Race Design Thread

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 7: Kashihara - Ise, 217km (***)

Climbs: Kotsuke (4,8km @ 5,7%), Wakayama Tunnel (4,2km @ 5,2%), Sanjosan (3,9km @ 4%), Mount Nanahora (3,9km @ 6,1%), Minamiise (6,1km @ 5%), Asamagatake (6,6km @ 6,7%, two passes)

Stage 7 is yet another medium mountain stage, but this time much longer and with more smaller climbs. 8 categorized climbs (including two final passes through Mount Asamagatake, just south of Ise), with the last coming 24km before the end of the stage. We might see some interesting tactics, or even a breakaway win. With two of the hardest stages of the race coming right after, some riders will try to save energy for that.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 8: Tahara - Hamamatsu, 51km (ITT)(*****)

The first weekend starts off with a 51km flat time trial between Tahara and Hamamatsu. There are some small hills along the way, but they are short and shallow. Time trial specialists should take the GC lead again, but will have to watch out for tomorrow's stage, with the hardest summit finish of the entire race.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 4: Vikersund - Geilø, 210km

GPM:
Tjønnstultjønne (cat.3) 2,7km @ 7,4%
Svenskebu (cat.2) 6,0km @ 6,9%
Vasstulan (cat.2) 8,0km @ 6,1%
Høgåsen (cat.3) 4,8km @ 4,9%
Kikut (cat.3) 3,0km @ 5,3%

A tricky hilly-to-intermediate stage follows on from the stage with the descent finish in Drammen. We retrace our steps a little for the start of the stage, starting at the enormous Vikersund ski jump.

We move away from the retraced steps by the time we get to Hokksund however, and head towards Kongsberg, a sizable city southwest of Drammen. It is the hometown of a number of famous ski jumpers over the last few generations, but to non-Norwegians its most famous resident would probably be Morten Harket of the pop band a-ha... we then head inland and away from the Oslofjord to trace a route which is similar in its direction to stage 4 of the 2015 Tour of Norway from Rjukan to Geilø (although that stage skips some of the climbs I use, and I didn't use the punchy finish in Geilø that they did). Anyway, to get there we go over a third category climb and then descend down to the village of Austbygdi, which put us to the edge of the scenic Tinnsjå.

From here we take on our first major climb of the day. It was used in the 2015 stage under the name Imingfjell, with the organisers categorizing the whole thing including the first dozen or so false flat kilometres. I have only categorized the last few kilometres, but still, it has some serious ramps with the first kilometres ramping to over 8%.

This is with just over 60km to go; the riders will not be attacking here, of course, but from here, the stage just goes up and down continuously. It's still scenic though, don't worry.

With 35km remaining is the Vasstulan climb, with around 8km at around 6% being the main part of its challenge. It is followed with a flat to mild downhill roll; there is then a hard, swooping descent. There's then 4km @ 6% on Høgåsen which crests at just over 20km remaining, which will therefore make it a valuable place to attack from. But the final obstacle is the 3km of ascent - with 1km at over 8% in the middle - of Kikut; cresting at just 10km from the line, this should see action.

Geilø has been chosen partly for that 2015 stage, which was won by the mighty Amets Txurruka, but also as it is another ski resort town; it is mainly an Alpine resort but, you know, given that this is Norway, there is still over 200km of cross-country trails around here. It has hosted the Winter Paralympics and also the national championships in both XC and biathlon. As a resort town it also has plenty of room to host, of course.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 5: Geilø - Beitostølen Skistadion, 157km

GPM:
Valdresvegen (cat.1) 8,2km @ 6,2%
Fødnesvegen (cat.2) 4,5km @ 6,9%
Eggeåsvegen (cat.2) 6,1km @ 7,0%
Beitostølen (cat.3) 2,2km @ 5,7%

Following another zero transfer day, we're headed back into Oppland with the second shortest road stage of the race, another up-and-down day which heads into our smallest stage town; the official population of Beitostølen is in the hundreds, however owing to its resort status and the use of its trails for World Cup and second-tier competitions in both the cross country and biathlon calendar, there are plenty of hotels, cabins and so forth and it is nicely located for the route I'm taking the riders on as it does something of a loop-de-loop around the country to cover a bit more while still sticking to the areas typical of the Glava Tour, thus not treading on the toes of the Arctic Tour or the Tour des Fjords.

