Tour de Slovaquie UCI 2.1 (12/09 - 16/09)

[virenque216]

Prologue - 12.09 - Poprad

http://www.okoloslovenska.com/photos/preview/web-01248ddac796b56d19af84d561.jpg

1st Stage - 13.09 - Poprad > Štrbské Pleso (MTF) - 7.4kg @ 4.6% - Tour de Pologne 2014 stage 5 finish probably

http://www.okoloslovenska.com/photos/preview/web-1cb85304d964bbbf55588946e7.jpg

2nd Stage - 14.09 - Ružomberok > Dubnica Nad Váhom

http://www.okoloslovenska.com/photos/preview/web-2a13196e9eee5dcf6e5cf6f2d8.jpg

3rd Stage 15.09 - Dubnica Nad Váhom > Nitra

http://www.okoloslovenska.com/photos/preview/web-3c08362c357ff6caee6a3bc9d5.jpg


4th Stage 16.09 - Nitra > Galanta

http://www.okoloslovenska.com/photos/preview/web-4bc8d910778ff145ab64babe11.jpg

Participating teams:
World Tour
BORA - HANSGROHE
QUICK - STEP FLOORS

Pro-Continental teams:
BARDIANI CSF
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE
COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
GAZPROM - RUSVELO
ROOMPOT - NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ

Continetal Teams:
ADRIA MOBIL
DUKLA BANSKÁ BYSTRICA
ELKOV - AUTHOR
MERIDIANA KAMEN TEAM
ONE PRO CYCLING
PANNON CYCLING TEAM
RIWAL CERAMICSPEED CYCLING TEAM
SYNERGY BAKU CYCLING PROJECT
TEAM HUROM
UNO-X NORWEGIAN DEVELOPMENT TEAM
WSA PUSHBIKERS

National Teams
BELGIUM U23

Previous winners:

2003 Ondřej Sosenka
2004 Piotr Chmielewski
2005 Martin Prázdnovský
2006 Radosław Romanik
2007 Joost van Leijen
2008 Kristoffer Gudmund Nielsen
2009 Leigh Howard
2010 Robert Vrečer
2011 Nikita Novikov
2012 Enrico Rossi
2013 Petr Vakoč
2014 Oleksandr Polivoda
2015 Davide Viganò
2016 Mauro Finetto
2017 Jan Tratnik

This is my very first thread created here on the forum and it is of my country's Tour de Slovaquie, which to my eyes has grown in recent years and this year perhaps attracts the highest quality field, perhaps on the back of Sagan mania and that there is some Slovakian sponsorship involved in both Bora and Quick Step, hence their presence at the race. Rumors are that at least Juraj Sagan will start this event.
The date has been moved from June to September to attract better quality field also some riders might take it as a good prep for the World Champs that will start just round the corner from Western Slovakia in Innsbruck.
It is highly unlikely there will be live TV coverage of this event which is a pity as it will pass stunning scenery of High and Low Tatra mountians.
We all hope that one day Peter Sagan might take some leadership of this event like Lang did in Poland and it will became a great cycling event in a beautiful mountainous unexplored Slovakia

 

[Dragontearz]

Since the race starts in September, why make a thread in April?

Anyway, I hope one day we will get a good quality tarmac all the way to Kráľova Hoľa. That would surely be an epic moment for all cycling fans, not just from Slovakia.

 

[railxmig]

I've spent more than i should in Slovakia and it can be a beautiful country if you know, where to look. I'm not sure if i like, what they did with this tour. I know it's a smaller race, but come on... Slovakia has more to offer and the size of this tour opens a number of possibilities (i guess it doesn't require too much space at the finish). I guess it's all about the money. I would personally try to put in some dirt tracks west of Košice, Chopok Juh after Čertovica sedlo and maybe also a cobbled uphill finish in Banská Štiavnica but that's of course my own fantasy draft.

 

[virenque216]

Re:

I am sorry if it is not appropriate to start the thread that early, the reason behind its that today organizers revealed the team list present and I thought it would be nice to have own thread of our race, as I don't think there was a separate thread for it in the past,although I have noticed some posts from other Slovaks on this thread.
I have been a big critic of the stage profile in recent years and I found them scandalously bad, having all 50km or more flat run ins. This race has had previous mountain top finishes and it was a let down by poor turnout,also because of poor marketing and amateurish organizing.

