Race Design Thread

[Brullnux]

Tour of Exmoor: Taunton-Minehead 182km (1.1)

Now, the calendar is pretty saturated already so it's hard to find a place when this could run. My initial thought was midweek between Hamburg and Plouay, so some sprinters can go to find their legs to be sure they can take on hills, and some puncheurs go to prepare for the Canadian Classics. Late August would also make a good prep race for the Tour of Britain. But early season is another option, between February and April, as the weather is worse and it would make a good early season race. However, there are a lot of races going on at this time. October is another option, but the Italian classics are going on at this moment and they are regaining a lot of popularity recently, so could make this race pretty weak, maybe even Velothon level.

Anyway, the race, as you can see, is a very hilly expedition through West Somerset and North Devon, passing by the Quantocks (home to both the proposals of the Peep Show) and Exmoor itself, unsurprisngly. It's a hilly race, with the final 80km not looking out of place in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The climbs range between fairly easy to 'oh crap, I thought England was flat' level. The length is pretty short, about right for a 1.1 race this hilly I'd say.

The race starts in Taunton, the county town (capital) of Somerset, home to little apart from a nice castle and Somerset County Cricket Club, a decent side that has been home to Sir Viv, Ian Botham and Trescothick over the years. After a short period of flat, the riders take on Dead Women's Ditch, a maginificently named little ramp in the Quantocks. It is a real ramp, averaging over 14% in its 1.3km existence. This should test the legs early on and just wake the riders up a bit. the rest of the first half is just rolling terrain and false flats until Combe Martin, where the race starts proper.

The first climb is Chute Lane - the steep section is only really the opening 1.5km, but that bit averages over 12%, so once again is a real climb. The second climb is also 'bloody steep' (a recurring theme). Martinhoe's opening 500m are ungodly murito level, at over 15%. The next 1.5km are less steep but still a real test, just under 10% before levelling off to 7% for the final part. It is the longest climb so far (that is over 5%) and by this point I expect the peloton to start thinning considerably. The gradients of the climbs mean that it is really hard to control the race and should favour small groups trying their luck, even if there is still a logn way to go. After climbing the climb of West Lyn, which is easier than the previous two, the riders take on Countisbury Hill - the second hardest of the day. This is a longer test than others, but still with the harsh double digit gradients. At the top of the climb, there is an extremely exposed plateau, from which you can even see the sea. As the prevailing winds in this area tend to come from the sea, that could (hopefully) mean some crosswinds. They'll probably be cross-tail, but that should add some spice to the race as well.

The next climb is a short bump, and I haven't added it to the profile even though it is pretty hard, with 500m at 9%. It could serve as a further shake up from a small group up front (no more than 30 at this point I'd say), or as a springboard for attacks. The last climb is Porlock Hill, the most famous Exmoor climb. I was unsure on whether to add it or not, and I admit it there is definitely an argument to be made for it not being there (and I'd appreciate any feedback/opinions on its necessity), just to ensure that a sprint is unlikely. Logistically it could be an issue too, but not majorly. After the little (or medium sized) bump, the riders take a sharp left and then take a right down the other side of Porlock Hill. There they venture through the outskirts of the town before turning right and heading up the hill. At the top of it, riders will see on their left where they rejoined the A39 (the main road there) previously and continue straight for 200m or so before taking the same descent, and they make their way to Minehead, over a little bump (max 7%) and into the town centre. Porlock Hill is genuinely a hard climb, nearly 4km at 9.4%, so will definitely provoke attacks. The little bump could serve riders to distance themselves from others in a small group and try to finish solo. It won't be a sprint, almost definitely, but should prove to be an entertaining race with at least 25km of solid action, hopefully more.

Some people like history in these write ups so I'll include some. Exmoor has been inhabitated for many thousands of years, at least since about 5000 BC. There are also quite a few prehistoric settlements and artefacts, from hill forts to bridges, cairns to henges. Romans left it untouched, but the Normans built a castle there before Henry II made it a royal forest. By 1820, the forest had been divided up and sold to various lords and benefactors. It was most famous for wool trading, but there was also silver mining at Combe Martin. As with every single moor in the UK, there have been sightings of a 'beast', a big cat of some description. As Exmoor is in the South West, it is exceptionally rainy. With little effort, conditions can become extremely misty and look like something straight out of an old folk tale or a horror. Therefore, rain is not only probable but likely. It is exceptionally beuatiful, though.

