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- Jun 30, 2014
- 7,060
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I'll finally continue my Giro della Basilicata, I didn't have much time durning the last 10 days.
Stage 2: Potenza – Gorgoglione; 168km
Stage 2 also starts in Potenza. There are 5 categorised climbs, 4 of them are Cat. 3 climbs, but the whole stage is always up and down, there aren't many sections that are actually flat.
Right at the start of the stage we have rolling terrain and a longer descent, then after 28.6km the first climb of the stage starts, it's the Strada Provinciale San Giorgio, 2.6km at 8.2%.
After the climb we have 12km of rolling terrain, then a 8km long descent starts.
The next 32km are the easiest section of the whole stage, but there's still a bit of rolling terrain, they aren't really flat. The next climb is rather easy, it's Tricarico, 10.4km at 3.8%, followed by 20km of rolling terrain. There aren't any sections that are actually hard, the steepest sections are only 4-5% steep, it really suits those who have a big engine.
After a rather gentle 15km long descent we have 2km of false flat, then the longest climb, Pietrapertosa, 12.2km at 5.7% with 1km in the middle of the climb at 8.3%, the climb ends 3km after the village Pietrapertosa.
The mountain range is called Dolomiti Lucane, it's just stunning.
After the climb we have 6.8km of rolling terrain/false flat, then 2km at 7.4%, followed by 3km of rollig terrain, then a 10km long descent starts.
Right after the descent the final climb of the day starts, it's the climb up to the village Gorgoglione, a small, stunning village, 4.7 km at 6.6% with a max gradient of 9%.
Gorgoglione:
It's hard to predict the outcome of the stage, it could go to the breakaway, but it has the potential to cause decent gaps if it's ridden hard enough, the stage features almost 3200m of altitude gain, if someone has a strong team that is able to set a hard pace on the Pietrapertosa climb, or even earlier, it could be a very interesting stage to watch.
The next stage will be the easiest of my Giro della Basilicata, it's going to be a stage for the well rounded sprinters , so there's no reason to hold back.
Stage 2: Potenza – Gorgoglione; 168km
Stage 2 also starts in Potenza. There are 5 categorised climbs, 4 of them are Cat. 3 climbs, but the whole stage is always up and down, there aren't many sections that are actually flat.
Right at the start of the stage we have rolling terrain and a longer descent, then after 28.6km the first climb of the stage starts, it's the Strada Provinciale San Giorgio, 2.6km at 8.2%.
After the climb we have 12km of rolling terrain, then a 8km long descent starts.
The next 32km are the easiest section of the whole stage, but there's still a bit of rolling terrain, they aren't really flat. The next climb is rather easy, it's Tricarico, 10.4km at 3.8%, followed by 20km of rolling terrain. There aren't any sections that are actually hard, the steepest sections are only 4-5% steep, it really suits those who have a big engine.
After a rather gentle 15km long descent we have 2km of false flat, then the longest climb, Pietrapertosa, 12.2km at 5.7% with 1km in the middle of the climb at 8.3%, the climb ends 3km after the village Pietrapertosa.
The mountain range is called Dolomiti Lucane, it's just stunning.
After the climb we have 6.8km of rolling terrain/false flat, then 2km at 7.4%, followed by 3km of rollig terrain, then a 10km long descent starts.
Right after the descent the final climb of the day starts, it's the climb up to the village Gorgoglione, a small, stunning village, 4.7 km at 6.6% with a max gradient of 9%.
Gorgoglione:
It's hard to predict the outcome of the stage, it could go to the breakaway, but it has the potential to cause decent gaps if it's ridden hard enough, the stage features almost 3200m of altitude gain, if someone has a strong team that is able to set a hard pace on the Pietrapertosa climb, or even earlier, it could be a very interesting stage to watch.
The next stage will be the easiest of my Giro della Basilicata, it's going to be a stage for the well rounded sprinters , so there's no reason to hold back.
- Feb 20, 2010
- 32,308
- 13,844
- 28,180
Stage 9: Almuñécar - Trévelez, 171km
GPM:
Collado de Ítrabo (cat.2) 5,5km @ 7,3%
Alto de la Sierra de Guájares (cat.1) 14,5km @ 5,1%
Puerto del Camacho (cat.1) 12,0km @ 6,8%
Puerto de Haza del Lino (cat.ESP) 18,4km @ 7,0%
Portichuelo de Cástaras (cat.1) 13,3km @ 6,3%
After a short transfer along the Mediterranean coast, we are ready for the first of duelling queen stages, and one of my little "MTFs that aren't MTFs" stages.
Almuñécar, today's starting town, traces its origins back to Phoenician times, although it is as a Moorish settlement that it first came to prominence (and its Moorish name, al-Munakkab, gives it its current name, although the informal demonym "Sexitanos" refers back to the Phoenician name for the city). Sat on the Costa Tropical, like so many of these cities it is best known for tourism. It doesn't have much in the way of recent cycling history, unlike many of its neighbours, only hosting the start of one Ruta del Sol stage back in 2011. It's high time the city got on board with the Vuelta, therefore, so it serves as the launchpad for this stage which, though not overly long, features five tough climbs compressed into it. And these are, for the most part, classic styled climbs; not Javier Guillén's pet hell-slopes, but the kind of sustained climbing that can suit a true grimpeur but also be a more "classical" GT queen stage - despite using some of Spain's unheralded gems.
In fact, the first climb of the day, almost straight off the bat, is the steepest of the day, but also the shortest. With 5,5km averaging a little over 7%, but the final 3km averaging a not inconsiderable 9%, the Collado de Ítrabo is a nice cat.2 warmup for the day's troubles to come. Its easier side, that we descend here, is the toughest climb that can be directly backed into the monster that is Peña Escrita, but while that climb is out of Guillén and Zomegnan's combined dreams, we're staying away from it this time. It's also a branch away from the popular climb of the Mirador de la Cabra Montés, a traceur's favourite (its name translates approximately as the "Mountain Goat's lookout") not seen in the Vuelta since 1997.
The descent takes us to the outskirts of another Costa Tropical city, Motril (the stage town of the original iteration of this stage, which featured a much more gradual run up to the final climb and a loop ascending Loma de la Señora and La Contraviesa, omitting the next two climbs), but we then turn toward the north and up into the foothills of the Alpujarra area, heading off the main road towards the sequence of villages known collectively as Los Guájares. You can see the road we're following on the below photograph, snaking its way along the hillside.
This climb is another little secret of the region, the Alto de la Sierra de Guájares; because its neighbours, the Puerto del Camacho to the East and Cabra Montés to the West, are tougher, it is uncommon among traceurs when routing from the Costa Tropical to the Sierra Nevada, and totally unknown to the Vuelta which has never climbed it; however, it has its own difficulties, with a final 9km at 6,3% and a steepest kilometre at over 9%. It's on the border between cat.1 and cat.2, I have been generous on this occasion, since the Vuelta tends to reach with its mountains categorization.
The descent is broken up by an uncategorized ascent into the village of Pinos del Valle which overlooks a reservoir that we descend to. We then have another uncategorized climb, the gradual Alto del Lanjarón which from this side really isn't worth the points, especially in a stage like this. From the other side it was used in 2002 and 2006, mid-stage, but never in a position of any prominence. Instead, we have an intermediate sprint.
From here we descend through Órgiva on the gradual Lanjarón road, but rather than take the left that leads (eventually, by a multi-stepped and gradual route) to our finish town, we will turn right and head back to the coast, via our first real threatening climb of the day, the cat.1 Puerto del Camacho. This climb is comparative in stature and statistics to the Forcella Staulanza, a Giro favourite, and is on tarmac so pristine that even the Vuelta's sworn enemy, Bavarianrider, swoons at it.
The climb has only been used once in the Vuelta, but it wasn't categorized because they were instead climbing all the way to Haza del Lino via the comparatively easy northwest face. Obviously easy is a comparative where Haza del Lino is concerned, as Camacho is not easy. Either way - that day in 1975 it was a long way from the finish and not decisive; the climb was however won by a cult hero of mine, José Luís Viejo, who died at the age of 65 in 2014 and has a cool but unusual palmarès. He shocked the Eastern Bloc in 1972 when he escaped with Wojciech Matusiak on the final stage of the Tour de Pologne to steal the victory from under the nose of the golden generation of Polish cycling, and after going pro in 1973, his most famous moment was an epic solo in the 1976 Tour de France, in a transitional stage leaving the mountains from Montgenèvre to Manosque; escaping solo, Viejo disappeared into the distance and took the stage victory by a monolithic 22'50", the largest post-war stage winning margin there has ever been.
Anyway, enough history... the riders now have a long, technical and very difficult descent ahead of them, as unlike in Viejo's day we aren't continuing to Haza del Lino (yet), instead we descend through its horrific Rubite side (we join at the junction for Órgiva), with its spaghetti-like tarmac draped over the exposed mountainside. So it might be harder to get away than you imagine even despite the 9% average over several kilometres of descent and the large numbers of technical corners.
Descending into Castell de Ferro, we now have a short period of flat along the coast road where the riders can replenish themselves, then have an intermediate sprint before the toughest climb of the day and the first of just four ESP-categorized climbs in the Vuelta, the mighty Polopos side of Haza del Lino. APM and PRC have done pretty convincing comparisons between this climb and Chamrousse as well as Grand Colombier, so this tells you we have a bona fide ESP climb right here. I used Haza del Lino in both of my first two Vuelta routes (first from Rubite then from Polopos), but I've left it alone since then, so five years (this is my seventh route) is long enough for a return I think. Its 18km of climbing pain are up there with most of the beasts out there, as while it rises right out of the sea and therefore does not have the benefit of altitude, it counters this with the possibility of 35º+ heat on the southern coast of Andalucía...
Owing to its multiple sides and position to the south of a beloved mountain range I described it in my "21 ESP climbs the Vuelta should use" thread as "the Monte Grappa on the Mediterranean"; it was the very first climb profiled. How this beast, so conveniently located and so perfectly usable, with excellent tarmac, multiple routes and good connectivity to other climbs, has only been climbed once is a travesty up on a par with the Mont du Chat, even though misuse of its terrain is a well-known Vuelta trope. The climb finishes with 40km to go; with a rest day tomorrow, will anybody dare move? Perhaps not, but the péloton should be shrunk to bare essentials here; some people will have to go hell for leather on the short plateau at the top (because of the route I'm using) if they want to get back on before the descent.
