Tour des Fjords

[Dazed and Confused]

One of the oddest finishing straights I've seen for stage 2 - a speed bump 150m to go that could have lead to a spill.

The Giro would have been proud of that...

Katusha played the stage perfectly saving the men for the business end.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Tour des Fjords ‏@TourDesFjords 44s
This is about to come all together as Txurruka dangles alone ahead.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Tour des Fjords ‏@TourDesFjords 1m
Three man break DeMarchi Cannondale, Oomen Rabo and Valgren TinkoffSaxo.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Stage 3:
1 CORT NIELSEN MagnusCult Energy Vital Water4:11:09
2 VALGREN ANDERSEN MichaelTinkoff-Saxo,,
3 BAUGNIES JeromeWanty - Groupe Gobert,,
4 DE MAAR MarcUnitedHealthcare ,,
5 MARCATO MarcoCannondale ,,
6 DE MARCHI AlessandroCannondale ,,
7 OOMEN SamRabobank Development Team0:02
8 PIRES BrunoTinkoff-Saxo,,
9 BOCHMANN LasseCult Energy Vital Water,,
10 KRISTOFF AlexanderTeam Katusha 0:10

Cort is on fire.

 

[Bushman]

Cort is having a fantastic season thus far. He really has got a nose for winning races, unlike some of the other Danish talents that has come through the last couple of years.

 

[Butterhead]

Cort is having a fantastic season thus far. He really has got a nose for winning races, unlike some of the other Danish talents that has come through the last couple of years.

Normally I would agree with you, but right now I would give the youngsters coming out right now much more credit, they truly are special at the moment.

Cort is a phenomenon, and Valgren too, and to that, you can also add Lasse Norman Hansen, all 3 riders that without a doubt, will break through the sound barrier sooner or later, and likely sooner.

And there are so many other huge talents in Denmark atm, Marc Darby, Jesper Hansen, Patric Clausen, Mads Wurtz, Michael Carbel etc etc

Now I wonder who the lucky team will be who signs Cort from next season, was it Garmin who last year, also gave him an offer together with Lasse Norman?

 

[Bushman]

Normally I would agree with you, but right now I would give the youngsters coming out right now much more credit, they truly are special at the moment.

Cort is a phenomenon, and Valgren too, and to that, you can also add Lasse Norman Hansen, all 3 riders that without a doubt, will break through the sound barrier sooner or later, and likely sooner.

And there are so many other huge talents in Denmark atm, Marc Darby, Jesper Hansen, Patric Clausen, Mads Wurtz, Michael Carbel etc etc

Now I wonder who the lucky team will be who signs Cort from next season, was it Garmin who last year, also gave him an offer together with Lasse Norman?

Well, I was referring to some of the talents that has come through the pro ranks the last couple of years like Vinther, Mads Christensen etc. We surely do have an extraordinary pool of talent for the coming years.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Got to watch the stage somewhat sleepy last night, but the action was very good and kept me awake.

Dynamic and very hard to control with 6 man teams.

Today just look like a bunch sprint on paper, but maybe it will get out of control again.

GC before stage:
1 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Cult Energy Vital Water 13:04:51
2 Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 0:00:02
3 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff - Saxo 0:00:10
4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 0:00:13
5 Marco Marcato (Ita) Cannondale 0:00:16
6 Marc De Maar (Ned) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 0:00:16
7 Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør 0:00:18
8 Sam Oomen (Ned) Rabobank Development Team 0:00:19
9 Lasse Bochmann (Den) Cult Energy Vital Water 0:00:19
10 Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff - Saxo 0:00:19

Kristoff will fight back and give the locals something to cheer for methinks.

 

[Butterhead]

Got to watch the stage somewhat sleepy last night, but the action was very good and kept me awake.

Dynamic and very hard to control with 6 man teams.

Today just look like a bunch sprint on paper, but maybe it will get out of control again.

GC before stage:
1 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Cult Energy Vital Water 13:04:51
2 Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 0:00:02
3 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff - Saxo 0:00:10
4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 0:00:13
5 Marco Marcato (Ita) Cannondale 0:00:16
6 Marc De Maar (Ned) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 0:00:16
7 Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) Team Sparebanken Sør 0:00:18
8 Sam Oomen (Ned) Rabobank Development Team 0:00:19
9 Lasse Bochmann (Den) Cult Energy Vital Water 0:00:19
10 Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff - Saxo 0:00:19

Kristoff will fight back and give the locals something to cheer for methinks.