There are four categorized climbs in the stage, and the first, after passing another ski competition town in Ål, is the road that heads towards the Storefjell Resort. This is a winding resort out of a scenic valley that averages just over 6% for just over 8km, so not a major cat.1, but with inconsistent slopes and two tougher sections - one of around 10% for 900m and one of just over 8% for 2km - it just about scrapes the categorization.

After this is a long period of high plateau as we move back into Oppland; the terrain is rolling and is mostly unspoilt countryside which, come winter, makes a glorious, beautiful tranquil backdrop for cross-country skiing, as can be seen from the langrennsløype. A technical and attractive descent then takes us to the town of Leira, which then leads us to Fagernes, another gloriously scenic town by the edge of the Strondafjorden.

This leads us to our second climb of the day, the cat.2 ascent of Fødnesvegen, a small road climbing a shoulder of the mountain that overlooks the fjord and the town. It isn't long but, like the Valdresvegen climb it isn't consistent, so riders have to take care. Then it's back to the edges of the fjord for some of the most scenic flat riding the riders will ever take on.

After this, perhaps the most enticing platform for an attack in the stage (although the coming days may discourage GC-minded attacks a bit), the winding mountainous road of the Eggeåsvegen, connecting Vestre and Øystre Slidre. The actual name of this area is Båtskaret, which means "The boat pass", likely because of the short and long but narrow plateau across the top with a peak rising at one end giving the appearance of a boat. There are some steeper sections - the toughest 500m is at 11% - but it is a lopsided climb without too much respite at the other side as well. This is all rolling with a number of uncategorized ascents as we head around the south and west of our finishing town. The climb crests with 26km remaining, but there's one more sting in the tail - the mostly consistent 6% or so 2km climb into the village of Beitostølen itself before the brief descent to the ski stadium to finish. This should give a punchy opportunity to gain some time in a stage that should have got rid of most of the non-climbers who could have survived that climb.

 

[Tonton]

That stage 7 in Japan is a gem of a design. Chapeau!

LS: how many designs are you keeping in your back pocket, and how many back pockets do you have? You seem to come up with a GT every other week, five or six races in between. It is insane!!! And thanks for the pics: they illustrate the story-line really well.

 

[bp92]

Liking the Tour of Norway. Stage 4 is my favorite so far.

Tour of Japan Stage 9: Shizuoka - Mount Fuji, 149km (*****)

Climbs: Katafutayama (24,9km @ 5,2%), Mikuni Pass (6,8km @ 10,1%), Mount Fuji (11,1km @ 10,4%)

The last stage of the first week is short... but very difficult, with the hardest summit finish of the entire race. And yeah, I think most people know which one it is.

Starting off from Shizuoka, the first 60km of the stage are pretty much featureless, going along the coastline. Then the calm is interrupted by the very long climb to Mount Fuji from the southeast, the first HC-rated climb of the race.
The climb ends at Katafutayama, a small secondary peak to the southeast of the main volcano, after which we head down towards Gotemba. From there we take on the second climb of the stage, the very steep Mikuni Pass.

Not a long climb, but with a first 5km section averaging around 11%, this one should hurt quite a bit. Don't expect big moves here, though (even though some of the weaker climbers should start dropping off the main group by this point); there's still one big climb left to go.

For the summit finish we head up the eastern side of Mount Fuji, a climb that has become a current Tour of Japan mainstay, in an unusual format. Normally raced as a 11km road micro-stage from Gotemba, this time the climb comes at the end of a difficult 149km stage. Either way, with overall numbers comparable to climbs like Italy's Monte Zoncolan, this climb should create some big gaps in favor of the climbers.

REST DAY 1: Gotemba

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 10: Gotemba (Fuji Speedway) - Izu (JCSC Circuit), 179km (***)

Climbs: Mount Ashigara (5,5km @ 6,3%), Mount Hakone (7km @ 6,2%), Izu Skyline (5,1km @ 9,7%).

After the first rest day, we get what may be the most unpredictable stage of the entire race.
The stage starts off at the Fuji Speedway, former host of the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, located just to the north of Gotemba. Then, we head south, going around Gotemba, before taking on two climbs in the Mount Ashigara resort area, after which we head down to the coast.
From there, there's not a single flat meter left; first, we take on the short yet very steep climb to the Izu Skyline road, after which we descend and immediately enter the final circuit, which should be familiar if you know about the current Tour of Japan.