Now talking about Kralova Hola as a mountain top finish would be something, its 13.5km @ 8% finishing at 1970 metres above sea level, the first 7km is MTB wide path, then 5km very steep asphalt, I raced it in 2004 national MTB marathon champ. where I finished 16th, my best time was around 1h 10 mins up this iconic mountain,also my grandfather was born on the foothills of it in village Sumiac.
My hometown is about 45km south of it and hosted a stage finish when Kim Kirchen won the stage and they all came in scattered to the line as there are some incredible hills around our town, unfortunately it is poor and it is avoided, yet they are able to come up with such a scandalous profiles.
The cities are paying money to have stage finishes and organizers are in need for any extra penny to increase prize money and climb up the UCI level.

Since the race starts in September, why make a thread in April?

Anyway, I hope one day we will get a good quality tarmac all the way to Kráľova Hoľa. That would surely be an epic moment for all cycling fans, not just from Slovakia.

 

[RedheadDane]

Problem is that for such a relatively unknown race the thread will probably have been burried and forgotten by the time the race is actually about to start, forcing you to do the work all over again.

 

[virenque216]

Re:

Problem is that for such a relatively unknown race the thread will probably have been burried and forgotten by the time the race is actually about to start, forcing you to do the work all over again.

But we can bump it to the top once the startlist will be available few day before the race, I will put it on my reminder anyway

 

[dick the quick]

It looks like there are 2017 stage details in your OP, not 2018.

2018 possible route:
Predbežný itinerár Okolo Slovenska 2018:
Prológ, streda 12. septembra: Poprad > Poprad
1. etapa, štvrtok 13. septembra: Poprad > Štrbské Pleso (MTF)
2. etapa, piatok 14. septembra: Ružomberok > Dubnica Nad Váhom
3. etapa, sobota 15. septembra: Dubnica Nad Váhom > Nitra
4. etapa, nedeľa 16. septembra: Nitra > Galanta

 

[virenque216]

You were right, my mistake I have fixed it now, no profiles available yet, when they get available+ startlist I will bump this thread.

It looks like there are 2017 stage details in your OP, not 2018.

2018 possible route:
Predbežný itinerár Okolo Slovenska 2018:
Prológ, streda 12. septembra: Poprad > Poprad
1. etapa, štvrtok 13. septembra: Poprad > Štrbské Pleso (MTF)
2. etapa, piatok 14. septembra: Ružomberok > Dubnica Nad Váhom
3. etapa, sobota 15. septembra: Dubnica Nad Váhom > Nitra
4. etapa, nedeľa 16. septembra: Nitra > Galanta

 

[Libertine Seguros]

If they're going to Dubnica nad Vahom, then it's an absolute travesty we don't get this

(This is a loving recreation of the 1979 Course de la Paix stage won by Sergey Sukhoruchenkov, which was one of the most dominant climbing performances in the history of the race, he attacked from the gun with a select group, carried them over the first couple of climbs while doing almost all the work himself, collaborated on the flats before going solo on the penultimate climb and riding in almost 4 minutes ahead of anybody - backing up this exploit by winning again the following day over eight summits in Košice).

 

[railxmig]

Re:

If they're going to Dubnica nad Vahom, then it's an absolute travesty we don't get this

(This is a loving recreation of the 1979 Course de la Paix stage won by Sergey Sukhoruchenkov, which was one of the most dominant climbing performances in the history of the race, he attacked from the gun with a select group, carried them over the first couple of climbs while doing almost all the work himself, collaborated on the flats before going solo on the penultimate climb and riding in almost 4 minutes ahead of anybody - backing up this exploit by winning again the following day over eight summits in Košice).

I know you have a mad love for Sukhoruchenkov, but i wouldn't call it a "climbing" performance when the hardest climb is 7,6km@5,3%. But that's just semantics. However, getting such ridiculous time gains against what i assume was mainly a peloton composed of "tough" guys good on flats and rough terrain on such a "nothing" of a stage is an achievement of Merckx proportions.