We descend to Torvizcón via the Alto de la Loma de la Señora, which is at the 9,4km mark on this profile (we join it after Haza del Lino at the junction for Órgiva again) - I did have concerns that this road wouldn't be descendable, but the tarmac is good and, though the narrowest descent of the stage, it's certainly as wide if not wider than many we've seen in the real life Vuelta in recent years, and with 6,7km at 8,1% it will prove a stern test for many riders. You can see the road descended into Torvizcón on the right hand side of this photo with the remainin descent on the left. And then there's just the one climb to go, which is more 6-7% constant hammering; the Portichuelo de Cástaras.
(stolen image from the awesome andaluciacicloturismo site, which I recommend all traceurs with an interest in the Vuelta check out)
First thing's first, the road itself is no problem. It's another never-before-used Vuelta climb, which seems bizarre. It is effectively a stop off on the route to Trévelez, referred to as the highest altitude village in Europe owing to its 1480m; I find that claim quite difficult to believe, but ok. The official stats of the climb are 13,3km at 6,3%, but given there's no descent and the end of the climb is just 9km from the line, if you count it all the way to Trévelez you get 22,2km at 4,4% as seen in the climb profile. As you can see, it's pretty constant 6-7% until the village of Cástaras itself, before a brief flattening out then a ramping up to 9%. This also sees the first time in a while I've gone to the well with one of my favourite patterns, the 2008 Giro Pescocostanzo style finish of tougher climb, bit of flat for the dropped riders to try to chase back on to the purer climbers, then punchy finish. Here the final repecho is not categorized but will certainly be felt - around 1,2km at a little under 9%, so for the riders who've just got into a more relaxed drive to the line after cresting the Portichuelo, it won't be ideal and could see small groups riding together to the line, whether it be to distance other contenders or to chase back to leaders, broken apart as we climb through this scenic skiing village cut into the southern face of the Sierra Nevada. This should be a hell of a stage.
GPM:
Collado de Ítrabo (cat.2) 5,5km @ 7,3%
Alto de la Sierra de Guájares (cat.1) 14,5km @ 5,1%
Puerto del Camacho (cat.1) 12,0km @ 6,8%
Puerto de Haza del Lino (cat.ESP) 18,4km @ 7,0%
Portichuelo de Cástaras (cat.1) 13,3km @ 6,3%
After a short transfer along the Mediterranean coast, we are ready for the first of duelling queen stages, and one of my little "MTFs that aren't MTFs" stages.
Almuñécar, today's starting town, traces its origins back to Phoenician times, although it is as a Moorish settlement that it first came to prominence (and its Moorish name, al-Munakkab, gives it its current name, although the informal demonym "Sexitanos" refers back to the Phoenician name for the city). Sat on the Costa Tropical, like so many of these cities it is best known for tourism. It doesn't have much in the way of recent cycling history, unlike many of its neighbours, only hosting the start of one Ruta del Sol stage back in 2011. It's high time the city got on board with the Vuelta, therefore, so it serves as the launchpad for this stage which, though not overly long, features five tough climbs compressed into it. And these are, for the most part, classic styled climbs; not Javier Guillén's pet hell-slopes, but the kind of sustained climbing that can suit a true grimpeur but also be a more "classical" GT queen stage - despite using some of Spain's unheralded gems.
In fact, the first climb of the day, almost straight off the bat, is the steepest of the day, but also the shortest. With 5,5km averaging a little over 7%, but the final 3km averaging a not inconsiderable 9%, the Collado de Ítrabo is a nice cat.2 warmup for the day's troubles to come. Its easier side, that we descend here, is the toughest climb that can be directly backed into the monster that is Peña Escrita, but while that climb is out of Guillén and Zomegnan's combined dreams, we're staying away from it this time. It's also a branch away from the popular climb of the Mirador de la Cabra Montés, a traceur's favourite (its name translates approximately as the "Mountain Goat's lookout") not seen in the Vuelta since 1997.
The descent takes us to the outskirts of another Costa Tropical city, Motril (the stage town of the original iteration of this stage, which featured a much more gradual run up to the final climb and a loop ascending Loma de la Señora and La Contraviesa, omitting the next two climbs), but we then turn toward the north and up into the foothills of the Alpujarra area, heading off the main road towards the sequence of villages known collectively as Los Guájares. You can see the road we're following on the below photograph, snaking its way along the hillside.
This climb is another little secret of the region, the Alto de la Sierra de Guájares; because its neighbours, the Puerto del Camacho to the East and Cabra Montés to the West, are tougher, it is uncommon among traceurs when routing from the Costa Tropical to the Sierra Nevada, and totally unknown to the Vuelta which has never climbed it; however, it has its own difficulties, with a final 9km at 6,3% and a steepest kilometre at over 9%. It's on the border between cat.1 and cat.2, I have been generous on this occasion, since the Vuelta tends to reach with its mountains categorization.
The descent is broken up by an uncategorized ascent into the village of Pinos del Valle which overlooks a reservoir that we descend to. We then have another uncategorized climb, the gradual Alto del Lanjarón which from this side really isn't worth the points, especially in a stage like this. From the other side it was used in 2002 and 2006, mid-stage, but never in a position of any prominence. Instead, we have an intermediate sprint.
From here we descend through Órgiva on the gradual Lanjarón road, but rather than take the left that leads (eventually, by a multi-stepped and gradual route) to our finish town, we will turn right and head back to the coast, via our first real threatening climb of the day, the cat.1 Puerto del Camacho. This climb is comparative in stature and statistics to the Forcella Staulanza, a Giro favourite, and is on tarmac so pristine that even the Vuelta's sworn enemy, Bavarianrider, swoons at it.
The climb has only been used once in the Vuelta, but it wasn't categorized because they were instead climbing all the way to Haza del Lino via the comparatively easy northwest face. Obviously easy is a comparative where Haza del Lino is concerned, as Camacho is not easy. Either way - that day in 1975 it was a long way from the finish and not decisive; the climb was however won by a cult hero of mine, José Luís Viejo, who died at the age of 65 in 2014 and has a cool but unusual palmarès. He shocked the Eastern Bloc in 1972 when he escaped with Wojciech Matusiak on the final stage of the Tour de Pologne to steal the victory from under the nose of the golden generation of Polish cycling, and after going pro in 1973, his most famous moment was an epic solo in the 1976 Tour de France, in a transitional stage leaving the mountains from Montgenèvre to Manosque; escaping solo, Viejo disappeared into the distance and took the stage victory by a monolithic 22'50", the largest post-war stage winning margin there has ever been.
Anyway, enough history... the riders now have a long, technical and very difficult descent ahead of them, as unlike in Viejo's day we aren't continuing to Haza del Lino (yet), instead we descend through its horrific Rubite side (we join at the junction for Órgiva), with its spaghetti-like tarmac draped over the exposed mountainside. So it might be harder to get away than you imagine even despite the 9% average over several kilometres of descent and the large numbers of technical corners.
Descending into Castell de Ferro, we now have a short period of flat along the coast road where the riders can replenish themselves, then have an intermediate sprint before the toughest climb of the day and the first of just four ESP-categorized climbs in the Vuelta, the mighty Polopos side of Haza del Lino. APM and PRC have done pretty convincing comparisons between this climb and Chamrousse as well as Grand Colombier, so this tells you we have a bona fide ESP climb right here. I used Haza del Lino in both of my first two Vuelta routes (first from Rubite then from Polopos), but I've left it alone since then, so five years (this is my seventh route) is long enough for a return I think. Its 18km of climbing pain are up there with most of the beasts out there, as while it rises right out of the sea and therefore does not have the benefit of altitude, it counters this with the possibility of 35º+ heat on the southern coast of Andalucía...
Owing to its multiple sides and position to the south of a beloved mountain range I described it in my "21 ESP climbs the Vuelta should use" thread as "the Monte Grappa on the Mediterranean"; it was the very first climb profiled. How this beast, so conveniently located and so perfectly usable, with excellent tarmac, multiple routes and good connectivity to other climbs, has only been climbed once is a travesty up on a par with the Mont du Chat, even though misuse of its terrain is a well-known Vuelta trope. The climb finishes with 40km to go; with a rest day tomorrow, will anybody dare move? Perhaps not, but the péloton should be shrunk to bare essentials here; some people will have to go hell for leather on the short plateau at the top (because of the route I'm using) if they want to get back on before the descent.
We descend to Torvizcón via the Alto de la Loma de la Señora, which is at the 9,4km mark on this profile (we join it after Haza del Lino at the junction for Órgiva again) - I did have concerns that this road wouldn't be descendable, but the tarmac is good and, though the narrowest descent of the stage, it's certainly as wide if not wider than many we've seen in the real life Vuelta in recent years, and with 6,7km at 8,1% it will prove a stern test for many riders. You can see the road descended into Torvizcón on the right hand side of this photo with the remainin descent on the left. And then there's just the one climb to go, which is more 6-7% constant hammering; the Portichuelo de Cástaras.
(stolen image from the awesome andaluciacicloturismo site, which I recommend all traceurs with an interest in the Vuelta check out)
First thing's first, the road itself is no problem. It's another never-before-used Vuelta climb, which seems bizarre. It is effectively a stop off on the route to Trévelez, referred to as the highest altitude village in Europe owing to its 1480m; I find that claim quite difficult to believe, but ok. The official stats of the climb are 13,3km at 6,3%, but given there's no descent and the end of the climb is just 9km from the line, if you count it all the way to Trévelez you get 22,2km at 4,4% as seen in the climb profile. As you can see, it's pretty constant 6-7% until the village of Cástaras itself, before a brief flattening out then a ramping up to 9%. This also sees the first time in a while I've gone to the well with one of my favourite patterns, the 2008 Giro Pescocostanzo style finish of tougher climb, bit of flat for the dropped riders to try to chase back on to the purer climbers, then punchy finish. Here the final repecho is not categorized but will certainly be felt - around 1,2km at a little under 9%, so for the riders who've just got into a more relaxed drive to the line after cresting the Portichuelo, it won't be ideal and could see small groups riding together to the line, whether it be to distance other contenders or to chase back to leaders, broken apart as we climb through this scenic skiing village cut into the southern face of the Sierra Nevada. This should be a hell of a stage.
