Tour of Beijing - 5th October to 9th October

[Waterloo Sunrise]

If Tony Martin gives it his best he might win, or even Bobridge, but Boom is the favourite I guess.

Dowsett recently beat Boom on a similar length and profile. Also interested to see how Froome goes, after his Vuelta TT.

 

[roundabout]

I've read that the TT will be on the road bikes so might be some slight surprises.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

But I'll remain skeptical.

Bit early to be writing your epitaph.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

I've read that the TT will be on the road bikes so might be some slight surprises.

Ha, the world tour tag becomes even sillier.

 

[rgmerk]

It's kinda a shame, there are plenty of more than adequate climbs to do a decent race near Beijing.

But then, I'm not sure I'd want to breathe any more of the horribly polluted air in greater Beijing than I had to. It's truly foul.

 

[Tank Engine]

For the GC, since there are no bonuses at the finishes I'd go for 1. Martin, 2. Froome, 3. Boom, 4. Millar. The Euskaltel team looks interesting. I guess they'll go for it on Stage 3, but it doesn't look that hard. With the TT, Samu should do well.

Stage 3 looks ideal for Sagan. Will Saganette be anything like his big brother?

The parcours seems rather meh. If it were a bit harder, it might be good preparation for Lombardy, but the travelling would not help.

 

[mb2612]

For the GC, since there are no bonuses at the finishes I'd go for 1. Martin, 2. Froome, 3. Boom, 4. Millar. The Euskaltel team looks interesting. I guess they'll go for it on Stage 3, but it doesn't look that hard. With the TT, Samu should do well.

Stage 3 looks ideal for Sagan. Will Saganette be anything like his Little brother?

FTFY-10char

 

[Nielsa]

Stage 3 looks ideal for Sagan. Will Saganette be anything like his big brother?

Juraj is actually a year older than Peter. (But maybe you made a joke and it went way over my head...)

 

[The Hitch]

No worries. Cycling expert Phil Ligget made this mistake during Colorado

 

[theyoungest]

I've read that the TT will be on the road bikes so might be some slight surprises.

That's even better for Boom. I also notice lots of corners on the map.

 

[craig1985]

I'll be interested in why EE are sending most of their big guns to China when it doesn't really suit them, I would have thought that getting 2 stages win in the Giro, and one each in both the Tour and the Vuelta would at least give them some breathing space when it comes to WT rankings.

 

[auscyclefan94]

SBS will be showing all stages live on the Cycling Central Website. Feed should start at around 4:00pm and finish at around 7:30pm.

 

[Nielsa]

I'll be interested in why EE are sending most of their big guns to China when it doesn't really suit them, I would have thought that getting 2 stages win in the Giro, and one each in both the Tour and the Vuelta would at least give them some breathing space when it comes to WT rankings.

It didn't. http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?p=693300#post693300
So they do need to scramble for WT points.

 

[Michele]

Remember Fuyu Li?
It seems he will ride for the national team (he's working as trainer/team manager of his region's cycling team).

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I'll be interested in why EE are sending most of their big guns to China when it doesn't really suit them, I would have thought that getting 2 stages win in the Giro, and one each in both the Tour and the Vuelta would at least give them some breathing space when it comes to WT rankings.

Unfortunately there are far too many races that pay WT points that are either undeserving of such status, woefully unsuited to Euskaltel's roster, or both.

 

[Tank Engine]

FTFY-10char

Cheers. Question answered then.

 

[MADRAZO]

Its happening, after threats of boycotts and various other nonsense, the inaugural Tour of Beijing is the last stage race event on the World Tour Calendar.

Stage One – Wednesday 5th October
Individual Time Trial – 11.3km
Bird’s Nest – Water Cube via Olympic Park circuit

Stage Two – Thursday 6th October
137km
Bird’s Nest to Men Tou Gou via North Gate of Summer Palace

The stage 2 profile looks a bit different on the official homepage, with the small hills looking more steep (something like 1 km at 10% it seems) and a little hill in the finishsprint, but same stagelenght, where have you found your profile, and does anyone know which is the correct?

http://www.tourofbeijing.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Profile-Stage-Two.pdf

 

[Anonymous]

The stage 2 profile looks a bit different on the official homepage, with the small hills looking more steep (something like 1 km at 10% it seems) and a little hill in the finishsprint, but same stagelenght, where have you found your profile, and does anyone know which is the correct?

http://www.tourofbeijing.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Profile-Stage-Two.pdf

changing it now, theyve gone and changed the route since last week when i got the maps from the site and the roadbook.

Not sure why.

 

[MADRAZO]

changing it now, theyve gone and changed the route since last week when i got the maps from the site and the roadbook.

Not sure why.

Okay thanks, at least the new profile looks a bit more interesting

 

[cineteq]

Got a quick look to the participants...hmmm...besides T. Martin, who else can win it?

Btw, are they time bonuses?

 

[Lupetto]

Got a quick look to the participants...hmmm...besides T. Martin, who else can win it?

Btw, are they time bonuses?

No bonuses.

 

[joy118118]

Personally, struggling to get any enthusiasm up for this one. Expect the crowds to be state organised, very polite flag wavers with about 3 levels of barriers between the riders and the crowd.

Pretty much every stage will come down to a sprint (assume there are time bonus's but nobody seems to know.

That said, im sure it will be the most organised efficient race of the season.

at least no organized crowds tomorrow. they not allow anyone on the course, though Alain Rumpf, the director of Global Cycling Promotion of tour of beijing assured me anyone could watch races on the course.

 

[hatcher]

I've seen no live cycling since the WC, so I'm excited regardless of the parcours.

 

[JRanton]

No bonuses.

Someone should tell Chris Froome and Sky that then: http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,23107_7220501,00.html

He thinks there are time bonuses available and that a sprinter will win the GC. Says he'll probably be used as a domestique during the race.

 

[Lupetto]

The official twitter account of the race:

TourofBeijing Tour of Beijing @ @pvdploeg @alainrumpf Hi Philip. The maps are online at tourofbeijing.net. The Roadbook will also be up shortly. No time bonuses.

Can't find an official règlement.