Where do you watch it from daze?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Where do you watch it from daze?

Here is stage 3 (60 minutes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzSH2AO5dKs

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Stage 4:
1 KRISTOFF AlexanderTeam Katusha 16204:27:20
2 CORT NIELSEN MagnusCult Energy Vital Water1112,,
3 ENGER Sondre HolstTeam Sparebanken Sør67,,
4 VALGREN ANDERSEN MichaelTinkoff-Saxo55,,
5 BAUGNIES JeromeWanty - Groupe Gobert44,,

Kristoff delivers.

GC:
1(1) CORT NIELSEN MagnusCult Energy Vital Water817:32:05
2(2) BAUGNIES JeromeWanty - Groupe Gobert0:08
3(4) KRISTOFF AlexanderTeam Katusha 0:09
4(3) VALGREN ANDERSEN MichaelTinkoff-Saxo0:16
5(7) ENGER Sondre HolstTeam Sparebanken Sør0:20
6(5) MARCATO MarcoCannondale 0:22
7(6) DE MAAR MarcUnitedHealthcare ,,
8(8) OOMEN SamRabobank Development Team0:25
9(17) DE MARCHI AlessandroCannondale 0:31
10(22) FORMOLO DavideCannondale 0:32

Last stage:

There is a circuit around Stavanger after this. Flat I think. Total 171km.

Not going to be that easy to control for Cort's team and he might have to make sure Kristoff doesn't hoover up all the bonus secs.

 

[maltiv]

Really good stage today, lots of attacks by Sondre Holst Enger and Formolo in particular, but Kristoff simply controlled everything himself and still had enough energy left to win the sprint. Quite impressive.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Really good stage today, lots of attacks by Sondre Holst Enger and Formolo in particular, but Kristoff simply controlled everything himself and still had enough energy left to win the sprint. Quite impressive.

Thanks, will watch it later.

 

[ToreBear]

They need a Norwegian climber to come to the fore so we can get a proper mountainous race, I get the feeling the Tour of Norway is kind of a Tour of the Oslofjord to stay close to population centres, and the parcours is designed to maximise the reasons for people like Kristoff and EBH to show up.

They have stages finishing in Drammen, which is very close to Oslo, and they could have a 1-2 of puncheur climbs with Hagatjern before Drammen then a Murito finish at Landfalltjernet (I think they might have finished at Landfalltjernet the year they were 2.2 and Wilco Kelderman won, but not since going pro). I've been begging for a finish at Holmenkollen or Tryvann - plenty of room, the climb is enough to make a difference on a flat to hilly race but not enough to make it a one-stage race, and it's on the Oslo T-bane. And even as a Tour of the Oslofjord it sadly doesn't make the best of the sights, and that's hardly the most scenic part of Norway either (even though I absolutely love Oslo).

Anyway, you know what this race needs? It's finishing around Stavanger, just down the road from Sandnes, which hosts the Blink Festival, with its summer skiing and biathlon events. And that travels out a bit for a hillclimb race called the Lysebotn Opp. It's a ludicrously beautiful climb from a village in the Lysefjord.

Unfortunately, however, the village at the bottom simply cannot be connected to anything else; this is the only road out, and so involving it in a genuine race would be nigh on impossible... however, an MTT...

The Lysebotn Opp only climbs as far as Øygarstøl, so only just over 7km. That in my opinion is good, because it's steep, but short enough that the gaps won't be such that there can't be good racing on the other stages with a few hills here and there - it's not a "win the TT win the race" or "win the mountaintop win the race" event.

Edit: also, anybody interested in seeing Norway in its purest beauty could watch this video. They famously broadcast the view from a Hurtigruten cruise ship, non-stop, and broke all kinds of viewing figure records in Norway. This video condenses it into one 37-minute chunk. I was in Norway at the time it was being broadcast, and can vouch for the hypnotic power of it. It was really nice after being out for an evening to come back in, chill out with a drink you hadn't had to pay a ludicrous amount for, and relax in front of some mesmerising scenery.

Yep that would be a great MTT. But the area is perhaps more Tour de Fjords territory(Not that they can't share).

Forsand the town where they finished Fridays stage is at the inlet to Lysefjorden, 35 km to Lysebotn with the ferry from Forsand.

Come to think of it, Lysebotn could also host the start of a stage. It might need some creativity to ensure the climbers don't wait at the top for their rolleurs, but it could be done since the roads continue over the top.