- Feb 18, 2015
- 13,506
- 9,030
- 28,180
It's been a while since I posted my last race here, but now that the cycling season really gets interesting again I also got the delight back to design and especially post races.
Although my last race also was a Österreich Rundfahrt, I just wanted to make another one. Well, its nothing new that I often post races in Austria, since I'm Austrian and designing routes here is just the easiest for me, because I know the country very well, it isnt too big, and its not so stuffed with big passes like for example Switzerland where whenever I want to design a race I end up making a race in which I can't decide which of the stages shouldnt be a high mountain stage
Whatever, although Austria is a very mountainous country I decided to focus more on medium mountain stages this time. The tour will still be extremely hard but there isnt one single HC climb and only one mtf (You could say this is my attempt to make an Österreich Rundfahrt which is a bit like Libertine's last Vuelta ).
Österreich Rundfahrt stage 1: Bregenz - Serfaus
As I said there is only one mtf and that one already comes on stage 1. I though about making a prologue before but I preferred to make a race with only 8 stages like it was usually the case in the Österreich Rundfahrt before last year. Moreover its nothing new that the first stage of the Österreich Rundfahrt is already a mountain stage and even a mtf like in 2014 when the first stage finished on the Kühtai. This time however the final climb isnt that hard and there are generally more a few very hard climbs earlier in the stage.
The race starts in Bregenz, the beautiful capital of Vorarlberg, which is located at the Bodensee, the biggest lake of Österreich which also partly lies in Switzerland and Germany.
From there on the riders ride through the Rheintal, before they tackle the first climb of the stage, the Dünserberg. With 10 kilometers at 6.4% this is quite a tough first climb of the tour and probably the place where the first break of the race will build. This is also one of the only few climbs which I have also used in my last Österreich Rundfahrt (from the other side though), generally however I tried to mostly use ascents which I haven't used too often before.
The next climb which starts shortly after the intermediate sprint in Bludenz almost breaches this rule, because the Flexenpass (which I used in the last race) and the Arlbergpass in this race are identical except the last few kilometers. The Arlbergpass once was the most important road between Tyrol and Vorarlberg before the Arlbergtunnel was built, and because of that the road is very wide and not that steep. Still, because of the length this becomes a very hard climb which will definitely weaken the teams.
After a short descent and a bit of false flat the easiest climb to Tobadill, which is only 3rd category, starts but the riders wont really care about it considering what happens after this pass. Well actually the first thing after Tobadill is another intermediate sprint in Landeck BUT then the hardest climb of the stage starts: The Piller Höhe. This hardly known pass has three sides, of which the riders have to climb the hardest one in this race. Its actually very hard to say why this pass isnt more famous and especially why it has never been used in the last years of the Österreich Rundfahrt (actually forget the last point, the organizers of the race are in fact generally very good in ignoring as many great climbs as possible) because this ramp is a monster.
Its maybe only 7.5 kilometers long, but it is 9.5% steep and in the middle of the climb there are 3 kilometers in a row of over 10%. This will make the race extremely hard and although I wouldnt expect any attacks already (don't forget, this is still only the first stage) some favorites will already fade and especially hardly anyone will still have domestiques after this ascent.
After a very tricky descent and only a few flat kilometers the final climb of the day starts. It is a mtf to Serfaus, something which is already known from the Tour de Suisse which has already used this skiing resort as a mtf as well. The climb isnt that difficult, as you can see here, and it would probably even only be a 2nd category climb in a normal, race but because the climbs in this tour are generally not extremely difficult I decided to overcategorize some of the climbs a bit. There are still a few flat kilometers to go after the end of the climb in Fiss so if a rider wants a gap he shouldnt wait for the last meters of the ascent because otherwise the gap might be closed. IMO this is the perfect mtf for a stage race like this where I only want to make on mtf and try to not use any extremely hard climbs. Plus I have never used it in a race before and I really like the combination with the Piller Höhe.
Although my last race also was a Österreich Rundfahrt, I just wanted to make another one. Well, its nothing new that I often post races in Austria, since I'm Austrian and designing routes here is just the easiest for me, because I know the country very well, it isnt too big, and its not so stuffed with big passes like for example Switzerland where whenever I want to design a race I end up making a race in which I can't decide which of the stages shouldnt be a high mountain stage
Whatever, although Austria is a very mountainous country I decided to focus more on medium mountain stages this time. The tour will still be extremely hard but there isnt one single HC climb and only one mtf (You could say this is my attempt to make an Österreich Rundfahrt which is a bit like Libertine's last Vuelta
). Österreich Rundfahrt stage 1: Bregenz - Serfaus
As I said there is only one mtf and that one already comes on stage 1. I though about making a prologue before but I preferred to make a race with only 8 stages like it was usually the case in the Österreich Rundfahrt before last year. Moreover its nothing new that the first stage of the Österreich Rundfahrt is already a mountain stage and even a mtf like in 2014 when the first stage finished on the Kühtai. This time however the final climb isnt that hard and there are generally more a few very hard climbs earlier in the stage.
The race starts in Bregenz, the beautiful capital of Vorarlberg, which is located at the Bodensee, the biggest lake of Österreich which also partly lies in Switzerland and Germany.
From there on the riders ride through the Rheintal, before they tackle the first climb of the stage, the Dünserberg. With 10 kilometers at 6.4% this is quite a tough first climb of the tour and probably the place where the first break of the race will build. This is also one of the only few climbs which I have also used in my last Österreich Rundfahrt (from the other side though), generally however I tried to mostly use ascents which I haven't used too often before.
The next climb which starts shortly after the intermediate sprint in Bludenz almost breaches this rule, because the Flexenpass (which I used in the last race) and the Arlbergpass in this race are identical except the last few kilometers. The Arlbergpass once was the most important road between Tyrol and Vorarlberg before the Arlbergtunnel was built, and because of that the road is very wide and not that steep. Still, because of the length this becomes a very hard climb which will definitely weaken the teams.
After a short descent and a bit of false flat the easiest climb to Tobadill, which is only 3rd category, starts but the riders wont really care about it considering what happens after this pass. Well actually the first thing after Tobadill is another intermediate sprint in Landeck BUT then the hardest climb of the stage starts: The Piller Höhe. This hardly known pass has three sides, of which the riders have to climb the hardest one in this race. Its actually very hard to say why this pass isnt more famous and especially why it has never been used in the last years of the Österreich Rundfahrt (actually forget the last point, the organizers of the race are in fact generally very good in ignoring as many great climbs as possible) because this ramp is a monster.
Its maybe only 7.5 kilometers long, but it is 9.5% steep and in the middle of the climb there are 3 kilometers in a row of over 10%. This will make the race extremely hard and although I wouldnt expect any attacks already (don't forget, this is still only the first stage) some favorites will already fade and especially hardly anyone will still have domestiques after this ascent.
After a very tricky descent and only a few flat kilometers the final climb of the day starts. It is a mtf to Serfaus, something which is already known from the Tour de Suisse which has already used this skiing resort as a mtf as well. The climb isnt that difficult, as you can see here, and it would probably even only be a 2nd category climb in a normal, race but because the climbs in this tour are generally not extremely difficult I decided to overcategorize some of the climbs a bit. There are still a few flat kilometers to go after the end of the climb in Fiss so if a rider wants a gap he shouldnt wait for the last meters of the ascent because otherwise the gap might be closed. IMO this is the perfect mtf for a stage race like this where I only want to make on mtf and try to not use any extremely hard climbs. Plus I have never used it in a race before and I really like the combination with the Piller Höhe.
Tour de France sans Alpes et Pyrenées n°2; stage 3: Sedan - Lac de Madine: 132km, flat
After a prologue and two hard stages the sprinters finally have a chance to shine in a short, flat stage.
It starts in the Ardennes, but won't see much of the hills around. Sedan is a small town with around 20000 inhabitants that has its claim to fame for having the reputedly largest castle in Europe.
The official start is a bit outside the town center and the course more or less follows the Meuse river upstream for about than 75km, meanwhile cresting some small climbs. At the 75km mark the course leaves the Meuse valley and climbs the Côte du Douaumont, named after the village that was completely destroyed during the first world war in the battle for Verdun. The top of the hill is marked by an ossuary that contains the bones of about 130000 unknown fallen soldiers and a graveyard for 16000 more.
After the descent from the hills above Verdun, the course heads southeast on a plain. The 20km to go banner marks the start of the second official climb of the day, the Côte de Saint-Maurice, soon followed by a fast descent. There won't be much rest for the peleton, as a gentle right hand turn leads to the final climb of the day: the short but rather steep Côte de Hattonchâtel, named after the Castle that was originally constructed by a bishop named Hatton in the 9th century. The climb crests with 11km to go, mainly downhill and the finish is on the shores of the Madine lake (Lac de Madine) after a final straight line of 900m.
Lac de Madine has hosted a Tour stage finish on two previous occasions: in 1993, Miguel Indurain won stage 9, a 59km long itt around the lake and in 1996, Cyril Saugrain won a 232km long stage 6 in the sprint from a small breakaway group.
Climbs:
Côte de Douaumont: km 78; 2.2km @ 5.8%; 4th cat
Côte de Saint-Maurice: km 115; 1.9km @ 6.3%; 4th cat
Côte de Hattonchâtel: km121; 1.4km @ 7.8%; 4th cat
After a prologue and two hard stages the sprinters finally have a chance to shine in a short, flat stage.
It starts in the Ardennes, but won't see much of the hills around. Sedan is a small town with around 20000 inhabitants that has its claim to fame for having the reputedly largest castle in Europe.
The official start is a bit outside the town center and the course more or less follows the Meuse river upstream for about than 75km, meanwhile cresting some small climbs. At the 75km mark the course leaves the Meuse valley and climbs the Côte du Douaumont, named after the village that was completely destroyed during the first world war in the battle for Verdun. The top of the hill is marked by an ossuary that contains the bones of about 130000 unknown fallen soldiers and a graveyard for 16000 more.