 

[virenque216]

Re: Re:

If they're going to Dubnica nad Vahom, then it's an absolute travesty we don't get this

(This is a loving recreation of the 1979 Course de la Paix stage won by Sergey Sukhoruchenkov, which was one of the most dominant climbing performances in the history of the race, he attacked from the gun with a select group, carried them over the first couple of climbs while doing almost all the work himself, collaborated on the flats before going solo on the penultimate climb and riding in almost 4 minutes ahead of anybody - backing up this exploit by winning again the following day over eight summits in Košice).

I know you have a mad love for Sukhoruchenkov, but i wouldn't call it a "climbing" performance when the hardest climb is 7,6km@5,3%. But that's just semantics. However, getting such ridiculous time gains against what i assume was mainly a peloton composed of "tough" guys good on flats and rough terrain on such a "nothing" of a stage is an achievement of Merckx proportions.

The next stage from Banska Bystrica to Kosice in 1979 would have passed through my home region and there would have been some nice climbs on the way, is there a profile of that stage as well available somewhere? We had a local cycling club called TJ ELAN Roznava from where we had many participants in Course de la Paix,also we had a few national champions, unfortunately town pulled out from sponsoring it and club ceased existence in 2006. A year before that we had organized race called Cena Gemera which Peter Sagan won both criterium and road race the next day as a 15 year old, I was there as a part of course maintenance and partly helped with training cyclists from the same age group as Sagan but they were beaten by about 10 minutes in Road Race and were lapped 3 times by him in the criterium

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

I know you have a mad love for Sukhoruchenkov, but i wouldn't call it a "climbing" performance when the hardest climb is 7,6km@5,3%. But that's just semantics. However, getting such ridiculous time gains against what i assume was mainly a peloton composed of "tough" guys good on flats and rough terrain on such a "nothing" of a stage is an achievement of Merckx proportions.

Particularly mountainous stages were a rarity in the old Friedensfahrt though, it wasn't like the western amateur races he was winning. And he'd only been a late inclusion in the selection for the race, and all of his gains were on the climbs. I'd say it's similar in terms of its importance in the local cycling lore as Fuente on Formigal in 1972; compared to the climbs Tarangu was taming in the Giro, the Puerto de Monrepós and Formigal are pretty nothing climbs, but the way he laid down the law on the péloton climbing solo against them from way up the road was the stuff of legend, as well as raising the question that, if presented with a 'real' mountain stage, how much could he have won by?; similarly, Soukho used the first ramps of the day to force himself into the breakaway, carried them up all the climbs until he could carry them no further, and hit out for home, holding his advantage between the last two climbs and then extending it on the last climb.

 

[railxmig]

Re: Re:

I know you have a mad love for Sukhoruchenkov, but i wouldn't call it a "climbing" performance when the hardest climb is 7,6km@5,3%. But that's just semantics. However, getting such ridiculous time gains against what i assume was mainly a peloton composed of "tough" guys good on flats and rough terrain on such a "nothing" of a stage is an achievement of Merckx proportions.

Particularly mountainous stages were a rarity in the old Friedensfahrt though, it wasn't like the western amateur races he was winning. And he'd only been a late inclusion in the selection for the race, and all of his gains were on the climbs. I'd say it's similar in terms of its importance in the local cycling lore as Fuente on Formigal in 1972; compared to the climbs Tarangu was taming in the Giro, the Puerto de Monrepós and Formigal are pretty nothing climbs, but the way he laid down the law on the péloton climbing solo against them from way up the road was the stuff of legend, as well as raising the question that, if presented with a 'real' mountain stage, how much could he have won by?; similarly, Soukho used the first ramps of the day to force himself into the breakaway, carried them up all the climbs until he could carry them no further, and hit out for home, holding his advantage between the last two climbs and then extending it on the last climb.

Maybe i should wrote my previous post a bit different. My point was that Soukho was most probably more than just a climber if he managed to animate a race on what was mostly just a hilly stage and your praise was framed like he was just a climber, which i'm sure it's just a missunderstanding on my part. You need to have a monster engine on flat to win such a stage 4min ahead of anyone else. However, that's only very loosely related to the topic though.

