Śnieżka), the highest peak of the Riesengebirge at 1.603 meters. It certainly is the hardest time trial i have ever designed. The reason for that is the gradient, but even more so the surface. Most of the stage is on cobbles, and i'm not talking of nice city cobbles, but of big, bad cobbles.

The first few kilometers are on tarmac, but partly steep as i'm using a side street, thanks to this useful map that phil-i-am posted during his Tour of Poland. At km 3 there is a first taste of cobbles, still in Karpacz. At km 3,8 we leave the tarmac road, the final 9,3 km are on cobbles.

The road leads through the woods at first, and is steep, with sections of up to 20%. There is an easier part from km 4,6 to km 7,2, but the next 2 kilometers have an average gradient of 12,8%. On brutal cobbles, not to forget. The Paterberg is 0,4 km at 11,5%, so go figure. In the middle of this section there is the Strzecha Akademicka Baude, a good place for an intermediate time check. The last part of these 2 km from hell consists of an endless seeming straight.

After that the road flattens out. There even is a short descent, during which the riders can see what awaits them.

The final bit is brutal, as the road winds itself around the mountain in spectacular fashion. 1,4 km at 12,5% are the numbers, including a stretch of 300 meters at 15,3%. After the last bend the gradient goes up to 28%. Getting down is much easier, as the riders can take the cable car to Pec pod Sněžkou.

There is an annual mountain bike race, the Śnieżka UpHill Race, which uses nearly the same parcours. They take the main road in Karpacz instead of the side road, apart from that the route is identical. Here is a video from that awesome race.

So is this climb rideable with a road bike? I think it is. After all, the guy who wrote the report about Schneekoppe at quäldich rode up it on a road bike.

P.S. Fun fact: Schneekoppe is one of the windiest places in Europe.

Karpacz

 

[Gigs_98]

heavy breathing

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Schneekoppe? Lord almighty. Zomegnan to pull out all the Kronplatz-style stops to make that work.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Murderer!!

Cross Bike? Mountain bike?

Will you think that a bike change should be done at 3.1km for one with lower tyre pressure?

 

[Brullnux]

You really hate cyclists, don't you

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Actually I think it's time for this:

 

[BigMac]

Re:

Murderer!!

Cross Bike? Mountain bike?

Will you think that a bike change should be done at 3.1km for one with lower tyre pressure?

Indeed, the first photograph of the cobbles makes me think there'd be a flat every 50m.

 

[LPP68!]

I think I would watch that

 

[Gigs_98]

I will soon start to post my four day Steiermark Rundfahrt. Here is the map of the race:

 

[fauniera]

That's my home region. Stage 3 is great, Nockberge and Turracher Höhe is an excellent combination.

 

[Gigs_98]

Steiermark Rundfahrt stage 1: Graz - Spielberg/Red Bull Ring (161 km)
When someone talks about the Österreich Rundfahrt in this forum, its mostly about the fact how poor the organizers use the possibilities of Austria. However most people only talk about the west of austria because of some great passes and possible mtf´s in tyrol and Vorarlberg. I agree that western Austria is probably the best area for cycling in Austria but I always have the feeling many people forget about carinthia and especially styria, so I will try to change that and show the great possibilities of this state.
The first stage is already a pretty hard one. We start in Graz the capital of styria which is located by the river "Mur". The first part goes north-westwards until the climb to Krautwasch starts, with an intermediate sprint in Übelbach as only little highlight before that. Before the next climb up to Plesch there is another intermediate sprint in Gratwein. The climb to Plesch itself is pretty steep and the 2nd most difficult one of this stage. After the descent the next two climbs to Forstbauergraben and Breitenbach come directly after each other, without any flat between. That doesn't change after the descent from Breitenbach because the main obstacle, the Gaberl Sattel, follows immediately. The first half isn't very steep and to be honest the second one also only has a medium steepness. At the end the length is the thing that makes this climb difficult. After an rather easy descent there is a pretty long flat section to the finish which is located on the Red Bull Ring, a car racing track which has a pretty interesting profile (if you consider that it is a car racing track). This stage is something either for the break away or for a sprinter who can also climb (guys like gilbert). Of course I also had the chance to finish the stage earlier, in Zeltweg, but this is only a four day race, with a very hard mountain stage still to come, so I wanted to give attackers a chance to win a stage.

Gaberl Sattel:

Red Bull Ring:

climbs:
Krautwasch (2nd cat.)
Plesch (2nd cat.)
Forstbauergraben (3rd cat.)
Breitenbach (3rd cat.)
Gaberl Sattel (1st cat.)