After the descent from the hills above Verdun, the course heads southeast on a plain. The 20km to go banner marks the start of the second official climb of the day, the Côte de Saint-Maurice, soon followed by a fast descent. There won't be much rest for the peleton, as a gentle right hand turn leads to the final climb of the day: the short but rather steep Côte de Hattonchâtel, named after the Castle that was originally constructed by a bishop named Hatton in the 9th century. The climb crests with 11km to go, mainly downhill and the finish is on the shores of the Madine lake (Lac de Madine) after a final straight line of 900m.
Lac de Madine has hosted a Tour stage finish on two previous occasions: in 1993, Miguel Indurain won stage 9, a 59km long itt around the lake and in 1996, Cyril Saugrain won a 232km long stage 6 in the sprint from a small breakaway group.
Climbs:
Côte de Douaumont: km 78; 2.2km @ 5.8%; 4th cat
Côte de Saint-Maurice: km 115; 1.9km @ 6.3%; 4th cat
Côte de Hattonchâtel: km121; 1.4km @ 7.8%; 4th cat
Vuelta a Navarra - Carrera de Miguel Indurain
Welcome to the Vuelta a Navarra. The only race we have currently to respect this geographically diverse and wonderful region of Spain is the GP Miguel Indurain, coming up on Saturday, previously the Trofeo Comunidad Foral de Navarra and Campeonato de España de Fondo. It is a hilly one day race based around Estella in the North-East of the region. Its winners include Indurain himself, along with Garzelli, Zulle and in more recent years Purito, Bala, Wegmann, Sammy Sanchez, Moreno and 3 time expert and winner of the race Angel Vicioso from Zaragoza, not in Navarra. In fact, the last Navarran winner was Indurain in 1987.
So I have decided to attribute it a longer race, of 6 stages. It would be a continental level race, most likely 2.1 but maybe 2.HC. It will take place in 3 possible dates: Late April-Early May; Late May-Early June; Mid-august, after Burgos but before Vuelta a Espana. The last date is the least crowded but also the hottest. Early July is impossible for logistical reasons (Los Sanfermines) and crowded. It is also possible to do it slightly earlier in March, say, but then then it either clashes with Pais Vasco or is too early and there is a risk of snow.
The race will start in Pamplona with a short ITT/prologue and finish in Pamplona too, not before touring the centre of the region with its hills and picturesque villages, and the south and the Ribera, with flatter and more arid climate. Then we head north, closer to Pais Vasco where the rolling hills change from yellow to green, and then near the Pyrenees and the mountains before we return to Pamplona.
Stage 1: Pamplona ITT 12km
Initially I thought about taking a leaf out of the Vuelta 2012 and starting it in the Plaza del Castillo and finishing it in the Plaza de Toros, but thought better of it when I realised that this was not the Vuelta and the Gobierno de Navarra or whoever organises this race will not want to spend that much on the race. So I instead started in the road outside the Universidad de Navarra, one of the top universities in Spain. After, we head to the other University, UPNA, and the local football team, Osasuna, stadium Estadio el Sadar. Then we go around the Vuelta del Castillo and towards the centre. A technical section ensues until we go out of the centre over the river and the back again, towards the town hall.
Then we take the encierro route. This is the route of the infamous 'Running of the Bulls' during Los Sanfermines. It is quite short but very technical and narrow. Then we reach the Plaza de Toros, second largest in Spain and third in the world, before returnin g to the Plaza del Castillo which doesn't actually have a Castillo, but rather did.
Plaza del Castillo, the finish line
El Encierro. Dangerous, perhaps more so for the bulls
Welcome to the Vuelta a Navarra. The only race we have currently to respect this geographically diverse and wonderful region of Spain is the GP Miguel Indurain, coming up on Saturday, previously the Trofeo Comunidad Foral de Navarra and Campeonato de España de Fondo. It is a hilly one day race based around Estella in the North-East of the region. Its winners include Indurain himself, along with Garzelli, Zulle and in more recent years Purito, Bala, Wegmann, Sammy Sanchez, Moreno and 3 time expert and winner of the race Angel Vicioso from Zaragoza, not in Navarra. In fact, the last Navarran winner was Indurain in 1987.
So I have decided to attribute it a longer race, of 6 stages. It would be a continental level race, most likely 2.1 but maybe 2.HC. It will take place in 3 possible dates: Late April-Early May; Late May-Early June; Mid-august, after Burgos but before Vuelta a Espana. The last date is the least crowded but also the hottest. Early July is impossible for logistical reasons (Los Sanfermines) and crowded. It is also possible to do it slightly earlier in March, say, but then then it either clashes with Pais Vasco or is too early and there is a risk of snow.
The race will start in Pamplona with a short ITT/prologue and finish in Pamplona too, not before touring the centre of the region with its hills and picturesque villages, and the south and the Ribera, with flatter and more arid climate. Then we head north, closer to Pais Vasco where the rolling hills change from yellow to green, and then near the Pyrenees and the mountains before we return to Pamplona.
Stage 1: Pamplona ITT 12km
Initially I thought about taking a leaf out of the Vuelta 2012 and starting it in the Plaza del Castillo and finishing it in the Plaza de Toros, but thought better of it when I realised that this was not the Vuelta and the Gobierno de Navarra or whoever organises this race will not want to spend that much on the race. So I instead started in the road outside the Universidad de Navarra, one of the top universities in Spain. After, we head to the other University, UPNA, and the local football team, Osasuna, stadium Estadio el Sadar. Then we go around the Vuelta del Castillo and towards the centre. A technical section ensues until we go out of the centre over the river and the back again, towards the town hall.
Then we take the encierro route. This is the route of the infamous 'Running of the Bulls' during Los Sanfermines. It is quite short but very technical and narrow. Then we reach the Plaza de Toros, second largest in Spain and third in the world, before returnin g to the Plaza del Castillo which doesn't actually have a Castillo, but rather did.
Plaza del Castillo, the finish line
El Encierro. Dangerous, perhaps more so for the bulls
Tour de France sans Alpes et Pyrenées n°2; stage 4: Pont-à-Mousson - Niederbronn-les-Bains: 162km, medium mountains
After a short transfer the peloton will start the 4th stage in Pont-à-Mousson, a medium-sized town on the banks of the river Moselle.
Immediately after the start there's a small climb to get out of the river valley, but for much of the stage there are no real climbs. Between the Moselle and Saar rivers the terrain is rolling at best. The biggest town on the course is Sarreguemines, where the intermediate sprint will be contested after 85km
A long false flat is the start of a transition zone to the main difficulties of the day. Although the northern part of the Vosges isn't as mountainous as the more famous southern Vosges. Consisting of rolling hills, covered with forests, there are however a few climbs that will cause more than a bit of trouble to most riders. The Col d'Holdereck will break the bunch, but the 4km long Grand Wintersberg is an ideal launching platform for stage victory, and difficult enough to create some differences between the favorites for the final victory.
The finish will be on the town square of Niederbronn-les-Bains after a not too technical descent.
Climbs:
Côte de Pont-à-Mousson: km 1.5; 1.4km @ 4.7%; 4th cat
Col d'Holdereck: km 140; 4.8km @ 4.6%; 3rd cat
Grand Wintersberg: km155; 4km @ 7.5%; 2nd cat
After a short transfer the peloton will start the 4th stage in Pont-à-Mousson, a medium-sized town on the banks of the river Moselle.
Immediately after the start there's a small climb to get out of the river valley, but for much of the stage there are no real climbs. Between the Moselle and Saar rivers the terrain is rolling at best. The biggest town on the course is Sarreguemines, where the intermediate sprint will be contested after 85km
A long false flat is the start of a transition zone to the main difficulties of the day. Although the northern part of the Vosges isn't as mountainous as the more famous southern Vosges. Consisting of rolling hills, covered with forests, there are however a few climbs that will cause more than a bit of trouble to most riders. The Col d'Holdereck will break the bunch, but the 4km long Grand Wintersberg is an ideal launching platform for stage victory, and difficult enough to create some differences between the favorites for the final victory.
The finish will be on the town square of Niederbronn-les-Bains after a not too technical descent.
Climbs:
Côte de Pont-à-Mousson: km 1.5; 1.4km @ 4.7%; 4th cat
Col d'Holdereck: km 140; 4.8km @ 4.6%; 3rd cat
Grand Wintersberg: km155; 4km @ 7.5%; 2nd cat
- Feb 20, 2010
- 32,308
- 13,844
- 28,180
The Vuelta a Navarra at the amateur level survives, mind. I think the best place for it would be mid-April, after País Vasco and the Klasika Primavera - although that's now where the Emakumeen Bira has moved to. But still - to continue the mini-season, it could go either between Castilla y León and Asturias or before Castilla y León (the latter would be preferable as it would save on the travel costs for some of the smaller teams and shore up the field). There used to be the GP Pascuas around Pamplona as well, which would be nice to bring back with a shored up route (maybe Etxauri and Genbe on the route? Or Puerto del Perdón as the last climb?). It was more or less the GP Txomin Perurena, he won it so many times...
Back in La Vuelta, after a rest day (coinciding with a day I've not posted a stage, natch), we're still at the other end of the country, however.
Stage 10: Almería - Cartagena, 199km
GPM:
Alto de El Cantal (cat.3) 3,0km @ 7,5%
Alto del Cedacero (cat.3) 7,5km @ 4,3%
After Sunday's mountain odyssey, the riders will get a day to rest and recuperate in the historic city of Almería, the host of the 2005 Mediterranean Games. Riders who want to spend their rest day preparing for the mountains to come have the opportunity to practice on the nearby Puerto de Énix, but given the high likelihood of oppressive heat (Almería is susceptible to heatwaves) and that this is the driest city in continental Europe they may not be too keen to stray too far from the city.
Despite its convenient location with the mountains nearby, however, its history with cycling is not one of the mountains (although it did host the stage starts of recent mountain stages into the Sierra de los Filabres, such as the identical 2004 and 2007 Calar Alto stages and the infuriatingly soft-pedalled 2009 Velefique stage). Instead, its main contribution is the early season sprinters' race, the Clásica de Almería, with its less challenging profile. The fact recent winners include Theo Bos and Mark Cavendish tell you how challenging it is, although in some respects I have a soft spot for it because it's where Matteo Pelucchi got his first professional victory.