 

[virenque216]

Quick Step provisional start team:

- Julian Alaphilippe, Niki Terpstra, Yves Lampaert, Zdenek Stybar, Bob Jungels, Davide Martinelli, Fabio Jakobsen

Bora Hansgrohe:

- Daniel Oss, Erik Baska, Felix Grossschartner, Cesare Benedetti, Matteo Pelucchi, Rüdiger Selig, Andreas Schininagel

That looks like the best field that ever raced on the Slovak soil

Full stage profiles added to the opening post, lots of climbing on the first 2 stages.
Stage 3 has a climb of Category 1(Skycov)- 3.7km @ 6.3% about 45km from the finish, may not be enough to prevent bunch sprint.

 

[tomorrow]

Re:

Quick Step provisional start team:

- Julian Alaphilippe, Niki Terpstra, Yves Lampaert, Zdenek Stybar, Bob Jungels, Davide Martinelli, Fabio Jakobsen

Bora Hansgrohe:

- Daniel Oss, Erik Baska, Felix Grossschartner, Cesare Benedetti, Matteo Pelucchi, Rüdiger Selig, Andreas Schininagel

That looks like the best field that ever raced on the Slovak soil

Full stage profiles added to the opening post, lots of climbing on the first 2 stages.
Stage 3 has a climb of Category 1(Skycov)- 3.7km @ 6.3% about 45km from the finish, may not be enough to prevent bunch sprint.

just to be sure, you do realise that basicaly every race has it's own definition of cat 1 climb? 3.7 km at 6.3 would probably by cat 3 at TDF. But overall, I think they made a good profile, which is quite good preparation for insbruck, so that's why the wolfpack is sending their start. And also there is the fact that thay have Slovak sponsor, which they want to honor.

 

[virenque216]

Re: Re:

just to be sure, you do realise that basicaly every race has it's own definition of cat 1 climb? 3.7 km at 6.3 would probably by cat 3 at TDF. But overall, I think they made a good profile, which is quite good preparation for insbruck, so that's why the wolfpack is sending their start. And also there is the fact that thay have Slovak sponsor, which they want to honor.[/quote]

I am quoting organizers ranking of the climbs which there are only 2. Unfortunately none of the climbs in this year's edition are very selective, even the mountain top finish in Strbske Pleso isn't too much to write home about gradient wise. Rumors are that only prologue will be televised by our national broadcaster which is quite poor. A lot to learn still in Slovakia about how to do cycling. We are not Belgium, Italy or France.

 

[virenque216]

https://www.cycling-info.sk/preteky/7016 Full start list. Great Quick Step line up. Start in 7 days.

 

[Tim Booth]

Re:

https://www.cycling-info.sk/preteky/7016 Full start list. Great Quick Step line up. Start in 7 days.

updates and backnumbers
http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=Mjg2NzU=

 

[tomorrow]

Re:

https://www.cycling-info.sk/preteky/7016 Full start list. Great Quick Step line up. Start in 7 days.

if they wanted, the BOTD for every stage could be just whole QS team

 

[dick the quick]

Jungels won the prologue, four Quickstep guys in top five.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

A shame Laporte didn't win. It would have been hillarous with 4 QS riders on spots 2-5.

Why is the race called Okolo Slovenska when it's in Slovakia?

 

[Keram]

Re:

A shame Laporte didn't win. It would have been hillarous with 4 QS riders on spots 2-5.

Why is the race called Okolo Slovenska when it's in Slovakia?

Because Slovensko = Slovakia :lol:

 

[Breh]

Jungels, Alaphilippe, Terpstra, Lampaert, Keisse, Stybar,.. Some very high profile names for such an unknown race in Slovakia with a very low profile startlist in general.

Why is Quick Step there anyway?

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

Jungels, Alaphilippe, Terpstra, Lampaert, Keisse, Stybar,.. Some very high profile names for such an unknown race in Slovakia with a very low profile startlist in general.

Why is Quick Step there anyway?

To win…

 

[krakenKE]

Re:

Jungels, Alaphilippe, Terpstra, Lampaert, Keisse, Stybar,.. Some very high profile names for such an unknown race in Slovakia with a very low profile startlist in general.

Why is Quick Step there anyway?

Because one of their sponsors is from Slovakia.