The Izu Circuit is a rare purpose-built cycling course, which has become a Tour of Japan mainstay, just like the Fuji micro-stage (they're often held back-to-back, actually). And there's not a single flat section in its 12,2km, with five short climbs making up the course. The result might be a chaotic stage, particularly if there's an important breakaway in the previous climbs since teams will have it hard to catch a breakaway in the circuit itself. Even if there's no breakaway, riders will have to be extremely careful here; a single mistake might turn out extremely costly, since they might not be able to catch up with the main group again.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's similar in profile to the Krylatskoye Ring, or the Circuito de Melilla, both of which despite no real sustained climbs have suited pure climbers in the past (Sukhoruchenkov on the former, Jiménez on the latter). And indeed while it has seen its share of glorified sprints and small gap stages, the Izu circuit has seen some pretty monstrous Iranian climbing breakaways, such as 2014 with Mirsamad Pourseyedi, Ghader Mizbani and, weirdly, Hugh Carthy putting 2 mins on the field, and also the 2007 vintage version of Chris Froome won on that circuit solo back in his Konica Minolta days (a day after losing 3 minutes to Francesco Masciarelli on Mount Fuji, mind).

 

[May0maniac]

The short Mount Fuji stage that we always see in the real Tour of Japan seems very strange to western fans, but hill climbs with mass starts are actually pretty common and very popular in Japan. The Izu Circuit is always great and we should get a very interesting race.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 6: Beitostølen - Juvasshytta, 191km

GPM:
Tyin (cat.2) 13,9km @ 4,2%
Tindevegen (cat.ESP) 18,6km @ 7,1%
Berdalsfjellet (cat.3) 2,0km @ 7,8%
Sognefjellet (cat.1) 10,6km @ 5,2%
Juvasshytta (cat.ESP) 13,6km @ 9,5%

Once more the riders have no transfer to deal with, which is good because they will want a good night's sleep ahead of this - the undisputed queen stage of the Tour of Norway, a violent mountain massacre. The stage starts benignly enough, avoiding the final ramp from yesterday's stage but otherwise retracing the last few kilometres including descending yesterday's cat.2 climb. There's then another 30km or so flat before the road starts to gradually ramp upwards; for the most part it is consistently ramping up false flat, but the last 5km at around 6-7% will at least make sure the riders feel it, before they arrive at Lake Tyin, a beautifully scenic spot that the riders circumnavigate through a flat section for around 10km.

There is then a long and gradually steepening descent into Øvre Årdal which is narrow and twisting. Øvre Årdal is another spectacularly scenic spot in the litany of them used in the race.

After this, the stage really gets nasty as we climb up a narrow and monstrous road up to Tindevegen, a brutally... well, brutal climb that crests at just over 70km from the line. It will likely see a huge amount of riders tailed off by its brutal slopes as nearly 20km go by at over 7%. The first 5,5km area at 9%, then there's a flatter bit, then 4km at nearly 10%, then another flattening, another km at 10%, then it ramps up past 11% for a final kilometre at 8%. This one will really hurt.

The descent into Turtagrø includes a cat.3 short climb; this profile of the other side of Tindevegen shows us the 2km ascent that we'll have to climb. We are descending (apart from that short climb, natch) the first 12km of this, and then we turn uphill again on the way to Sognefjellet, arguably the highest pass of Scandinavia.

That picture is from the flat part in the last few kilometres of this profile; the part that we're climbing is all of it from Turtagrø onwards, though I'm only categorizing it from there until the end of the ramp at 7km from the "summit". There are 4-5km at 8% early on, then it flattens out and then ultimately ends with a 1km repecho with the toughest gradients of the whole climb, at 12%. The summit is 50km from the line, and then a few kilometres later there's an intermediate at Sognefjellshytta before a long and multi-stepped descent along these roads - mostly fairly fast and straight so there is not much in the way of technical tests, which means that the reduced bunch here will all be fighting for position at the base of the final climb, which is an absolute monster and the toughest climb in northern Europe.