Anyway... we're headed in the opposite direction as we head northeast, and not through the mountains either, as I'm easing the riders back into racing with a flat stage. Nevertheless, the riders will need to be alert, as this ought to make a good Worlds tune-up stage as well. There is some hope that the riders may be subjected to wind as the Levante blows across the Desierto de Tabernas (an area used in many films, which is why the Mini Hollywood theme park with its western mock-ups has been set up).
The riders are most exposed to this early in the stage and then, after they pass from being hidden behind the Sierra Cabrera, around the mid-part of the stage when the riders pass through Garrucha. If the wind isn't strong, however, the first 2/3 of the stage are just flat and fast coastal racing.
There are two climbs in the tail end of the stage. The first is the relatively benign Alto de El Cantal. I have used it a couple of times in my Vuelta routes as it happens to be on a main route between Andalucía and Murcía, but in the real race it's only been used once, back in the 70s. It's consistent at 7,5% and over 50km from the line, so isn't expected to cause any problems, except maybe to put some tired legs into some of the breakaway for when they contest the intermediate sprint in another coastal city, Mazarrón.
The second climb, on the other hand, is much more interesting, because the sprinters will really have to be on their guard to make sure they get their chance, the first since Ciudad Real, to fight for the stage. It crests just inside 20km from the finish and includes in the middle 2km at just under 9% to give a good potential point to attack for the puncheurs, the adventurous and just those who are keen to fight for a stage win.
With the Mediterranean in the background, this looping climb ought to test the sprinters' durability - also, given this is our only stage finish in the province of Murcía, local riders who may want to make an impact include Alejandro Valverde, who has the chops to attack on the climb, and also to win a reduced sprint if the climb proves more selective than anticipated; Luís León Sánchez, who has the tactical mind in the run-in and time trial credentials to stay away if allowed more leeway than he should get; and José Joaquín Rojas, who is a good bet to finish 4th in any given scenario. With the descent being very gradual with no technical tests, however, getting away could be possible but staying away may be more difficult, depending on which sprinters can deploy their teams after getting over the climb. Certainly it's the kind of stage where I might be tempted to tip Nacer Bouhanni, since Cofidis have major sponsorship interest, he goes well in La Vuelta and he can get over Cedacero where more one-dimensional sprinters can't. The stage finish should look pretty good as well, especially from the helicams, as we'll be finishing on the seafront under the shadows of the Teatro Romano de Cartagena...
Back in La Vuelta, after a rest day (coinciding with a day I've not posted a stage, natch), we're still at the other end of the country, however.
Stage 10: Almería - Cartagena, 199km
GPM:
Alto de El Cantal (cat.3) 3,0km @ 7,5%
Alto del Cedacero (cat.3) 7,5km @ 4,3%
After Sunday's mountain odyssey, the riders will get a day to rest and recuperate in the historic city of Almería, the host of the 2005 Mediterranean Games. Riders who want to spend their rest day preparing for the mountains to come have the opportunity to practice on the nearby Puerto de Énix, but given the high likelihood of oppressive heat (Almería is susceptible to heatwaves) and that this is the driest city in continental Europe they may not be too keen to stray too far from the city.
Despite its convenient location with the mountains nearby, however, its history with cycling is not one of the mountains (although it did host the stage starts of recent mountain stages into the Sierra de los Filabres, such as the identical 2004 and 2007 Calar Alto stages and the infuriatingly soft-pedalled 2009 Velefique stage). Instead, its main contribution is the early season sprinters' race, the Clásica de Almería, with its less challenging profile. The fact recent winners include Theo Bos and Mark Cavendish tell you how challenging it is, although in some respects I have a soft spot for it because it's where Matteo Pelucchi got his first professional victory.
Anyway... we're headed in the opposite direction as we head northeast, and not through the mountains either, as I'm easing the riders back into racing with a flat stage. Nevertheless, the riders will need to be alert, as this ought to make a good Worlds tune-up stage as well. There is some hope that the riders may be subjected to wind as the Levante blows across the Desierto de Tabernas (an area used in many films, which is why the Mini Hollywood theme park with its western mock-ups has been set up).
The riders are most exposed to this early in the stage and then, after they pass from being hidden behind the Sierra Cabrera, around the mid-part of the stage when the riders pass through Garrucha. If the wind isn't strong, however, the first 2/3 of the stage are just flat and fast coastal racing.
There are two climbs in the tail end of the stage. The first is the relatively benign Alto de El Cantal. I have used it a couple of times in my Vuelta routes as it happens to be on a main route between Andalucía and Murcía, but in the real race it's only been used once, back in the 70s. It's consistent at 7,5% and over 50km from the line, so isn't expected to cause any problems, except maybe to put some tired legs into some of the breakaway for when they contest the intermediate sprint in another coastal city, Mazarrón.
The second climb, on the other hand, is much more interesting, because the sprinters will really have to be on their guard to make sure they get their chance, the first since Ciudad Real, to fight for the stage. It crests just inside 20km from the finish and includes in the middle 2km at just under 9% to give a good potential point to attack for the puncheurs, the adventurous and just those who are keen to fight for a stage win.
With the Mediterranean in the background, this looping climb ought to test the sprinters' durability - also, given this is our only stage finish in the province of Murcía, local riders who may want to make an impact include Alejandro Valverde, who has the chops to attack on the climb, and also to win a reduced sprint if the climb proves more selective than anticipated; Luís León Sánchez, who has the tactical mind in the run-in and time trial credentials to stay away if allowed more leeway than he should get; and José Joaquín Rojas, who is a good bet to finish 4th in any given scenario. With the descent being very gradual with no technical tests, however, getting away could be possible but staying away may be more difficult, depending on which sprinters can deploy their teams after getting over the climb. Certainly it's the kind of stage where I might be tempted to tip Nacer Bouhanni, since Cofidis have major sponsorship interest, he goes well in La Vuelta and he can get over Cedacero where more one-dimensional sprinters can't. The stage finish should look pretty good as well, especially from the helicams, as we'll be finishing on the seafront under the shadows of the Teatro Romano de Cartagena...
- Jun 30, 2014
- 7,060
- 2
- 0
Stage 3: Grumento Nova - Matera; 145km
Stage 3 is by far the easiest of my Giro della Basilicata.
The stage starts in Grumento Nova, a stunning small town.
Most of the stage is flat, after 80km the riders will ride alongside the Gulf of Taranto for about 23km, then the riders will turn northwards.
At the end of the stage we have the only climb of the day, the Via Timmari up to Matera, 5.5km at 4.6% with a max gardient of 7.7%. The climb ends with 1.1km to go.
Via Timmari:
The stage ends in the stunning town Matera, it's the capital of the province of Matera and it used to be the capital of Basilicata (from 1663 to 1806). Matera is mostly known for it's ancient town, the "Sassi di Matera" (meaning "stones of Matera"), they originated in a prehistoric cave dwelling settlement, and these dwellings are thought to be among the first ever human settlements in Italy.
Matera:
This one should go to a well rounded sprinter like Sagan, Bling, Bouhanni, Coquard or to a fast classics specialist like GVA or EBH.
Stage 3 is by far the easiest of my Giro della Basilicata.
The stage starts in Grumento Nova, a stunning small town.
Most of the stage is flat, after 80km the riders will ride alongside the Gulf of Taranto for about 23km, then the riders will turn northwards.
At the end of the stage we have the only climb of the day, the Via Timmari up to Matera, 5.5km at 4.6% with a max gardient of 7.7%. The climb ends with 1.1km to go.
Via Timmari:
The stage ends in the stunning town Matera, it's the capital of the province of Matera and it used to be the capital of Basilicata (from 1663 to 1806). Matera is mostly known for it's ancient town, the "Sassi di Matera" (meaning "stones of Matera"), they originated in a prehistoric cave dwelling settlement, and these dwellings are thought to be among the first ever human settlements in Italy.
Matera:
This one should go to a well rounded sprinter like Sagan, Bling, Bouhanni, Coquard or to a fast classics specialist like GVA or EBH.
- Feb 20, 2010
- 32,308
- 13,844
- 28,180
Stage 11: Murcía - Alcoi, 170km
GPM:
Alt de Tibi (cat.3) 4,9km @ 5,6%
Puerto de la Carrasqueta (cat.2) 12,5km @ 4,6%
Puerto de Ibi (cat.3) 5,4km @ 4,0%
Puerto de Onil (cat.2) 6,6km @ 5,7%
A short transfer takes us into the capital of the Murcía region, the city of the same name. In recent years it's been a fairly supportive cycling city, perhaps owing to the Valverde factor. The economic crisis has hit the city just as many others in Spain, however, and this has meant that the formerly five day long Vuelta a Murcía race has been consolidated into a single, hilly one day race which takes place in early March. The last winner of the stage race version was Nairo Quintana, while Philippe Gilbert recently took the last edition of the one-day version. Alejandro Valverde is, unsurprisingly, the only man to have won both forms, although its history is full of illustrious names since its inception in the 80s - a 20-year-old Perico Delgado won its first edition in 1981, and a 21-year-old Miguel Indurain won in 1986. Other winners include Alvaro Mejía, Melcior Mauri (twice), Marco Pantani in 1999, Victor Hugo Peña and The AITORMINATOR©. The city was previously a regular Vuelta host, even holding the start of the race in 1999, along with stages in 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010. It returned after a five year lay-off last year, with an enjoyably messy stage won by Jasper Stuyven, foiling the relentless breakaway attempts of Zé Gonçalves. Here, however, it's just a start.
This stage is an intermediate stage which moves us from Murcía into Comunidad Valenciana, another region which has rather rekindled its love of cycling in recent years. This is in part the result of the work of 2001 Vuelta winner Ángel Casero, who with the help of his brother restarted the Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana this year after it had not run since 2008. In addition to this, the region returned to the Vuelta's routes after a three year absence last year, which is followed by hosting three key stages late in the race this year, including the first time to the Alto de Aitana summit since 2009. In 2009 they also ascended a Vuelta classic, Xorret del Catí; this was also seen the following year but despite being pretty perfectly suited to Javier Guillén's vision, it has gone unused since. I haven't used the region in my Vueltas for a while either - my first Vuelta included Xorret del Catí and my second a mountain stage to Font de Partagas, but since then the only time I've strayed over here was for the Requena ITT in the fifth route, so there's plenty I can still do with the region! The region of Alicante, in the south of the Comunidad, hosted the Grand Départ in 2011, in Benidorm, and that is the area I'm traversing today.
