It's been a long time since I've done one of these but with the season growing ever closer, my level of enthusiasm has increased, not at all harmed by a rather lacklustre cycling season for my interest. The Olympics are coming, and so we have an intense season of Nordic sport coming. Which took me back to my Nordic series.
Nordic Series 8: Brusson
It is far from a well-kept secret that I love the Valle d'Aosta. This remote alpine corner of Italy, its smallest province and the only one that has no subdivisions, is full of scenic beauty, alpine resorts and isolated villages, scores of glorious - and underutilized - mountain roads, many of which are known only to cycling through the espoir-level Giro della Valle d'Aosta, and in winter, some of the most glorious snow for any type of skiing fan, with multiple resorts for both alpine and nordic skiing. It is therefore little wonder that over the years a great many of the country's wintersports contributors have been Valdôtain; cross-country is historically represented by 1987 World Champion and multiple Olympic medallist Marco Albarello and Gabriella Carrel, while the likes of René-Laurent Vuillermoz represent biathlon. The region has traditionally been one of the main hubs of wintersport in Italy, along with the Südtirol-Trentino corridor and the corner of Lombardia around Bormio.
As a result of this buoyant support, there are regularly multiple rounds of the Coppa Italia in both XC and biathlon through the region (support for NoCo and ski jumping is very limited). From a cycling fans' perspective, the Bionaz biathlon facilities are perhaps of the most interest, since it is at the 20,5km mark of
this climb profile, has an ok-sized car park and therefore means a very inconsistent 17,5km at 5% that can be appended directly to Grand-Saint-Bernard north. However, these facilities are not able to hold international competition at present, so I've not looked at the possibilities offered here. Likewise the Rhêmes-Nôtre-Dame cross-country facilities, which are similarly partway up a single-route climb.
More fruitful are the other two facilities, which have in the past held World Cup cross-country action, and the latter of which have hosted IBU Cup biathlon as well (back when it was still the European Cup). The small mountain town of
Cogne sits at the top of a shallow climb, which could be used as an MTF of a relatively gradual nature, in the hope of creating action on an earlier climb - which here would most likely be Pila-les Fleurs, Verrogne or Grand-Saint-Bernard north - it was used in the Giro in 1985, in a 60km one-climb stage three weeks into the race which saw Andy Hampsten take the win by a minute's escape thanks to being some way down the GC at that point; the rest of the top 10 were covered in around 30-40 seconds as Hinault controlled his efforts. It isn't that threatening a climb however, and with modern cycling's tendency towards tactically reserved races, technology enabling better control to be exerted and the superior quality of domestiques, such gaps would be less likely today.
Which leads me to the other major venue in the region, Brusson. Throughout the 80s and 90s, the town was a frequent host of the World Cup or at least the Continental Cup in cross-country skiing. While the sport had been practiced in the town before, the installation of a permanent shooting range towards the end of this period brought the city onto the map of world biathlon as well; it is from here that the aforementioned Vuillermoz, among others, made their name in the sport. However, with Torino hosting the 2006 Winter Olympics and inaugurating brand new high-tech facilities at Cesana-San Sicario, the Brusson facilities were rather usurped at the top level in western Italy, and seeing as they were unlikely to be able to bring in more fans - especially at the biathlon - than the lucrative Südtirol venues that legions of German and Austrian fans make a pilgrimage to each winter - they therefore fell a bit by the wayside. However, Piemonte doesn't really have Nordic sports history and tradition like Aosta, and so as those Olympic venues swiftly turned into white elephants, revamping and refurbishing the Brusson facilities brought them back to international standard swiftly. The Valle d'Aosta is back on the map as a region for the Nordic sports now, providing some of Italy's most promising talents - in pure cross-country skiing, they have
Federico Pellegrino, former sprint World Cup overall winner and practically unstoppable at times in a frestyle sprint, along with rising star
Francesco de Fabiani, while in the rifle combination they have relay World Championships bronze medallist
Nicole Gontier and reigning Junior World Champion in the sprint
Michela Carrara.
So, you know, there's much more to the cycling possibilities as stage finishes than Cervinia - in addition to Cogne, we've also seen mountaintop finishes there in the Giro at Pila, and there are even downhill ski resort finishes possible at places like La Thuile; with the facilities being upgraded and the myriad possibilities opened up by its location just down from the Col de Joux, it's about time Brusson was added to the mix.
The biathlon facilities at Brusson have a comparatively unusual feature; the shooting range is across a river from the main start/finish area, so to arrive at the range skiers must traverse a road and a river which is invariably frozen over at peak ski season. That road - which you can see above through the centre - serves as the finish, which can be at either the car park (in the centre just in front of the lake) or at the caravan area, as both will give ample room for a stage finish. The town itself has a permanent population of only around 900 but the resort potential and the nordic facility give reason for the finish, as well as the Val d'Ayas in general - and indeed thanks to no subdivisions the Valle d'Aosta itself - being the likely payers for a finish here.