The Norwegian Zoncolan, a destructive climb averaging close to 10% for over 13%, this one is a monster which will open up GC gaps on its own, let alone after a bunch of big climbs earlier in the stage. It's desolate, and the comparatively high altitude this far north means it's only really accessible for a comparatively short period of time. This is an absolute beast of a final climb, and it's the kind that would serve as an excellent first MTF of a double act of mountain stages because it's impossible to go easy or save your energy; you've got to survive it. This one goes in the file with Rettenbachferner and Mortirolo.

 

[May0maniac]

Brilliant, I always thought that you could create one hell of a stage with Tindevegen and a Juvasshytta MTF. I thought that you'd rather design a really long and hard medium mountain stage, but Juvasshytta is just awesome, my hat's off to you.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

There's only the one real high mountain stage though, so it's ok to make it a monster.

Stage 7: Lillehammer - Lillehammer (Lysgårdsbakkene), 171km

GPM:
Østringsvegen (cat.2) 6,3km @ 5,6%
Saksumdalsvegen (cat.1) 5,4km @ 7,6%
Saksumdalsvegen (cat.1) 5,4km @ 7,6%
Birkebeineren (cat.2) 4,8km @ 7,1%
Birkebeineren (cat.2) 4,8km @ 7,1%
Birkebeineren (cat.2) 4,8km @ 7,1%
Lysgårdsbakkene (cat.3) 2,9km @ 7,1%

Yes, we've looped the loop and are back where we were almost by after stage 2; this is the follow-up to that brutal mountain stage - a relentless medium mountain stage around one of Norways most famous cities even if not one of its biggest; the 1994 Winter Olympic host city of Lillehammer. Unlike most subsequent Winter Games, however, the venues of these much-beloved competitions have remained in use; the Kvitfjell Alpine ski facilities are a regular on the men's World Cup, while the Lysgårdsbakkene ski jump and the nearby Birkebeineren cross-country ski trails are annually in use on the World Cups for ski jumping, cross country and Nordic Combined, all combined into one festival of sport in early December (during which time Norway typically win everything possible in the cross country). The biathlon stadium, which is adjacent to the cross country one, has fallen out of World Cup use but will be utilized for the EYOF in 2016. I have had much joy hopping on shuttlebuses at the centre of the town and asking the driver if he's going to the hoppbakken. Especially early in the morning for the Nordic Combined jump, with very few spectators and the sun rising behind the hill.

Like most towns located as it is, by the banks of a river in the middle of a fjord valley, Lillehammer has a range of uphill roads surrounding it, and it is these that we will explore while taking in the 1994 Games venues. First of all we have one loop of a longish circuit to the north; mostly flat, it takes in some of the terrain used in stage 2, most notably going past Hafjell to Tretten and taking on the same cat.2 climb that was used in that stage; here, however, rather than being the main obstacle of the day, it's a mere hors-d'œuvres. After this loop is completed at around the 65km mark, the riders find themselves in the village of Vingnes, when things get rather more serious.

Lillehammer hosted the queen stage of the Glava Tour for three consecutive years from 2012 to 2014, each time including two ascents of the mid-length and decently steep climb of Saksumdalsvegen. The climb is actually a bit longer than the Strava segment I've used to held calculate the gradient; more like 7km in length at a more flat 7% average. The long and two-stepped descent means it may not be as decisive in this kind of position in the stage as the way it has been used in the Glava Tour, but off the back of the brutal mountaintop finish yesterday some tired legs will suffer here.

The final stages of the 2014 stage show you the first couple of kilometres of the ascent after we get off the Saksumdalsvegen circuit and cross the bridge to enter Lillehammer to start the final of the three circuits.

The cat.2 ascent from the city to the Birkebeineren cross country stadium (which is actually about 600m after that profile finishes, but I've only categorized the actual climbing part of the climb) will be ascended three times; the fourth time they will climb it only as far as the 2,9km mark, where they reach the parking area at the ski jump, which will serve as the finish. That profile rather exaggerates the length of the flat bit on Maihaugvegen, as a result the ramps from there to the hoppbakken itself are a bit exaggerated; nevertheless they aren't easy and this will mean a punchy finish after a difficult circuit. The International Downhill Skate Federation uses a part of the climb, clips from the event can be seen here to show you a bit of what the climb looks like. The final full ascent of the climb comes with 13km remaining and it's on a circuit of around 15,2km in length; there are also bonus seconds the last two times through Lillehammer itself to incentivise the early move. After yesterday's stage opened the gaps, this could get real messy, or it could be a puncheur's finish only, you never know.