While there may be plenty of options still left unexplored in the region, stage 11 of my Vuelta is a typical GT week 2 stage; this is likely to go to the breakaway, since there are important GC challenges to come, and the stage is too difficult for the majority of sprinters to be interested in. In fact, in a Worlds preparation cycle I wouldn't be surprised if many of the sprinters leave at this point.
There are four climbs on the menu today, although the stage has been going for some time before we get to them, passing through cities like Orihuela on the way. We also pass through the Puerto del Maigmó, an uncategorized gradual ascent which is the main alternative to passing through the wrong side of Xorret del Catí (imagine descending that hell-slope!). The first climb of the day is the Alt de Tibi, a shortish climb which consists of a ramp into the village of Tibi, then about 3km at 7%. This sector is, however, the steepest climbing of the day; after that we descend into the first intermediate sprint at Xixona.
This follows the pattern of the 2009 Xorret del Catí stage - then, as today, Tibi gets cat.3 status, then there's a sprint in Xixona, after which we take on a Vuelta classic. Though it's not threatening in gradient, the sustained nature of climbing in the Puerto de la Carrasqueta means that it has been a regular climb used both to break up intermediate stages and to wear out legs when a Valencian mountain stage is called for, having been used in nearly 20 Vueltas. The rider to get to the top first most often is the legendary Julián Berrendero, one of the formative names of Spanish pro cycling. Its gradients remain fairly constant in the 4,5%-5% area (we are doing the last 12,5km of this profile) but climbing at that for this long will likely burn off weaker climbers and put some difficulty into the legs of those people in the break who didn't pick the right day to not have the legs.
After this, there's a short descent and then some rolling terrain before a one-two punch of climbs towards the end of the stage. First of all there's the unthreatening Puerto de Ibi, an unused climb but not a particularly dangerous climb; at 36km from home I don't see moves being made here. The break should hopefully splinter on the following climb, however, which is the cat.2 Puerto de Onil. This climb was "discovered" in 2009, although it was climbed from the side we descend today, which is much longer but barely more than false flat. The side which is actually a legit climb was ascended in the 2010 Xorret del Catí stage, although as the first climb of the day it was given cat.3 status. At 6,6km @ 5,7% with the final 5km averaging 6,5% I think it just about shades cat.2 status, at least with Unipublic's categorization where Arrate and Cordal are cat.1. Cresting 22,5km from the line, this should tempt those in the break with reasonably good climbing chops to attack their breakmates. I don't anticipate much GC action given the slopes aren't all that steep and the descent is gentle enough that riders will have to push on, they can't rest on their time gaps until they get to the finish in Alcoi.
If anything, perhaps the stage is like an easy version of the stage we got last time the Vuelta stopped in Alcoi; the 2010 stage won by David López with the break split all over the road behind him and the bunch heavily reduced. At the same time, it's also harder than the 2002 stage won by Danilo di Luca which was the time before that that the Vuelta had finished in the city and ended up in an almost bunch gallop. This stage should be somewhere between the two; I expect the break to duke this one out, and behind the leader's group will be drastically reduced, but I don't expect any big favourites to lose time here unless they get sick à la Basso in 2005. But then again, if yesterday the Levante blew and it was 40º+, which is possible, there could already be some legs that can't take any more...
GPM:
Alt de Tibi (cat.3) 4,9km @ 5,6%
Puerto de la Carrasqueta (cat.2) 12,5km @ 4,6%
Puerto de Ibi (cat.3) 5,4km @ 4,0%
Puerto de Onil (cat.2) 6,6km @ 5,7%
A short transfer takes us into the capital of the Murcía region, the city of the same name. In recent years it's been a fairly supportive cycling city, perhaps owing to the Valverde factor. The economic crisis has hit the city just as many others in Spain, however, and this has meant that the formerly five day long Vuelta a Murcía race has been consolidated into a single, hilly one day race which takes place in early March. The last winner of the stage race version was Nairo Quintana, while Philippe Gilbert recently took the last edition of the one-day version. Alejandro Valverde is, unsurprisingly, the only man to have won both forms, although its history is full of illustrious names since its inception in the 80s - a 20-year-old Perico Delgado won its first edition in 1981, and a 21-year-old Miguel Indurain won in 1986. Other winners include Alvaro Mejía, Melcior Mauri (twice), Marco Pantani in 1999, Victor Hugo Peña and The AITORMINATOR©. The city was previously a regular Vuelta host, even holding the start of the race in 1999, along with stages in 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010. It returned after a five year lay-off last year, with an enjoyably messy stage won by Jasper Stuyven, foiling the relentless breakaway attempts of Zé Gonçalves. Here, however, it's just a start.
This stage is an intermediate stage which moves us from Murcía into Comunidad Valenciana, another region which has rather rekindled its love of cycling in recent years. This is in part the result of the work of 2001 Vuelta winner Ángel Casero, who with the help of his brother restarted the Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana this year after it had not run since 2008. In addition to this, the region returned to the Vuelta's routes after a three year absence last year, which is followed by hosting three key stages late in the race this year, including the first time to the Alto de Aitana summit since 2009. In 2009 they also ascended a Vuelta classic, Xorret del Catí; this was also seen the following year but despite being pretty perfectly suited to Javier Guillén's vision, it has gone unused since. I haven't used the region in my Vueltas for a while either - my first Vuelta included Xorret del Catí and my second a mountain stage to Font de Partagas, but since then the only time I've strayed over here was for the Requena ITT in the fifth route, so there's plenty I can still do with the region! The region of Alicante, in the south of the Comunidad, hosted the Grand Départ in 2011, in Benidorm, and that is the area I'm traversing today.
While there may be plenty of options still left unexplored in the region, stage 11 of my Vuelta is a typical GT week 2 stage; this is likely to go to the breakaway, since there are important GC challenges to come, and the stage is too difficult for the majority of sprinters to be interested in. In fact, in a Worlds preparation cycle I wouldn't be surprised if many of the sprinters leave at this point.
There are four climbs on the menu today, although the stage has been going for some time before we get to them, passing through cities like Orihuela on the way. We also pass through the Puerto del Maigmó, an uncategorized gradual ascent which is the main alternative to passing through the wrong side of Xorret del Catí (imagine descending that hell-slope!). The first climb of the day is the Alt de Tibi, a shortish climb which consists of a ramp into the village of Tibi, then about 3km at 7%. This sector is, however, the steepest climbing of the day; after that we descend into the first intermediate sprint at Xixona.
This follows the pattern of the 2009 Xorret del Catí stage - then, as today, Tibi gets cat.3 status, then there's a sprint in Xixona, after which we take on a Vuelta classic. Though it's not threatening in gradient, the sustained nature of climbing in the Puerto de la Carrasqueta means that it has been a regular climb used both to break up intermediate stages and to wear out legs when a Valencian mountain stage is called for, having been used in nearly 20 Vueltas. The rider to get to the top first most often is the legendary Julián Berrendero, one of the formative names of Spanish pro cycling. Its gradients remain fairly constant in the 4,5%-5% area (we are doing the last 12,5km of this profile) but climbing at that for this long will likely burn off weaker climbers and put some difficulty into the legs of those people in the break who didn't pick the right day to not have the legs.
After this, there's a short descent and then some rolling terrain before a one-two punch of climbs towards the end of the stage. First of all there's the unthreatening Puerto de Ibi, an unused climb but not a particularly dangerous climb; at 36km from home I don't see moves being made here. The break should hopefully splinter on the following climb, however, which is the cat.2 Puerto de Onil. This climb was "discovered" in 2009, although it was climbed from the side we descend today, which is much longer but barely more than false flat. The side which is actually a legit climb was ascended in the 2010 Xorret del Catí stage, although as the first climb of the day it was given cat.3 status. At 6,6km @ 5,7% with the final 5km averaging 6,5% I think it just about shades cat.2 status, at least with Unipublic's categorization where Arrate and Cordal are cat.1. Cresting 22,5km from the line, this should tempt those in the break with reasonably good climbing chops to attack their breakmates. I don't anticipate much GC action given the slopes aren't all that steep and the descent is gentle enough that riders will have to push on, they can't rest on their time gaps until they get to the finish in Alcoi.
If anything, perhaps the stage is like an easy version of the stage we got last time the Vuelta stopped in Alcoi; the 2010 stage won by David López with the break split all over the road behind him and the bunch heavily reduced. At the same time, it's also harder than the 2002 stage won by Danilo di Luca which was the time before that that the Vuelta had finished in the city and ended up in an almost bunch gallop. This stage should be somewhere between the two; I expect the break to duke this one out, and behind the leader's group will be drastically reduced, but I don't expect any big favourites to lose time here unless they get sick à la Basso in 2005. But then again, if yesterday the Levante blew and it was 40º+, which is possible, there could already be some legs that can't take any more...
- Oct 4, 2015
- 417
- 1
- 3,030
Quick library post for my Tour de France:
Stage 1: Compiègne - Compiègne, 9km (ITT)
Stage 2: Beauvais - Rouen, 189km
Stage 3: Le Havre - Abbeville, 175km
Stage 4: Albert - Cambrai, 188km
Stage 5: Saint-Quentin - Verdun, 204km
Stage 6: Metz - Metz, 58km (ITT)
Stage 7: Épinal - La Planche des Belles Filles, 223km
Stage 8: Belfort - Pontarlier, 173km
Stage 9: Pontarlier - Plateau des Glières, 221km
Stage 10: Annecy - Morzine, 164km
Rest Day 1: Morzine
Stage 11: Aix-les-Bains - Alpe d'Huez, 180km
Stage 12: Le Bourg d'Oisans - Gap, 184km
Stage 13: Gap - Avignon, 182km
Stage 14: Alès - Mont Aigoual, 192km
Stage 15: Rodez - Carcassone, 185km
Stage 16: Pamiers - Val Louron, 224km
Rest Day 2: Pau
Stage 17: Pau - Col Bagargi, 196km
Stage 18: Oloron-Sainte-Marie - Lac de Payolle, 157km
Stage 19: Mont-de-Marsan - Bordeaux, 169km
Stage 20: Disneyland Paris - Disneyland Paris, 34km (ITT)
Stage 21: Versailles - Paris, 135km
Now for my next project, I had the idea of making a Volta a Catalunya (since the Volta was underway at the time), but then I decided to expand the idea further. The end result was a little "challenge": to design one short multi-stage race for each autonomous community in Spain. So far I've made races for four communities (País Vasco, Catalunya, Comunitat Valenciana and Madrid), and I'm currently working on the Galicia one.