 

[Gigs_98]

Steiermark Rundfahrt stage 2: Judenburg - Schladming (149 km)
The flattest stage of my tour and the only chance for pure sprinters (although the final isn't even that easy). The first 48 km are almost completely uphill but very very flat, so I wasn't even sure if I should make Hohentauern a categorized climb. The next climb to Kaiserau which follows directly after the descent is steeper but still not very steep. After this climb the route completely flattens out, with 2 intermediate sprints in Liezen and Öblarn in the next 50 kilometers. However the final could be interesting because of a 3rd category climb to Ramsau only 7 km´s before the finish with a downhill leading the riders directly to the finish line. --> there would be attacks on the last climb and if sprint teams want to make a sprint train this would be an extremely difficult challenge.

Schladming:

climbs:
Hohentauern (4th cat.)
Kaiserau (3rd cat.)
Ramsau (3rd cat.)

 

[Gigs_98]

Steiermark Rundfahrt stage 3: Gröbming - Turracher Höhe (147 km)
The queen stage of my Steiermark Rundfahrt is a quite tough one. After the start in Gröbming there is a little descent followed by a little ascent which is officially already part of the Sölkpass. The next few kilometers are false flat before the real climbing up to the Sölkpass starts. Between the following descent and the next serious climb there is a 3rd category climb at the Prebersee and an intermediate sprint in Tamsweg. The next 1st category climb is the Schönfeldsattel, a pretty long and irregular climb. From now on there is hardly any flat in this stage because after the descent to the intermediate sprint in Innerkrems the next climb to the Eisenthalhöhe starts immediately. The Nockalmstraße and the mtf to the Turracher Höhe also start directly after the descent of the previous climb. Especially the final climb is really interesting because of its steepness (there is a section with over 20% about 3 kilometers before the finish line).
ps: normally I would use the Katschbergpass instead of the Schönfeldsattel because they both have almost the same difficulty but the climb to the Eisenthalhöhe becomes more difficult if you use the route over the Katschberg. In this case I used the Schönfeldsattel because I tried to put the climbs near to each other without long flat sections which would be the case if I had used the Katschbergpass.

Nockalmstraße:

Turracher Höhe:

climbs:
Sölkpass (1st cat.)
Prebersee (3rd cat.)
Schönfeldsattel (1st cat.)
Eisenthalhöhe (2nd cat.)
Nockalmstraße (2nd cat.)
Turracher Höhe (1st cat.)

 

[May0maniac]

That's a great stage Gigs. I still have to post the rest of my Tour of Vermont and New Hampshire, but maybe I'll post my Giro del Regno di Sardegna before that.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

San Francisco World Road Race Championships Course

Entry to loops (43.6km)

Climbs:
San Bruno Mountain
Twin Peaks
Mount Sutro

The Riders will start on the outskirts of Daly City in a non-attractive supermarket car park. They will then head south towards San Bruno and South San Francisco. Once down there, they will head north for the first climb. This is the San Bruno Mountain. They will then head for the next climb. This is the Twin Peaks Climb, as featured in the TT. Then they have a short descent to Mount Sutro. Then there is a tiny bit of flat up to the finish line for the start of the Loops.

Loops(32.7km):

Climbs:
Point Lobos Avenue
Washington Boulevard
Lincoln Boulevard
El Camino del Mar

Amount of Loops:
Junior Women = 43.6km + 1 loop (76.3km)
U23 Men = 43.6km + 4 loops (187.9km)
Junior Men = 43.6km + 3 loops (141.7km)
Elite Women = 43.6km + 3 loops (141.7km)
Elite Men = 43.6 + 6 loops (272.5km)

Once the riders are on the loop, they will head towards the coast for the first climb on the circuit. This the Point Lobos Avenue climb that features in the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. The Loops are actually heavily basedon it. They will then carry along this road before heading towards the second climb on the loop which is the Washington Boulevard Climb. Then they have a descent past Walt Disney's Family Museum. Then after a little ride along the coast, they will ride unde the Golden Gate Bridge, while riding up the Lincoln Boulevard Climb. Down below is the imfamous Sand Ladder from the Triathlon. They will then ride up the El Camino del Mar Climb. It is then a descent down Point Lobos Avenue, to the Golden Gate Heights Park, where the finish of each lap and the finish of all the races are.

