Tour of Denmark 2019

[tobydawq]

Here is a list (in Danish):
http://climbs.dk/index.html

The general consensus is probably that the climb from Vang (on Bornholm island) is the toughest in Denmark, if you consider length and average gradient

It's a fun climb but it has one very significant problem: There is no way to get to the bottom without descending the climb itself.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

It's a fun climb but it has one very significant problem: There is no way to get to the bottom without descending the climb itself.

Oh yeah, it would never work properly in a race. Have you climbed it?

 

[Danskebjerge]

I also prefer Tour of Denmark over BinckBank these days. At least ToD doesn't have four pancake flat stages.

Imagine having all the best riders from the cobbled and Ardennes classics here to compete. Could be an elite race with Wellens, Naesen, GVA, Sagan, Alaphillipe, WVA, MVDP and co.

The "Ardennes stage" would obviously be held in Vejle.



The "Flanders stage" could take place in Aabenraa. The cobbled climb Dimen isn't as long as Kappelmuur but the stones are more Roubaix-esque.
.

Comparable to Molenberg. Dimen might have worse cobblestones, though.

 

[Danskebjerge]

What a remarkably idiotic way to show the sprint.

Also, really unlucky for Vingegaard that the Sport Vlaanderen rider saw fit to pass him and then blow, forcing Vingegaard out in the grass to pass him back.

A disastrous decision by the camera man to zoom in on the leading rider the last 100 meters. That's just not the way to do it.

 

[tobydawq]

Oh yeah, it would never work properly in a race. Have you climbed it?

Yes, I was on holiday on Bornholm five years ago and rented a bike one day to try many of the hardest climbs over there. It was a nice ride.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Oh yeah, it would never work properly in a race. Have you climbed it?

It's been used for the hill time trial of Bornholm for half a century.

View: https://youtu.be/gZm_ecdi2oE

 

[Cance > TheRest]

It's been used for the hill time trial of Bornholm for half a century.

View: https://youtu.be/gZm_ecdi2oE

I know (a young Magnus Cort still has the record?), but in an actual stage, it can only be used as a starting climb, where it will have no effect,

 

[Danskebjerge]

What I'll probably never understand: The hills of the Tour of Denmark make it impossible for sprinters to win the GC overall, and yet many Danes keep saying that the terrain is not challenging enough. It's really weird. Maybe it's because these people don't have an insight into other one week stage races and compare the Tour of Denmark to the Dauphiné and Paris-Nice which is of course absurd. Or maybe it's just the good old love of distancing oneself to what seems too easy to identify with.

 

[Velolover2]

I really like your stage creation. Which is the hardest climb in Denmark?

Shouldn't they have enough climbs in the Ardennes not to have to circle around the same ones all the time in the Bink Bank Tour

Thank you!

Officially, the hardest climb is on an island located far away from mainland Denmark. I don't know if that really counts.

The three main climbs (Munkebjerg, Østergård Hill & Højen Hill) on my list compatible to the hardest climbs in Amstel but nothing like the real Ardennes.

But as Simurgh stated, there is properly more potential for a hilly one-day or a road WC race in Vejle than an elite week-long race in Denmark.

It's possible to make a one-day race with the almost the same amount of climbing as Liège-Bastogne-Liège if you make it over 250 km.

 

[geisterhome]

Thank you!

Officially, the hardest climb is on an island located far away from mainland Denmark. I don't know if that really counts.

The three main climbs (Munkebjerg, Østergård Hill & Højen Hill) on my list compatible to the hardest climbs in Amstel but nothing like the real Ardennes.

But as Simurgh stated, there is properly more potential for a hilly one-day or a road WC race in Vejle than an elite week-long race in Denmark.

It's possible to make a one-day race with the almost the same amount of climbing as Liège-Bastogne-Liège if you make it over 250 km.

That would be quite a nice 1 day race.

 

[RedheadDane]

Officially, the hardest climb is on an island located far away from mainland Denmark. I don't know if that really counts

That island is also known as Bornholm.
Unless you mean Greenland, and that would definitely be impractical/impossible.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Thank you!

Officially, the hardest climb is on an island located far away from mainland Denmark. I don't know if that really counts.

The three main climbs (Munkebjerg, Østergård Hill & Højen Hill) on my list compatible to the hardest climbs in Amstel but nothing like the real Ardennes.