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 9: Reggio Calabria - Villa San Giovanni; 201.6km

The first week ends with the 2nd consecutive hard mountain stage.
The stage starts in Reggio Calabria and after 6km we have the first climb of the day, the riders will go up the Via dell' Aspromonte, 14.8km at 6.4% with 3km at 14% in the middle of the climb, it's an irregular climb with a really steep section in the middle:

As you can see the road is rather narrow, but the descent is wider, so it shouldn't be a problem.
The next climb is the one to Roccaforte del Greco, we don't go all the way up to Roccaforte del Greco from Condofuri Marina, just until you hit the junction that brings you to down to the start of the Sella Entrata climb.
The Roccaforte del greco climb is really hard, 9km at 10.2% with the final 5km at 12.9%.
Roccaforte del Greco:

Right after the descent we have the Sella Entrata climb, 20.2km at 4.8%, unlike the other climbs that we have on this stage it's mostly a long drag with moderate gradients.
After a long descent we have about 5km of false flat, then the Orti climb starts. I've decided to put the KOM after the steep part of the climb, but overall it's the first 12.6km of this climb.
After that we have a short descent and 4.5km of rolling terrain before the climb to Aspromonte Gambarie starts, 10.3km at 7.4%.
Aspromonte Gambarie is the oldest Ski station in Southern Italy.

The last stage was a MTF, so this time we have 1.5km of false flat on top of the climb, then the 28km long descent to Villa San Giovanni starts, it's a decent descent, not crazy technical and it has a few flatter, but a good descender could get a gap on this one.
This stage should be really hard, the last stage was already a hard MTF and this one is also a really hard mountain stage, around 5,100m of altitude gain, the riders will also feel stage 8 in their legs and the steep climbs should wear the riders down, so we could get a great stage and big gaps. I know, it's a hard first week, but i already said that this Giro isn't backloaded, I wanted to have really hard stages early on.

 

[fauniera]

Well, I certainly dig the Roccaforte del Greco!

 

[May0maniac]

Well, I certainly dig the Roccaforte del Greco!

Thanks, Calabria never gets a proper mountain stage, but the Region has the terrain for it.

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 10: Paola - Terme Luigiane ITT; 32.28km

The 2nd week also starts with an ITT, just like the first one and the 3rd week will also feature an ITT.
We start in Paola and the first 22km of the stage are actually only slightly rolling, but on wide roads, then we get a section that is actually pretty similar to final of the Giro stage that we had this year, the central part after the descent is a bit different (I'm avoiding the tunnels), but other than that it's identical:

A Terme Luigiane stage means one thing, a descent that is filled with a ton of hairpins before the final uphill finish.

It's an interesting ITT, it's mostly on rolling terrain, but other than those hairpins it's not technical and mostly on straight roads, the uphill finish will hurt after a 30km long rolling ITT and the riders will need to recover well, otherwise they'll loose a ton of time on the two following mountain stages.

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 11: Marina di Fuscaldo - Válico di Montescuro; 190km

After the ITT we have the next hard mountain stage.
Righ at the start we have Valico di Laghicello, a good climb that should help us to get a strong breakaway, not really steep, but it's a long climb and a good start.

Right after the descent we have the short Montalto Uffugo climb, 3.8km at 5.5%, followed by around 13km of rolling terrain, then a longer descent and some false flat before the Colle d'Ascione climb, 25.2km at 4.8%, a long drag with moderate gradients.
On top of the climb we have around 9km of false flat, then the Monte Botte Donato climb starts, a rather irregular climb with a steep middle section.

After a long descent we only have 4km of false flat, then the Válico di Montescuro climb starts, it's a long drag, 25.6km at 5.4%.

I know, this stage mostly features moderate gradients and some might think that there won't be big gaps on such a MTF, but it's a stage with over 5,400m of altitude gain, right after a 32km long ITT, it's gonna do a lot of damage, a few riders could loose the Giro on this stage.
The next stage will be a shorter mountain stage with 1 or 2 short, but steep climbs.

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 12: Cosenza - Lamezia Terme; 136km

A short mountain stage (you could probably call it a medium mountain stage) that comes after an ITT and a hard mountain stage with over 5,400m of altitude gain, that should be the right ingredients to have a great, short mountain stage that is filled with climbs.
We start in Cosenza and right at the start we already have the first climb of the day, Válico Monte Cocuzza, nothing too hard, but a good first climb.

After a long descent we have 11km of false flat, then the next climb, Potame, starts.