I don't think it's realistic before Norway has some very good climbers since there would be less local interest in the race. But there are some that might be able to come trough. Svendsen of course is one, and I was very impressed with Odd Christian Eiking in the Tour of Norway. Both are born in 1994, so they might need a few years.

Also there are probably others. I think Maltiv has some idea of possible future climbers.

Let's say within the next 5 years we might get a Lysebotn Up stage for cycling.

 

[ToreBear]

I'm looking forward to todays stage. The GC is still open. with Baugnies at +8 and Kristoff at +9, and Cort Nielsen only has 3 team mates left in the race. There is no way they can control the race.

IIRC the bonus at the finish is 10,6 and 4. But I think there are also sprint bonuses....


I predict another unpredictable stage.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I was expecting that it would be for the Tour des Fjords due to location. Otherwise I'd have been suggesting Trollstigen, Dalsnibba, Juvashytta MTTs... however they are all probably too long/tough for such a race as the gaps opened by them would be definitive.

Ideally if they could get an extra day or two for the Tour of Norway they could do it running from somewhere like Trondheim or Molde to Oslo. Have a loop stage in the start city, a puncheur stage/medium uphill finish somewhere like Dombås (puncheur finish in town or 2nd cat climb type finish at the ski stadium), the Lillehammer stage arriving from the north, a couple of transitional or flatter stages into and around the Oslofjord, then an ITT and then a final stage to Oslo.

If they want a sprint in Oslo, put a puncheur finish somewhere like Drammen or Hønefoss; but these can be removed if they want to go with what I want, which is a Holmenkollen or Tryvann finish.

That would leave a medium mountain-ish type race; not totally outside the range of EBH and definitely not outside the range of Nordhaug. Format: 1-Flat/hilly (depending on area), 2-puncheur 3-intermediate but with descent+flat to finish 4-flat 5-flat to slightly hilly, possibly puncheur 6-ITT 7-intermediate with uphill finish

Edit: or possibly better, have a prologue ITT, shift stages 1-5 along one so they are stages 2-6, and then have an ITT from Karl Johans Gate to Vinterpark Tryvann, so half flat half MTT!

 

[ToreBear]

I was expecting that it would be for the Tour des Fjords due to location. Otherwise I'd have been suggesting Trollstigen, Dalsnibba, Juvashytta MTTs... however they are all probably too long/tough for such a race as the gaps opened by them would be definitive.

Ideally if they could get an extra day or two for the Tour of Norway they could do it running from somewhere like Trondheim or Molde to Oslo. Have a loop stage in the start city, a puncheur stage/medium uphill finish somewhere like Dombås (puncheur finish in town or 2nd cat climb type finish at the ski stadium), the Lillehammer stage arriving from the north, a couple of transitional or flatter stages into and around the Oslofjord, then an ITT and then a final stage to Oslo.

If they want a sprint in Oslo, put a puncheur finish somewhere like Drammen or Hønefoss; but these can be removed if they want to go with what I want, which is a Holmenkollen or Tryvann finish.

That would leave a medium mountain-ish type race; not totally outside the range of EBH and definitely not outside the range of Nordhaug. Format: 1-Flat/hilly (depending on area), 2-puncheur 3-intermediate but with descent+flat to finish 4-flat 5-flat to slightly hilly, possibly puncheur 6-ITT 7-intermediate with uphill finish

Edit: or possibly better, have a prologue ITT, shift stages 1-5 along one so they are stages 2-6, and then have an ITT from Karl Johans Gate to Vinterpark Tryvann, so half flat half MTT!

I wish you were responsible for designing the races!

 

[maltiv]

Kristoff wins the last stage ahead of Trusov and Van Asbroeck, which means that he also won the GC 1 second ahead of Cort Nielsen.

That puts Kristoff up to 9 victories so far this year, which means that he's the (male) rider with most victories this season.

 

[Butterhead]

Kristoff wins the last stage ahead of Trusov and Van Asbroeck, which means that he also won the GC 1 second ahead of Cort Nielsen.

That puts Kristoff up to 9 victories so far this year, which means that he's the (male) rider with most victories this season.

well, besides MSR of course its not that impressive when you look at the wins.

 

[RedheadDane]

Kristoff wins the last stage ahead of Trusov and Van Asbroeck, which means that he also won the GC 1 second ahead of Cort Nielsen.

DAMN!

Second for a young gun like Magnus isn't shappy at all.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

K.

That puts Kristoff up to 9 victories so far this year, which means that he's the (male) rider with most victories this season.

There was a time when everyone would have thought you were nuts if you'd said Kristoff would have this kind of season.