I'll start posting the ones that I've completed this weekend (not sure which one to start with, though), as I work on the other ones.
Stage 1: Compiègne - Compiègne, 9km (ITT)
Stage 2: Beauvais - Rouen, 189km
Stage 3: Le Havre - Abbeville, 175km
Stage 4: Albert - Cambrai, 188km
Stage 5: Saint-Quentin - Verdun, 204km
Stage 6: Metz - Metz, 58km (ITT)
Stage 7: Épinal - La Planche des Belles Filles, 223km
Stage 8: Belfort - Pontarlier, 173km
Stage 9: Pontarlier - Plateau des Glières, 221km
Stage 10: Annecy - Morzine, 164km
Rest Day 1: Morzine
Stage 11: Aix-les-Bains - Alpe d'Huez, 180km
Stage 12: Le Bourg d'Oisans - Gap, 184km
Stage 13: Gap - Avignon, 182km
Stage 14: Alès - Mont Aigoual, 192km
Stage 15: Rodez - Carcassone, 185km
Stage 16: Pamiers - Val Louron, 224km
Rest Day 2: Pau
Stage 17: Pau - Col Bagargi, 196km
Stage 18: Oloron-Sainte-Marie - Lac de Payolle, 157km
Stage 19: Mont-de-Marsan - Bordeaux, 169km
Stage 20: Disneyland Paris - Disneyland Paris, 34km (ITT)
Stage 21: Versailles - Paris, 135km
Now for my next project, I had the idea of making a Volta a Catalunya (since the Volta was underway at the time), but then I decided to expand the idea further. The end result was a little "challenge": to design one short multi-stage race for each autonomous community in Spain. So far I've made races for four communities (País Vasco, Catalunya, Comunitat Valenciana and Madrid), and I'm currently working on the Galicia one.
I'll start posting the ones that I've completed this weekend (not sure which one to start with, though), as I work on the other ones.
Hey guys,
hope you're all well.
Can a Cronoescalada expert help me please? I want to use the new(ish) climb profile creator tool. I've had no luck until last night when I realised that I could create a climb profile from a track however I have 9 tracks and many many many courses/profiles. But I have no idea why I have those 9 tracks, they were created in exactly the same way as the other courses/profiles. Does anyone have any tips for changing courses to tracks or alternatively can anyone explain how to create a climb profile?
Cheers!
hope you're all well.
Can a Cronoescalada expert help me please? I want to use the new(ish) climb profile creator tool. I've had no luck until last night when I realised that I could create a climb profile from a track however I have 9 tracks and many many many courses/profiles. But I have no idea why I have those 9 tracks, they were created in exactly the same way as the other courses/profiles. Does anyone have any tips for changing courses to tracks or alternatively can anyone explain how to create a climb profile?
Cheers!
It's a new feature I believe, definitely this year. If you click on the 'Blog' it's the top entry. I can't really make sense of what it says though - even when translated.
- Mar 24, 2011
- 10,523
- 1,922
- 25,680
Re:
first you have to upload the climb into the database (if you're lucky it'll be already there).
Then you go into the climb page, and on the top there should be a button that brings you to the climb profile editor.
The whole process is not related to a track. Unless you have to upload the climb, in which case you need a track that uses that climb.
HiSammyLarns said:
first you have to upload the climb into the database (if you're lucky it'll be already there).
Then you go into the climb page, and on the top there should be a button that brings you to the climb profile editor.
The whole process is not related to a track. Unless you have to upload the climb, in which case you need a track that uses that climb.
Hey Eshnar!
Thank you for your help. I was actually hoping to create a few new climbs that aren't already in there. Do you have any tips for this?
Thank you for your help. I was actually hoping to create a few new climbs that aren't already in there. Do you have any tips for this?
- Mar 24, 2011
- 10,523
- 1,922
- 25,680
Re:
design a short track that includes the climb (and it doesn't finish at the top). Possibly use a fair number of checkpoints on the climb, to make sure the software doesn't *** up. that's pretty much it. The rest is fairly intuitive, you just have to follow the instructions. The map usually behaves funny when you drag the initial and finish point of the climb, but you just need to be careful and double check.SammyLarns said:
- Feb 18, 2015
- 13,506
- 9,030
- 28,180
Österreich Rundfahrt stage 2: Landeck - Innsbruck (138 km)
Right after the only mtf of the race and probably already the hardest stage of the whole tour stage two is one of the brutal medium mountain stages this Österreich Rundfahrt can offer. The stage might be rather short but don't forget, it is only a European tour game and many rider criticized the race for being too hard in the last years so I try to not go full Zomegnan.
the first kilometers after the start in Landeck are actually very flat. After an intermediate sprint in Imst and about 30 kilometers the climbing starts with the Holzleitensattel and from this point on there is hardly a flat kilometer left in this stage. However this first pass of the day wont be a difficult one and it definitely wont cause problems for any riders.
Nevetheless after a long and flat descent the rest is over as the riders tackle the hardest obstacle of the day, the very very steep Möserer Sattel. This is actually the same climb as the Seefelder Sattel but somehow the official top of the Seefelder Sattel is a bit lower. This also means that the Möserer Sattel isnt as famous because the town Seefeld is very well known for cross country skiing and ski jumping, as it hosted events at the olympic winter games in 1976 and 1964 and it will also host the nordic skiing WC in 2019. As you can see on the profile the climb is pretty steep with over 8% elevation gain. Unfortunately I didnt find a good profile of the pass but it really isnt easy and will definitely make the race harder.
Right after the descent there is the second intermediate sprint of the stage in Zirl directly followed by the next climb, up the Tiefental. Like the Möserer Sattel, this is a rather steep climb, but its shorter why its only a 2nd category climb. The ascent which I use in my race is a street parallel to the street which goes to the Kühtai. This road to the Kühtai is then used as the descent on very wide and straight street.
Once again the riders don't have any time to relax after the descent as they immediately tackle the next climb to Axams. This is probably the easiest climb of the day although its still at least 3rd category. Moreover after the end of the ascent the riders have some time to rest since the next 6 kilometers are rather easy again and only a bit bumpy. The next downhill section is also a very easy one so the peloton probably wont be very nervous.
Next up is the climb to Igls, a climb which I wanted to use mostly because it is already announced that it will have an important role in the route of the cycling world championships in Innsbruck in 2018. In that year however Igls will be climbed from the other side. Once again this isnt super difficult and that although this is the steeper side of the climb (now you know why I hope the WC RR 2018 will include another climb in Innsbruck) but if the break has a chance for the win we might already get some very interesting racing here. In the peloton however the riders will already wait for the final climb of the race, because I doubt any gc favorite has got such a big disadvantage on stage 1 that he has to go for an extremely risky long range attack.
Igls:
That said I don't want to say there wont be any time gaps between the team leaders on stage 2 because there is still one ascent left and that one is a real killer. Yeah, at the first sight Gramartboden doesnt look much harder than the last two climbs we had but it definitely is. With about 2.5 kilometers length at over 11% this is probably the steepest climb of the whole Österreich Rundfahrt and considering that the top of the climb is only 8 kilometers away from the finish and that most of this distance is a pretty tricky descent down the Innsbrucker Höhenstraße. Moreover this a stretch of about 300 meters which is more than 20% steep and on these gradients time gaps appear almost automatically. This surely wont be the stage which decides the whole tour but you can loose it and with a good attack on the final climb a strong climber can definitely get a nice advantage.
Btw, at the top of the climb the riders pass the valley station of the Nordkettenbahn, a famous cable car with which you can go all way up to the beautiful mountains in the north of Innsbruck:
The finish is in Innsbruck on of Austrias most famous and beautiful cities and the capital of Tyrol.
Right after the only mtf of the race and probably already the hardest stage of the whole tour stage two is one of the brutal medium mountain stages this Österreich Rundfahrt can offer. The stage might be rather short but don't forget, it is only a European tour game and many rider criticized the race for being too hard in the last years so I try to not go full Zomegnan.
the first kilometers after the start in Landeck are actually very flat. After an intermediate sprint in Imst and about 30 kilometers the climbing starts with the Holzleitensattel and from this point on there is hardly a flat kilometer left in this stage. However this first pass of the day wont be a difficult one and it definitely wont cause problems for any riders.
Nevetheless after a long and flat descent the rest is over as the riders tackle the hardest obstacle of the day, the very very steep Möserer Sattel. This is actually the same climb as the Seefelder Sattel but somehow the official top of the Seefelder Sattel is a bit lower. This also means that the Möserer Sattel isnt as famous because the town Seefeld is very well known for cross country skiing and ski jumping, as it hosted events at the olympic winter games in 1976 and 1964 and it will also host the nordic skiing WC in 2019. As you can see on the profile the climb is pretty steep with over 8% elevation gain. Unfortunately I didnt find a good profile of the pass but it really isnt easy and will definitely make the race harder.
Right after the descent there is the second intermediate sprint of the stage in Zirl directly followed by the next climb, up the Tiefental. Like the Möserer Sattel, this is a rather steep climb, but its shorter why its only a 2nd category climb. The ascent which I use in my race is a street parallel to the street which goes to the Kühtai. This road to the Kühtai is then used as the descent on very wide and straight street.
Once again the riders don't have any time to relax after the descent as they immediately tackle the next climb to Axams. This is probably the easiest climb of the day although its still at least 3rd category. Moreover after the end of the ascent the riders have some time to rest since the next 6 kilometers are rather easy again and only a bit bumpy. The next downhill section is also a very easy one so the peloton probably wont be very nervous.