 

[jsem94]

Great stuff as always LS!

 

[bp92]

Very nice stages in Norway. The climb to Juvasshytta looks awesome (didn't even think there were climbs that high in Norway). The Lillehammer stage is a nice follow-up, too.

Tour of Japan Stage 11: Izu - Shirakaba Highland, 208km (***)

Climbs: Lake Yamanaka (14,7km @ 4,3%), Misakayama Tunnel (10km @ 4,6%), Atagoyama (2,5km @ 6,3%), Fujimi (4,6km 3,7%), Suwako Highland (4,9km @ 9%), Lake Shirakaba (7,3km @ 6,1%)

Stage 11 gives us yet another long medium mountain stage. Starting from Izu, the stage heads back north through Gotemba for the last time, before taking on the long climb up to Lake Yamanaka (Mt. Mikuni's descent in Stage 9), followed by the shallow Misakayama further north, as we move away from Mount Fuji.
After the long descent we enter an easier part, which includes a short cat.4, followed by a very long ascending false flat section, capped off by a short cat.4 climb. After this, we enter the deciding climbs of the stage.

The first of them, Suwako Highland, is shorter but steeper, with two kms around 10% near the beginning of the climb. Its relatively easy descent leaves us right at the foot of the final climb, Lake Shirakaba.

This climb is longer, but not as steep. However, it's the final climb, so most big moves by climbers will probably be made here. After the climb there's still a flat 2km section around Lake Shirakaba before reaching the main resort, where the finish line is located.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

After a long break due to not much enthusiasm to finish this race, we are here with the final mountain stage of the:

Deutschland Tour Stage 14: Zell am See-Kaprun - Das Kehlsteinhaus (187km) (Sat)

Climbs:
Filzensattel
Österreischenberg
Hochschwarzeck
Roßfeld-Höhenringstraße
Roßfeld-Höhenringstraße
Das Kehlsteinhaus

Sprints:
Berchtesgarden
Berchtesgarden

Feed Zone:
Berchtesgarden

For the final stage that is in the mountains, we start in Austria. Keeping to the less than 100km between stages (unless it's a rest day) we start just a couple of miles/kilometres down the road from Kaprun, we start in Zell am see. We start heading north then east on the course of the 70.3 mile bike ride as part of the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon in the two towns previously named in this text. As they head east, the riders will encounter the first climb of the day. This is the Filzensattel. From here we head over to Bichofshofen, home to a set of ski jumps. Soon they will reach the Austro-German border, but first the town of Halleinis reached. This is on the river Salzach which is where the city of Salzburg gets it's name from. However, we won't be heading there (plenty of time for that in the Tour of Austria). The riders will now approach the Österreischenberg, named because I noticed it was in the border of Austria and Germany. Following this is a descent then a rather small climb into Berchtesgraten. The feed zone is here. Then they will some flatish terrain before taking on the Hochschwarzeck climb. Half of this climb(the steeper bit) comes under the name of Loipl. A descent down the steeper side of the Hochschwarzeck follows back into Bechtesgarten for the first prime. Then the monsters come. If the riders thought the climbs today were hard enough, they should think again. The next two/three (one is repeated twice) are just vile and will sort out whose having a bad day with who isn't. The first is the Roßfeld-Höhenringstraße. Libertine I think named it one of the toughest road climbs in germany, along with today's MTF. It has a very steep average and should be taken seriously. Once ascended, they will desend down into Berchtesgarten for the second prime. After which, they will take on the monster again. A shorter descent follows, as this time head up to the top of the Kehlstein Without dwelling on it too much, this was home to the leader of the Nazi party (Hitler) in the 1930s and 1940s. However it doesn't just serve up as a tourist attraction, it can also be a very steep climb. The road is littered with tunnels and sections of cobbles. Once at the top, the riders will be able to put a foot down and just relax to see the stunning views all around that look into Austria and Germany.