Not that steep, but a long drag.
After a long descent with a section of false flat in the middle we have the short, but steep climb to Martirano, 1.5km at 11.3%, not that long, but the riders will feel it in their legs.
Right after the short descent we have the next climb, San Mazzeo, 10.7km at 5.9%, a pretty regular climb, the descent on the other hand is is irregular and the 2nd part of the descent features a few tricky hairpins, a great descender could get a gap.
After the descent we have around 4km of uphill false flat, then we get the final climb of the day, the Contrada Sgarano/Muro di Platania, 2.72km at 14.4% with an over 21% steep section, it's a nasty murito and the stage doesn't end on the climb, we still have an 11km long descent that will bring the riders down to Lamezia Terme.
This is a short mountain stage after 2 hard stages and the next one will be one for the sprinters/breakaway, so all hell could break loose on this stage, riders could feel the previous stages in their legs and with a bit of luck and good team tactics we could get some action before the final murito.
Lamezia Terme:

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 13: Lamezia Terme - Cirò Marina; 136.5km

A transitional stage that could be a breakaway stage or a sprint stag, the final 50km are flat and favour the sprinters, before that we have Passo di Acquabona, 14.5km at 5.5% and Strada Statale 108bis (no idea if that climb has an actual name), 6.3km at 6%.
On top of the 2nd climb we have around 25km of rolling terrain before the long descent starts, overall the stage could go to the sprinters that can climb well enough to survive the climbs that come durning the first half of the stage, the question is, how many teams will be willing to control the stage?
Cirò Marina:

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 14: Cirò Marina - Matera; 251.4km

This is a really long stage for the stagehunters/classics specialists.
The first half of the stage is pretty mch plain flat, but alongside the coast line and exposed to potential crosswinds, so it could be rather hectic and interesting.
From then onwards we have more rolling terrain, but no proper climbs.
After 239.2km we enter Matera for the first time and the riders will have to climb Via San Vito/Via G. Marconi, 1.2km at 6.8%, right after that we have a 4.8km long descent, then the Via Timmari climb starts, 3.4km at 5.6%, the climb ends with 1.5km to go, from then onwards it's just false flat.
This one should go to a great one day racer, a sprinter that does well in hard one day races, a puncheur or a rouleur that does well in the cobbled classics.
It will be a hectic day for the gc riders, potential crosswinds early on an a hectic final that where they could loose some time/gaps could open. The distancce could also be a factor and the riders will feel it on the medium mountain stage that comes before the rest day.
Matera:

 

[anonymous_1]

Mayomaniac, your images from stage 3 have already been removed from pic-upload, despite being uploaded just 13 days ago...

 

[May0maniac]

Thanks anonymous_1, I've re-uploaded the images for stage 2 and 3.

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 15: Altamura - Salandra; 194.2km

The 15th stage starts in the stunning town Altamura, so we have a small transfer after stage 14, but it's nothing, a 19.5km long transfer won't bother the riders, even after such a long stage.
The first 80km of the stage aren't too hard, lots of false flat and a bit of rolling terrain, nothing that you'd call a categorized climb.
After that we have the first climb of the day, the climb to Oppido Lucano, 5.7km at 5.4%, a small first climb and after the following descent we only have 4km on rolling terrain, then the Tolve climb (no Idea if that's the real name of the climb), starts, 5.6km at 8.2%, a solid climb that the riders will feel in their legs.
On top of the climb we have around 19km of rolling terrain, then the long descent starts.
After the descent we only have 3km of false flat, then the nasty Muro di Grassano starts, 2.2km at 13.5% with a max gradient of 21.5% and 2km at 14.1%.
After the following descent we have around 10km of slightly downhill false flat, then the climb to Grottole starts, 3.26km at 9.1%.
Before the descent we have 4.7km of rolling terrain on top of the climb, right before the descent we have 1.7km at 6% until we reach Montagnola, then the descent finall starts.
After the descent we only have 2km of false flat, the the nasty Muro di Salandra starts, 3.4km at 12.3% with 200m at 33% early on, it's an ungodly steep murito and the steepest part comes inside the first km, so gaps should open.
The Muro di Salandra:

Once the climb ends we still have 4km of rolling terrain before the riders will reach Salandra, that could be pretty interesting, riders could cooperate to gain more time/limit their losses.
This stage will hurt, around 3,460km of altitude gain and a few steep muritos after an over 250km stage with a complicated final on the previous day, we could see some attacks and the gaps could be bigger than expected.
Altamura's old town:

Salandra:

After a hard stage and a really hard 2nd week the riders will enjoy the final rest day of this Giro, the transfer to Bari won't be too long, at least riders shouldn't have to complain about way too long transfers.