As you can readily imagine, since we're in the high Alps, the prospective stages here offer great potential for brutality.
Stage proposal #1: Novi Ligure - Brusson, 202km
A fairly straightforward stage, this is the stage that best reflects the Giro's tendencies when it comes to Valdostan mountain stages in recent years, as witnessed in the
2012 and
2015 stages to Cervinia - as there are limited routes into the valley - the two Saint Bernard passes, Grand into Switzerland and Petit into France, the Mont Blanc tunnel, and the valley road from Ivrea, we therefore have limited options; the Giro is unlikely to travel over the Iseran due to altitude concerns, so a route where we find ourselves approaching the Valle d'Aosta from the north or west is unlikely unless the region pays to host Le Tour; it's been a while since the Valais region got involved in hosting the Giro, although going via Simplonpass into the region and then a subsequent stage going over Grand-Saint-Bernard would be possible. Otherwise, however, we're stuck entering from the valley road which means, just as here, Po floodplain central.
This particular stage has come about because this is a favourite climbing double to set up the Brusson finish, and seeing as to ascend Joux in full after Tze Core without approaching from the south would entail using the same bit of road twice in opposite directions, I thought it suboptimal (although this has been done by both the Giro and Vuelta at times in the past). Tze Core also when climbed from Verrès in full is best placed as the opening salvo of a mountain sequence, since it comes from a complete cold open and includes that brutal section at 11% in the second half. And the scenery is stunning too, of course. It's a favourite climb of mine, as many of you know, and with it cresting just 34km from the line - all of which is either up- or downhill - it does have the potential to be used to take some riders unawares; even if not it's a great appetizer for the Col de Joux. Ignore the direction on the profile arrow for Col Tze Core - there's a shortcut that connects the climbs nearer the top, but to do both in full you can descend through Eresaz and then take on the more consistent but still difficult Joux, cresting just 6-7km from the line, descending almost all the way thanks to the lopsided nature of the Brusson finish. It's a beautiful double-act and you should love it too.
Stage proposal #2: Courmayeur - Brusson, 161km
The second stage proposal stays entirely within the realm of the Valle d'Aosta, starting at the very top of the valley at Courmayeur and finishing at Brusson. As such it's perhaps harder to see as a realistic stage for the Giro unless preceded with a Unipuerto Colle San Carlo-La Thuile stage like in 2006. It does do something a bit less predictable with the valley though, eschewing those well-established climbs of the region such as Saint-Panthaléon and Saint-Barthélemy in favour of smaller but more continual ascents, with seven categorized climbs.
The first 20km of the stage should be extremely fast, as with the race being somewhat downhill, the péloton should be going pretty quickly anyway, but there will also be a scramble to try and form a break before the climbing begins in earnest with the cat.2 Combes. Climbing the trifecta of Combes (7,2km @ 7.8%), Verrogne (12km @ 7,6%) and Lin-Noir (10,4km @ 6,6%, first 6km @ 9%) back to back should ensure whoever remains up front is strong before a respite. The next climb is Verrayes, a stop-off on the way to the popular Saint-Panthaléon, where the Champagne and Chambave sides meet, before we take on the Tze Core-Joux combination once more, but in a less all out climber-oriented manner, by breaking up the ascends manifold.
This time we take on a very nasty little climb to the Col d'Arlaz at 32km remaining, then after 2 very steep descent kilometres we're back on the Tze Core road, climbing the last 10km or just under, from Chataignère onwards, to crest at 20km from home, before taking the more gradual descent through Sarliod that enables us to join the Col de Joux at the midway point and reduce the final climb to 7km @ 6,7% and incentivize attacking earlier. This could also make for a pretty tough-to-control final 40 kilometres.
Stage proposal #3: Pont-Saint-Martin - Aosta, 140km
This is what railxmig would call
the Kardashian option, utilizing both what is in vogue with real life race organizers (relatively short mountain stages) and some traceur favourites. As I'm known for marking out for the Aosta region, it was inevitable that some of these climbs so beloved of parcours designers would make their way into the race in a stage like this, a short but brutal climb-filled stage with four great Valdostan ascents and precious little time in that pesky valley floor.
Unlike in the previous two options, Tze Core does not connect to Joux directly, instead we descend the road we took in the first stage and head through Saint-Vincent (we almost, but not quite, intersect the path from later in the stage) for a rolling period along an upper valley road. And then, se armó un zapatiesto, as we take on a favourite Valdôtain climb of mine, the upper mid length, but very steep and switchback-heavy, Champremier.
Consistently up at the 9,5% mark, this one will hurt.