Kaprun/Zell am See:

Das Kehlsteinhaus:

After this, a 150km transfer follows, to the final destination of the race: Hamburg

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Nice stages in Macronesia, Spain, Norway, Asia and Japan everybody.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Deutschland Tour Stage 15a (ITT) : München Konigsplatz - München Oktoberfest (13km) (Sun)

Climbs:
None

Sprints:
None (TT)

Feed Zone:
None

Time Split Locations:
München Steinsdorfstraße
München Bayerstraße

Deutschland Tour Stage 15b: München Oktoberfest - München Oktoberfest (101km) (Sun)

Climbs:
None

Sprints:
München Oktoberfest
München Oktoberfest
München Oktoberfest
München Oktoberfest

Feed Zone:
München Steinsdorfstraße
München Steinsdorfstraße
München Steinsdorfstraße

Finally! The end of the Deutschland Tour. Onto the next race!

 

[lemon cheese cake]

With the race finished, here is the library for the stages of the Deutschland Tour:

Deutschland Tour Route Library:

Prologue (ITT): Berlin - Berlin (7.1km) (Fri)
Stage 1: Berlin - Leipzig (197km) (Sat)
Stage 2: Altenburg - Meerane (167km) (Sun)
Stage 3: Zwickau - Karlsbad (157km) (Mon)
Stage 4: Naila - Oberhof (165km)(Tue)
Stage 5: Sonderhausen - Clausthal Zellerfeld (200km) (Wed)
Stage 6: Kassel - Fulda (150km) (Thur)
Stage 7: Fulda - Wiesbaden (177km) (Fri)
Stage 8: Mainz - Nuerburgring (195km)
Stage 9 (ITT): Nuerburgring ITT (29km) (Sun)

Rest day: Nuerburg/Karlsruhe (Transfer of about 250km) (Mon)

Stage 10: Karlsruhe - Erzgrube (170km) (Tue)
Stage 11: Freiburg - Belchenberg (185km) (Tue)
Stage 12: Friedrichshafen - Bergstation Fellhorn/Schlappold-Alpe (136km) (Thur)
Stage 13: Mittenwald - Kaprun, Austria (180km) (Fri)
Stage 14: Zell am See-Kaprun - Das Kehlsteinhaus (187km) (Sat)
Stage 15a (ITT): München Konigsplatz - München Oktoberfest (13km) (Sun)
Stage 15b: München Oktoberfest - München Oktoberfest (101km) (Sun)

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 12: Saku - Shibukawa, 151km (****)

Climbs: Oiwake (5,3km @ 3,9%), Koasamayama (8,7km @ 5,4%), Kurabuchimachi (4,9km @ 3,6%), Mount Haruna (10,5km @ 6,8%), Mount Asama (9,6km @ 7,3%).

Next comes a short mountain stage, featuring the third HC of the race.
Starting from Saku, the riders will take on two easy climbs at the beginning, followed by a long and gradual descent. Then, after another shallow climb, the riders will start climbing up Mount Haruna, a volcano located 150km to the northwest of Tokyo.
We'll climb the mountain twice from different sides; first from the southwest, going past the crater lake, before taking on the technical descent down the east side of the mountain.
Then, with no flat between the climbs, we enter the decisive climb, which goes up to Mount Asama (a subsidiary peak of Mount Haruna) from the southeast.

A very irregular climb, with shallow sections around 7% and even a flat km... and also a killer middle section, with 2km over 12%. The climb is followed by another descent down the same technical road used the first time, before reaching the finish line at Shibukawa.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 8: Nordseter - Sjusjøen, 39,1km (ITT)

As you can see, not much of a transfer after yesterday's stage around Lillehammer - in fact we go through the town again today. Once again, I'm trying to simplify and also not interfere with the regions used in Norway's other stage races, but also we need a comparatively long ITT for a one week stage race given that a) there was no prologue, and b) though we only have the one true MTF, it was an absolute brute and there are few flat stages. To mitigate this, however, the TT is pretty technical and will favour a smart all-rounder over a pure flat power engine. The likes of Tony Martin and Vasil Kiryienka will be fine with this one, for sure, but the former likes of Grabsch would not have enjoyed it so much.

Nordseter and Sjusjøen are two of the bases for the vast expanse of cross country skiing trails east of Lillehammer, some of which are used in the annual Birkebeinerrennet, a long distance open entry race from Rena to Lillehammer which has been running since the 1930s and is part of the Worldloppet. It has a mountain biking equivalent over 92km, the Birkebeinerrittet, which has run since the early 2000s and has Lars Petter Nordhaug (in his junior/U23 days) as its most famous winner.