 

[May0maniac]

Giro stage 16: Bari - Molfetta ITT, 29.3km

The 3rd week starts with the 3rd ITT, one for the specialists with wide, straight roads and only a small rolling section of 4km after the first 8km, from then onwards the road is also alongside the coastline and exposed to the wind.
This is an ITT for the specialists, we should get decent gaps that should force the climbers to attack on the remaining stages.
Bari:

Molfetta:

 

[fauniera]

GIRO D'ITALIA

(Fri) stage 12: Abano Terme - Verona, 187 km

Stage 12 takes place entirely in Veneto. The first climb in the Colli Euganei (4,4 km at 5,8%) comes after only a few kilometers and could help establish the break. But since the break has a good chance to stay away, it might take a lot longer to establish.

The main climb of the day is Passo del Branchetto, which is the highest reachable point (on tarmac) in the Monti Lessini. It's a very long climb, 32,2 km at 4,4%. The scenery in the upper part of the climb is wonderful, a green paradise of high alpine pastures.

We then stay on this plateau for a while before we descend towards Verona.

The final obstacle is the Torricelle, well known from the mondiali of 1999 and 2004.

Abano Terme

Verona

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 17: Molfetta - Peschici; 189km

This one is a carbon copy of stage 8 of this year's Giro that was won by Gorka Izagirre.
The main climb is Monte Sant' Angelo:

The final of the stage:

It was already a good stage for the stagehunters at the Giro and we even saw a small attack for Landa, but put it right after an ITT and it becomes way harder for the riders, it could be a pretty awesome stage.
Most of th stage is exposed to wind, so that could also be a factor.
The next stage is an easy one for the sprinters , so someone could try to gain some time after the ITT.

 

[jsem94]

Mayo, a few more images have crashed. That descent ITT though... 100% unrealistic, but it's so beautiful I want it now.

 

[May0maniac]

Ok, everything should be fine.
You're talking about the descent in the Terme Luigiane ITT?
Yeah, a ton of people would complain if you'd put something like that in a real gt.

 

[Netserk]

How is that unrealistic??? It's only a short section on a decently wide road with clear visibility. It's not high speed nor tricky. Compare that with the first descent in the Chorges ITT from the TdF '13...

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

How is that unrealistic??? It's only a short section on a decently wide road with clear visibility. It's not high speed nor tricky. Compare that with the first descent in the Chorges ITT from the TdF '13...

Yeah, I just was just thinking about some random riders and teams crying about rider's safety, but yeah, we've seen worse.

 

[jsem94]

Just a project I more or less finished a month ago but haven't bothered with the write-up until now.

UCI Road World Championships: Östersund (Sweden)

Östersund is one of the larger towns in Norrland, the northern two-thirds or so of Sweden. It feels like it's really far north but it's actually almost so that it can be considered the geographical midpoint of the country. It's also a city with quite the connection to winter sports. It has more or less the only real biathlon arena in Sweden and has great facilities for cross country skiing too.

Being an inland city, this means the weather can be quite a factor. This should be a few degrees colder than in Bergen, but wet days aren't as frequent as on the Norwegian coast. Probably not the most realistic of towns anyway, but anyway..

Starting with the ITT:

Women's Time Trial: 27.6km

Not much to say other than that the start location is the at the main square, Stortorget:

And the finish is at the biathlon arena:

Men's Time Trial: 47.8km

Same start and finish location. It was a bit tricky avoiding the highway and get an appropriate length for the two ITTs, but now that we've got that out of the way...


Östersund Circuit: 19.9km

Most of the circuit takes place on the island of Frösö. It's an island that is its own municipality but is just minutes away from the town of Östersund itself. The island is quite hilly and well surfaced and close to town which lends itself well to a circuit design.

The circuit has about 300m of elevation gain and is 19.9km long. The two climbs have the following stats:
Frösö kyrka: 1.9km @ 5.5% (10.6km to finish)
Frösöbacken: 1km @ 6.0% (5.4km to finish)

The road conditions are nice and the roads are fairly wide at all times, no real difficulty in that sense. The race could develop in a number of ways, but most likely it will be similar to Bergen.

Women's Road Race: 139.3 Km

Basically just seven laps on the circuit. No messing about.

Men's Road Race: 261.3km

A bit more interesting given the starting town of Åre. It's one of the more famous ski resorts in Sweden and has been the host of FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 1954, 2007 and will be host again in 2019. After a lengthy stretch of road though we find ourselves doing eight laps on the circuit before finishing.

Finishing straight looks something like this:

Östersund:

 

[May0maniac]

That looks like a nice WC, 2 climbs, both of them not too hard and the 2nd one ends with 5.4km to go, it should favour attacks more than the Bergen circuit.