San Francisco:

 

[lemon cheese cake]

My next race is the Tour of Britain:

 

[Brullnux]

Where is stage 7 finishing? Because I can guess all the others, but not 7. It looks like Cirencester, but I'm not sure. Btw liked your WC and the route map looks very promising.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

Where is stage 7 finishing? Because I can guess all the others, but not 7. It looks like Cirencester, but I'm not sure. Btw liked your WC and the route map looks very promising.

Bristol - Bath!

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Where is stage 7 finishing? Because I can guess all the others, but not 7. It looks like Cirencester, but I'm not sure. Btw liked your WC and the route map looks very promising.

Bristol - Bath!

My dreams have come true
I'm pretty annoyed no stage finish has ever been in bath before, there is so much potential around here. Maybe you have a future as the Tour of Britain route maker

 

[Gigs_98]

Steiermark Rundfahrt stage 4: Teufenbach - Murau ITT (26 km)
The final stage of my Steiermark Rundfahrt is an ITT. The start is in Teufenbach. After some steep kilometers the route flattens out and only goes slightly uphill. After 12 km´s the riders arrive in Lambrecht where the only time check of the stage is located. Before the finish in Murau there is a little downhill section, however that section isn't very technical.
26 km of ITT doesn't seem to be that much but if you consider that there is only one serious mountain stage (not that surprising in a 4 day race) this final stage is pretty decisive, also because it is actually more difficult than it looks like on the profile.

Murau:

So, thats it. Hope you guys like this tour

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re: Re:

Where is stage 7 finishing? Because I can guess all the others, but not 7. It looks like Cirencester, but I'm not sure. Btw liked your WC and the route map looks very promising.

Bristol - Bath!

My dreams have come true
I'm pretty annoyed no stage finish has ever been in bath before, there is so much potential around here. Maybe you have a future as the Tour of Britain route maker

Yeah! I'm actually surprised that they haven't had a finish in Bath before. They have started there (last year), but they have loads of great terrain.

Are you a Local?

 

[HelgeBlendet]

Great Steiermark Rundfahrt!
Love the Nockalmstraße -> Turracher Höhe combination. I'd love to see a race exploring the "medium" mountains just north of Graz up to the Mürz Valley (Schöckl, Teichalm, etc.). If you exit Graz via Andritz -> Stadtegg, there's a nice steep climb up the Leberstraße. Would've been an early kicker on your way to Deutschfeistritz.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Great Steiermark Rundfahrt!
Love the Nockalmstraße -> Turracher Höhe combination. I'd love to see a race exploring the "medium" mountains just north of Graz up to the Mürz Valley (Schöckl, Teichalm, etc.). If you exit Graz via Andritz -> Stadtegg, there's a nice steep climb up the Leberstraße. Would've been an early kicker on your way to Deutschfeistritz.

Thanks

Well, I started this tour with the goal to make a four day race because it is only a state. After I started to create the race I already noticed that even a week long race probably wouldn't be enough to cover all the great stuff in styria.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Where is stage 7 finishing? Because I can guess all the others, but not 7. It looks like Cirencester, but I'm not sure. Btw liked your WC and the route map looks very promising.

Bristol - Bath!

My dreams have come true
I'm pretty annoyed no stage finish has ever been in bath before, there is so much potential around here. Maybe you have a future as the Tour of Britain route maker

Yeah! I'm actually surprised that they haven't had a finish in Bath before. They have started there (last year), but they have loads of great terrain.

Are you a Local?

Yeah, I used to live right in the centre, but now live about 20 minutes east, but I go to school there.

I designed a WC course in Bath recently, and I am looking forward to seeing how many of the same hills you use - the hills in Bath are short and steep, but some of the roads are painfully narrow and there are loads.

Look forward to seeing the stages

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

Great Steiermark Rundfahrt!
Love the Nockalmstraße -> Turracher Höhe combination. I'd love to see a race exploring the "medium" mountains just north of Graz up to the Mürz Valley (Schöckl, Teichalm, etc.). If you exit Graz via Andritz -> Stadtegg, there's a nice steep climb up the Leberstraße. Would've been an early kicker on your way to Deutschfeistritz.

Thanks

Well, I started this tour with the goal to make a four day race because it is only a state. After I started to create the race I already noticed that even a week long race probably wouldn't be enough to cover all the great stuff in styria.

Always the problem - wanting to cram everything the region has into one edition. Sometimes we probably need to do two or three editions of each race to spread it out into a viable race!