Here, however, we aren't handling the offroads, nor are we investigating the beauty of the vast, unspoilt wilderness that lies along these routes in the winter. They are also regular haunts of the professionals, and you can expect to see at least some high level club riders if you take on these trails at the right times. Anyway, the cyclists will head out of Nordseter along a fast and wooded route popular with rollerskiers in the area. The descent is of this profile (bar the last 2km) as we are heading past an irregular flat section into a descent of around 10km at a fairly steady 5% which passes the Birkebeineren Skistadion halfway down. The first half is very straight, the second includes some technical corners but the riders rode this part of the descent in yesterday's stage so should know what they're doing.

The finish of the stage is at the Sjusjøen ski station, which hosts the annual Sesongstart Skiskyting biathlon event, the largest of the pre-World Cup events, usually drawing a strong field of international participants along with the national athletes; it also hosted a Cross-Country World Cup round a few years ago before the now traditional Nordic Opening. It is also as a result a place where you can regularly find the pros out on the trails as many will base themselves out of here in training periods. It is, however, at over 500m higher altitude than Lillehammer, so the riders will climb up via the village of Lismarka over the following 25km in stages; it never truly turns into a sustained climb, but it's never truly flat for more than 3-4 kilometres either. This will be a difficult time trial to get into a rhythm in, but though there's a lot of altitude change, it doesn't really have the same kind of hilly nature that allows the climbers to protect themselves as much as, say, if I'd done the same time trial in the reverse direction. This will set us up for the grand finale tomorrow.

 

[jsem94]

Such an homage to the Nordic events all over this. I love it. I love Norway. I remember vividly going down Juvashytta by car about seven years ago. I remembered that I had to return one day to ride that climb, and I have yet to do that. It's definitely on my bucket list.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 13: Maebashi - Utsunomiya, 162km (**)

Climbs: Akagawa Dam (4,1km @ 4%, four passes)

This Tour of Japan is decidedly not sprinter-friendly (so far the only clear sprint stage is Stage 4). Stage 13, despite being one of the easier stages of the race, is not likely to end in a pure sprint finish, both due to the four passes through Akagawa Dam (as we take the same number of laps around the Japan Cup circuit near Utsunomiya) and due to the uphill finish halfway through the same climb. Still, after so many difficult stages in the first half of the second week, many riders will take this stage as a breather. They'll still have to be careful, though, particularly with a difficult time trial the day after.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 14: Nikko - Kegon Falls, 37km (ITT)(*****)

Climbs: Nakimushiyama (4,3km @ 7,7%), Kegon Falls (6,3km @ 7,1%)

For Stage 14 we get the third ans last individual time trial of the race. Starting in Nikko, the time trial features a flat/hilly first half, followed by two cat.2 climbs, including the "summit" finish (the last climb technically ends about a km before the finish line). With the two climbs, this stage will be more a test of the rider's form at this point of the race.
Next stage is the last summit finish of the race, right before the last rest day.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 15: Utsunomiya - Mount Nasu, 153km (****)

Climbs: Maruyama (13,7km @ 6,6%), Takaharayama (15,7km @ 5%), Kurooyadake (8,7km @ 5,8%), Mount Nasu (9,6km @ 8,1%)

The last stage of the second week gives us the last summit finish of the race. Starting off in Utsunomiya, this stage features three difficult climbs (one cat.1, two cat.2) before the cat.1 finish at Mount Nasu - a climb with gradients consistently around 8%. Another chance for the climbers to get some time as we head into the final week of the race.

REST DAY 2: Sendai.

 

[bp92]

Tour of Japan Stage 16: Sendai - Niigata, 229km (*)

Climbs: Tsubonuma (2,2km @ 6,6%), Kojozan (1,4km @ 6,6%)

Stage 16 gives us a rare sprint stage, possibly the only "clear" sprint stage besides Stage 21 (Stage 4 might have crosswinds, and other stages are hilly at least). Starting from Sendai in the east coast, the stage goes across the island through a rare flat-ish section of the island, then finishes in Niigata, in the west coast. The few sprinters that made the trip here will have to fight for this stage; this is the reason why they are here, after all.