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 18: Roti Garganico - Ortona; 162.8km

After 2 hard stages we have a stage that is mostly flat and could go to the sprinters.
Near the end we have the small climb to San Donato- Moro, 1.1km at 4.8% and after the following descent it's only 2.7km to go, so a late attack by a strong classics specialists could actually be successful.
The stage ends near the port of Ortona, most of the stage is alongside the coastline, so it's not a hard stage, wind could be a factor.
Like I said, it could go to a late attacker or it could end with a bunch sprint.
Ortona:

 

[May0maniac]

Giro stage 19: Lanciano - Campo Imperatore; 207.2km

This is the last MTF of the race and so I went for a long mountain stage.
Right at the start we have a snort descent and a bit of rolling terrain, then the climb to Orsogna starts, 6km at 4.9%, a solid first climb that is also a nice warm-up.
On top of the climb you have 7km of false flat/rolling terrain, then a short descent.
The first hard climb of the day starts almost right of the descent, Passo Lanciano.

It's a hard climb and a good first climb of the day, if we're lucky the breakaway will only form on this climb and the race will be pretty hard from the start.
After the long descent we have 35km of false flat, then the climb to Calascio starts, 13.6km at 6.1%, and right after a 3km long descent we get the Valico di Campo Serre climb, another decent climb, 8.9km at 5,4%.
On top of the climb we have around 17km of false flat/roling terrain, then the long descent starts.
After that the long Campo Imperatore/Gran Sasso d'Italia climb starts.
It's a lon climb that consists of 2 seperate climbs, first we have the Valico di Monte Cristo

After that we have 4km long, gentle descent, then the final part of the climb starts.

I know, there's the danger that nothing will happen until after the short descent, but it's a long, hard stage with over 5,350m of altitude gain, so fatigue will be a big factor and we should get decent gaps. It's also the Cima Coppi of my Giro, so we should see a few strong climbers on the attack for the prize and all those KoM points.
This isn't really the stage for long range attacks, but we still have stage 20 for that...

Campo Imperatore:

 

[fauniera]

GIRO D'ITALIA

(Sat) stage 13: Verona - Monte Baldo, 113 km

The weekend begins with a short but intensive mountain stage. The first two climbs are not too hard but should help establish the break of the day.

The stage will be decided on the ramps of Monte Baldo, a mountain range on the eastern shore of Lago di Garda.

Many roads lead to Monte Baldo, we take the southern approach. The climb labeled Rifugio Novezza (not quite sure this is the correct name) is 21,2 km long and can broken down to three parts. The first 10 km have an average gradient of 6%. This is followed by 3 km of flat and descent. The final 8,4 are 9,5% steep, including some bits of nearly 20%. This is a proper HC climb.

steep part:

descent:

After the descent we tackle the next climb, Bocca del Creer. It is a very regular climb (9,3 km at 6,2%).

only last 9,3 km:

The scenery is outstanding.

After a short descent to Bocca di Navene the final climb leads to the new gondola lift station on Tratto Spino (short video with breathtaking views). This final climb is 3,2 km long and 10% steep. The first 1,6 km are on tarmac on a small road.

The final 1,6 km are on sterrato.

I don't think too much will happen on Bocca del Creer. Either everyone waits for the final climb or there are serious attacks on the hardest climb of the day, Rifugio Novezza.

 

[May0maniac]

Stage 20: L'Aquila - Spoleto; 156km

This is the last gc relevant stage before the final parade stage.
The stage starts in L'Aquila and afteralmost 13km we have the first climb of the day, Valico Sella di Corno, not a hard climb, but a decent warm-up.

After the descent we have about 35km of false flat, then the big climb of the day starts, the pretty well known Sella di Leonessa.

After the long descent we have 10km of slightly downhill false flat, then the Forca Capistrello climb starts, not the hardest climb in the world.

The final climb of the day, Forca di Cerro, starts right after the long descent.

After the climb we have a descent that goes all the was to the finish line in Spoleto, it's not the most technical descent in the world.
The Leonessa- Capistrello-Cerro combination was already used in the 2007 Giro, that stage also finished in Spoleto, but you still had some false flat (a lap around the city) after the descent.

This time the stage is the final mountain stage of a gt and it comes right after a hard, +200km long mountain stage with over 5,300m of altitude gain, so we should see attacks.
If someone has a strong team and nothig to loose his teammates could infiltrate the breakaway and we could see gc action from far out, maybe already on the Sella di Leonessa ascent.