But as Simurgh stated, there is properly more potential for a hilly one-day or a road WC race in Vejle than an elite week-long race in Denmark.

It's possible to make a one-day race with the almost the same amount of climbing as Liège-Bastogne-Liège if you make it over 250 km.

If repetitive climbs are used (more than they are now), you could design a five stage race with one TT, one sprint stage (Copenhagen) and three hilly stages fully comparable to Amstel Gold Race just by keeping the finish lines of this year's race and removing the initial flat parts of those three stages.

 

[tobydawq]

That island is also known as Bornholm.
Unless you mean Greenland, and that would definitely be impractical/impossible.

Let's just see how long we get to keep that

 

[Velolover2]

If repetitive climbs are used (more than they are now), you could design a five stage race with one TT, one sprint stage (Copenhagen) and three hilly stages fully comparable to Amstel Gold Race just by keeping the finish lines of this year's race and removing the initial flat parts of those three stages.

Exactly. Or perhaps you could start the race in Frederiksberg with a short prologue that includes "Valby Bakke" and make four different classics test.

I made a 13 km loop with Hjarupvej + Dimen + Jørgen Skovvej. Imagine spicing it up with some gravel roads before they hit the laps.

Dimen is as you stated comparable to Molenberg but the stones are more like something you'll see in Paris-Roubaix. Or something in between Ronde and Roubaix pavé. The Flemish cobbles tend to be more linear.

If such a hill doesn't split the peloton, nothing does.

 

[roundabout]

What I'll probably never understand: The hills of the Tour of Denmark make it impossible for sprinters to win the GC overall, and yet people keep saying that the terrain is not challenging enough. It's really weird. Maybe it's because these people don't have an insight into other one week stage races and compare the Tour of Denmark to the Dauphiné and Paris-Nice which is of course absurd. Or maybe it's just the good old love of distancing oneself to what seems too easy to identify with.

With a shorter TT Breschel could have probably won a couple of times, so it's a case of the ITT beong too long

One a more serious note, I think Bennati nearly won once as well, but Gerrans did a better ITT which decided the race

 

[Danskebjerge]

The final time up Åsevangsvej on stage 4, Tour of Denmark 2019:

View: https://youtu.be/yB9fsK1YeJA

 

[Danskebjerge]

With a shorter TT Breschel could have probably won a couple of times, so it's a case of the ITT beong too long

One a more serious note, I think Bennati nearly won once as well, but Gerrans did a better ITT which decided the race

Fabrizio Guidi maybe, but that's back in 1996, and before the Kiddesvej stage became a part of the race.

 

[RedheadDane]

BTW, this is the first time I've ever heard Duijn be referred to as "Hubertus".

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Let's just see how long we get to keep that

It's just a matter of renaming the race to "Donald Trump's Great Tour of Denmark". He's not an unreasonable man.

 

[search]

BTW, this is the first time I've ever heard Duijn be referred to as "Hubertus".

same for me. Hubertus Martinus Cornelis Duijn, to be precisely

 

[RedheadDane]

same for me. Hubertus Martinus Cornelis Duijn, to be precisely

'Cornelis' too?
(If so I hope to see him in a breakaway with Marinus Cornelis "Marco" Minnaard some day.)

 

[el chava]

Yeah, there really is a potential of a hilly one-day race in Vejle and its surroundings - I read a while ago that the Deputy Major of Vejle municipality wants to launch a one-day race if the Grand Depart in 2021 goes as well as expected. And I think if done right, it could to a degree replicate the success of Strade Bianche, even though I certainly recognize that the popularity is generated by the fact, that Strade is a unique race, especially because of its sterrati.

Would be incredible if this idea will materialize. They can scrap the TOD on the same occasion, even as this year's edition has been allright so far, it always feels a bit provincial.

 

[RedheadDane]

Would be incredible if this idea will materialize. They can scrap the TOD on the same occasion, even as this year's edition has been allright so far, it always feels a bit provincial.

Why would you suggest something like that? ToD isn't the biggest race, but it doesn't have to be.

 

[el chava]

Why would you suggest something like that? ToD isn't the biggest race, but it doesn't have to be.

Generally I have a lukewarm feeling for most stage races, unless they are the big three, or Tour of the Basque Country.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

That island is also known as Bornholm.
Unless you mean Greenland, and that would definitely be impractical/impossible.

But I bet a great stage 1 could be held in the Faroes, if they were willing to have the transport expenses and have a rest day.