The ascent is a standard of the Giro della Valle d'Aosta, leading into the
Clavalité MTF a couple of years ago. It has also been used by the Giro, such as in 1992's stage to Pila won by Udo Bölts, nestled between the Col de Saint-Panthaléon and the MTF. It chains better with Saint-Panthaléon from the opposite side, however, the Chambave side, as seen in the
Cervinia stage of the GDVDA from this season, which also shows you where Verrayes is on the profile. Saint-Panthaléon is of course plenty famous in its own right as a climb, mainly from Ivan Gotti's Giro-winning exploits in 1997. At 16,3km and 7,1%, it demands respect from the rider, especially at just over 40km remaining in a short and explosing stage such as this. The descent takes us back to the same Col de Joux finish that we are familiar with from the first stage, but once more with pretty much no flat in the last 60km.
Stage proposal #4: Susa - Brusson, 221km
Probably the most improbable of the stage suggestions, this one spends almost half of its race distance in France and reduces everything to the final climb, realistically - as well as going to the kind of altitude that demands the Cima Coppi in the Giro in a position in the stage in which it is very unlikely to have that honour bestowed upon it, as well as being a prospective Tour stage that doesn't start or finish in France but includes some of its most well-known climbs. Fairly unlikely as a result.
The stage also takes its cues from a few Tour de Suisse stages from a few years ago, when they had a fad for putting really tough climbs early in the stage, then a long valley before the final climb - ensuring that the final climb shoot-out that would hopefully produce good TV in the abbreviated coverage could take place, but also ensuring that legs were tired before they got there. Stages such as Crans-Montana in 2011 and La Punt 2010 (which this probably most closely resembles) are good examples of this format. There's literally no chance for the riders to ease into the day here, opening up with a genuine HC climb in Mont-Cenis, before the bumpy route through the Haute-Maurienne valley described in my earlier discussions of Bessans and leading to the Col de l'Iseran. The altitude will therefore be a player before we then have the long grind up to Petit-Saint-Bernard (albeit from the side including the steeper ramps to La Rosière that will be in the 2018 Tour de France).
This then means we have a long period through the valley road, but we're guaranteed to have a really strong break as for them to have got over those three climbs intact means they will be super strong on the day. The other point with this stage is length as we're talking 220km; the final climb of the Col de Joux may therefore be the predictable one but it is also more likely to be decisive as the chances are domestiques will either have fallen off completely or have fought their way back on only to go bang when the road turns uphill again. It also has the benefit of being a stage through the Valle d'Aosta without taking most of the cool climbs in the region out of the reckoning if a second stage is intended - though ideally this would be a stage before a rest day to enable more action and less conservatism.
Stage proposal #5: Martigny - Brusson, 181km
If the Giro were to travel up via Domodossola, over Simplonpass and put an MTF somewhere in the Valais, this could be a good way to return to Italy without killing the previous day's racing, so long as the final climb was tough enough (Thyon 2000 or Ovronnaz, please! Finhaut-Emosson/Col de la Gueulaz is also possible). This again follows the principle of creating a strong break by going straight for the big guns, bringing in the underrated Champex climb (14km @ 7%, last 10km @ 8,5%) before going for Grand-Saint-Bernard, the biggest, baddest beast of a road that looks down over Aosta. Being 130km from the finish, it would be best served in a Giro in a year it isn't the Cima Coppi, so we'd probably need a Gavia/Stelvio type climb to be used in the Lombardia/Trentino leg of the race route. Even so, 50km of really brutal racing up to 2500m altitude followed by a long and cold descent will surely shake up the racing. I've also gone for a much shorter valley plateau here, climbing up the traditional Chambave side of the Col de Saint-Panthaléon, and for the first time omitted the descent from the Col de Joux. Instead, we have a somewhat more unusual structure to the finish, as after those brutal cat.1 and legit HC mountains, it goes all medium mountain for the end.
The first thing to note is that we're looping around to do the Verrès side of the Col d'Arlaz, the opposite to the one we did earlier. This is
7,8km @ 8,2% although the first part is somewhat below that, compensated after leaving the main road up the Val d'Ayas (shared with Tze Core and Joux east) with 2km @ 11% finishing with 25km remaining. Instead of descending the side of Arlaz seen in stage option 2, we take the trunk road which leads us to Emmarèse, giving us the final 9km of the
somewhat easier southwestern side of the Col Tze Core. You know what that means of course - cresting with a mere 13km remaining and then a hair-raising sharp descent at very steep gradients down to rejoin the main Val d'Ayas road. This then gives us a small, inconsistent Aprica-like finish climbing this profile from where is marked Challand-Saint-Anselme to the junction for the Col de Joux.
This amounts to 7,5km at an inconsistent 3,5% - I've not categorized this. But it could create some interesting chase scenarios over some technical descents, short ramps and some exhausting flats - just as one final nod to the region's skiing heritage.
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