Next up is the climb to Igls, a climb which I wanted to use mostly because it is already announced that it will have an important role in the route of the cycling world championships in Innsbruck in 2018. In that year however Igls will be climbed from the other side. Once again this isnt super difficult and that although this is the steeper side of the climb (now you know why I hope the WC RR 2018 will include another climb in Innsbruck) but if the break has a chance for the win we might already get some very interesting racing here. In the peloton however the riders will already wait for the final climb of the race, because I doubt any gc favorite has got such a big disadvantage on stage 1 that he has to go for an extremely risky long range attack.
Igls:
That said I don't want to say there wont be any time gaps between the team leaders on stage 2 because there is still one ascent left and that one is a real killer. Yeah, at the first sight Gramartboden doesnt look much harder than the last two climbs we had but it definitely is. With about 2.5 kilometers length at over 11% this is probably the steepest climb of the whole Österreich Rundfahrt and considering that the top of the climb is only 8 kilometers away from the finish and that most of this distance is a pretty tricky descent down the Innsbrucker Höhenstraße. Moreover this a stretch of about 300 meters which is more than 20% steep and on these gradients time gaps appear almost automatically. This surely wont be the stage which decides the whole tour but you can loose it and with a good attack on the final climb a strong climber can definitely get a nice advantage.
Btw, at the top of the climb the riders pass the valley station of the Nordkettenbahn, a famous cable car with which you can go all way up to the beautiful mountains in the north of Innsbruck:
The finish is in Innsbruck on of Austrias most famous and beautiful cities and the capital of Tyrol.
Great stages/races by everyone here.
Finally i have time to post the last stage of my GP JN...
GP JN
Stage 3: Lousada - Porto (146.2km)
After the queen stage in São Bento, we have the last stage of this GP. Stage 3 links Lousada and Porto being the longest stage of the race with 146.2km.
Lousada
The stage has two different parts. The first 94km are very hilly, with 4 categorized climbs. In the first 17km there are 2 cat.4 climbs that should be easy to the peloton. After those climbs there is an hilly section, followed of two more categorized climbs, the first one in São Cristovão (2.9km @6.8%) a cat.3, being the next climb of the menu the most difficult of the day in the Serra da Boneca a cat.2 that can cause some damages in the main group.
After Serra da Boneca we enter in the secound part of the stage. The final km's are almost flat, raced nearby Douro margin. However, the last 3km will not be easy. The peloton arrives to Porto from Foz do Sousa (Gondomar) and the entrance in the city of Porto will be made uphill by the Rua do Freixo, Freixo has 800m but has gradients up to 15% ideal for attacks, finished Freixo there is a very small descent to the Campanhã train station and new ascent this time Rua Pinto Bessa with 700m and an average gradient of 6%. Until the finish line in the Avenida 25 de Abril the terrain is flat or even in descent, being the final 200m in ascent (next photo).
Finally i have time to post the last stage of my GP JN...
GP JN
Stage 3: Lousada - Porto (146.2km)
After the queen stage in São Bento, we have the last stage of this GP. Stage 3 links Lousada and Porto being the longest stage of the race with 146.2km.
Lousada
The stage has two different parts. The first 94km are very hilly, with 4 categorized climbs. In the first 17km there are 2 cat.4 climbs that should be easy to the peloton. After those climbs there is an hilly section, followed of two more categorized climbs, the first one in São Cristovão (2.9km @6.8%) a cat.3, being the next climb of the menu the most difficult of the day in the Serra da Boneca a cat.2 that can cause some damages in the main group.
After Serra da Boneca we enter in the secound part of the stage. The final km's are almost flat, raced nearby Douro margin. However, the last 3km will not be easy. The peloton arrives to Porto from Foz do Sousa (Gondomar) and the entrance in the city of Porto will be made uphill by the Rua do Freixo, Freixo has 800m but has gradients up to 15% ideal for attacks, finished Freixo there is a very small descent to the Campanhã train station and new ascent this time Rua Pinto Bessa with 700m and an average gradient of 6%. Until the finish line in the Avenida 25 de Abril the terrain is flat or even in descent, being the final 200m in ascent (next photo).
GP JN library
Stage 1a: viewtopic.php?p=1873499#p1873499
Stage 1b: viewtopic.php?p=1874206#p1874206
Stage 2: viewtopic.php?p=1874893#p1874893
Stage 3: viewtopic.php?p=1889928#p1889928
Stage 1a: viewtopic.php?p=1873499#p1873499
Stage 1b: viewtopic.php?p=1874206#p1874206
Stage 2: viewtopic.php?p=1874893#p1874893
Stage 3: viewtopic.php?p=1889928#p1889928
- Sep 28, 2014
- 3,639
- 1,608
- 16,680
Re: Re:
Yep, it's new. There are loads of Annotations:
Annotation
Feed zone
Drink zone
Rockfall
Water tap
Petrol/Gas station
Town
View point
Time checkpoint
Steepness of road
Steepness of road over a distance
Restaurant
Lake/River
Cable car
Tunnel
Stretch of Hormigon
Stretch of Pave
Stretch of Sterrato
Plus you can change the colour of the profile to whatever you want!
Gigs_98 said:There is a climb profile creatorSammyLarns said:
Yep, it's new. There are loads of Annotations:
Annotation
Feed zone
Drink zone
Rockfall
Water tap
Petrol/Gas station
Town
View point
Time checkpoint
Steepness of road
Steepness of road over a distance
Restaurant
Lake/River
Cable car
Tunnel
Stretch of Hormigon
Stretch of Pave
Stretch of Sterrato
Plus you can change the colour of the profile to whatever you want!
Re: Re:
By far the bit that excites you the most
lemon cheese cake said:Yep, it's new. There are loads of Annotations:
Annotation
Feed zone
Drink zone
Rockfall
Water tap
Petrol/Gas station
Town
View point
Time checkpoint
Steepness of road
Steepness of road over a distance
Restaurant
Lake/River
Cable car
Tunnel
Stretch of Hormigon
Stretch of Pave
Stretch of Sterrato
Plus you can change the colour of the profile to whatever you want!
By far the bit that excites you the most
- Sep 28, 2014
- 3,639
- 1,608
- 16,680
Re: Re:
Sarcasm with an exclamation mark doesn't show up very well on a forum.Brullnux said:lemon cheese cake said:Yep, it's new. There are loads of Annotations:
Annotation
Feed zone
Drink zone
Rockfall
Water tap
Petrol/Gas station
Town
View point
Time checkpoint
Steepness of road
Steepness of road over a distance
Restaurant
Lake/River
Cable car
Tunnel
Stretch of Hormigon
Stretch of Pave
Stretch of Sterrato
Plus you can change the colour of the profile to whatever you want!
By far the bit that excites you the most
- Jun 30, 2014
- 7,060
- 2
- 0
Stage 4: Matera – Salandra; 183.5km
This is the final stage of my Giro della Basilicata.
The stage starts in Matera, so there's no transfer after stage 3, the riders should like that. The descent at the start of the stage is the same side Matera climb that i already used on stage 3, besides that the first 80km of the stage are false flat and nothing special.
Then we get the first climb of the day, a nice climb on the Strada Statale (sorry, i don't know the actual name of the climb), 5.2km at 7.2%. After a short and gentle descent,we have 35km of false flat, then the easy climb to Irsina starts, 5.2km at 4.4%, perfect for the strong roulers. After a 8km long descent we have a few km of rolling terrain followed by 5km of false flat, before the first of the 2 Muritos of the Stage starts. It's the nasty Muro di Grassano, 2.2km at 13.5% with a max gradient of 18%. After a steep descent we only have 8km of false flat on narrow roads before the 2nd climb.
It's the brutal Muro di Salandra, 3.4km at 12.3% an irregular climb, the first 800m have an average gradient of 21.1% and feature a 33% steep ramp, a few riders will probably get Tirreno-Adriatico flashbacks , the rest of the climb is also irregular, really steep sections are often followed by easier sections.
The climb ends with 3.5km to go, but it's a continuous up and down.
The stage finishes in the stunning small town Salandra.
This could be a hard stage, we only have a little bit over 2000m of altitude gain, but it's the final stage of the race, the last 2 climbs are hard and there's only 8km of false flat between the end of the steep Muro di Grassano descent and the start of the Muro di Salandra, the riders will probably go all out. We'll probably get a rather small gc-contender group after the frist murito, they should be fatigued and the ungodly steep first 800m of the 2nd murito shoud create gaps between the favourites, if someone has the legs to do it he should be able to gain even more time on the 5% steep section after the first 800m, if someone goes too deep on the first part of the climbs he'll loose a big amount of time.
This is the final stage of my Giro della Basilicata.
The stage starts in Matera, so there's no transfer after stage 3, the riders should like that. The descent at the start of the stage is the same side Matera climb that i already used on stage 3, besides that the first 80km of the stage are false flat and nothing special.
Then we get the first climb of the day, a nice climb on the Strada Statale (sorry, i don't know the actual name of the climb), 5.2km at 7.2%. After a short and gentle descent,we have 35km of false flat, then the easy climb to Irsina starts, 5.2km at 4.4%, perfect for the strong roulers. After a 8km long descent we have a few km of rolling terrain followed by 5km of false flat, before the first of the 2 Muritos of the Stage starts. It's the nasty Muro di Grassano, 2.2km at 13.5% with a max gradient of 18%. After a steep descent we only have 8km of false flat on narrow roads before the 2nd climb.
It's the brutal Muro di Salandra, 3.4km at 12.3% an irregular climb, the first 800m have an average gradient of 21.1% and feature a 33% steep ramp, a few riders will probably get Tirreno-Adriatico flashbacks , the rest of the climb is also irregular, really steep sections are often followed by easier sections.
The climb ends with 3.5km to go, but it's a continuous up and down.
The stage finishes in the stunning small town Salandra.
This could be a hard stage, we only have a little bit over 2000m of altitude gain, but it's the final stage of the race, the last 2 climbs are hard and there's only 8km of false flat between the end of the steep Muro di Grassano descent and the start of the Muro di Salandra, the riders will probably go all out. We'll probably get a rather small gc-contender group after the frist murito, they should be fatigued and the ungodly steep first 800m of the 2nd murito shoud create gaps between the favourites, if someone has the legs to do it he should be able to gain even more time on the 5% steep section after the first 800m, if someone goes too deep on the first part of the climbs he'll loose a big amount of time.
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