Tour of the Alps 2023 (April 17-21)

[Devil's Elbow]

The main Giro prep event, without the two main Giro contenders but with a solid field otherwise. After last year's disappointing route, the organisation has elected for something much harder this year - all five stages are potential GC days.

Startlist

The route

Stage 1: Rattenberg - Alpbach, 127.5k
The first stage of the race is both the shortest and the only one solely on Austrian soil. That doesn't mean it's an easy start, to the contrary - between the steep final KOM and the little wall to the finish line, the GC battle will kick off immediately.

Spoiler: Route details

The first half of the stage is as easy as it gets in this race, then the real climbing gets underway with the first KOM of the race, Brandenberg.

Its descent is interrupted by the short, but steep climb to Aschau.

After a bit of flat and the easy climb to Reith im Alpbachtal, it's time for the most important climb of the day. Kerschbaumer Sattel has never been used in a pro race before to the best of my knowledge, excited to see that change here.

After a short, but fairly narrow descent, the riders turn onto the main road through the Alpbachtal, gradually climbing until they turn left at 1.2k to go, onto a little wall. The gradients peter out in the final, twisting hectometres.

Stage 2: Reith im Alpbachtal - Ritten/Renon, 165.2k
The longest stage of the race (yes, really) takes the peloton across the border into Südtirol, where something that's not quite an MTF awaits.

Spoiler: Route details

Aside from the same climb to Reith im Alpbachtal as used yesterday, the opening fifth of the stage is straigthforward. That changes when the riders hit the tricky, irregular, yet uncategorised climb to Tulfes.

There is no descent, but a rolling section onto another uncategorised climb, labeled as the Olimpia Climb in the roadbook. It's the profile below from Lans onwards.

From there, it's a direct route to the Brenner and with it Italy, taking in the final 16.9k of the profile below (from Matrei am Brenner onwards).

After a long descent (mostly just a false flat) into Brixen/Bressanone, the climbing restarts, yet there are still no KOM points available. The climb to Feldthurns/Velturno is pretty decent, though.

The moderately technical descent backs almost immediately into the day's categorised climbing. The riders do the first 13.3k of the profile below, as far as the junction to Bozen/Bolzano. The climb has been broken up into two KOMs, at Barbian/Barbiano and Mittelberg. After the short descent and some minor uphills, the riders leave the profile.

From there, there are only 300 metres to go, starting by turning left at a roundabout for a weird and technical finish. There are 100 metres of slight downhill, a chicane onto the speed skating track of Collalbo, used for World Cups and European Championships, most recently in 2019. On the track, there are 60 straight metres, 80 metres in which a 180-degree turn is made, and then a final straight of a whopping 60 metres.

Stage 3: Ritten/Renon - Brentonico San Valentino, 162.5k
The MTF, and it's a big one. The route is too hard for a stage win here to guarantee the overall victory, but of course it's still the most important stage of the race.

Spoiler: Route details

After a downhill start, the riders get to enjoy a long, mostly flat section down the Adige/Etsch valley, through Bozen/Bolzano and Trento, before turning left onto the only real climb that comes before the MTF. Lago di Cei, climbed from the opposite side compared to last year's Giro Donne stage where Van Vleuten smoked everyone, is a pretty significant one, though.

The descent gives way to another flat section, then it's time for the final climb, San Valentino. It's the exact same climb as the one used in the Sega di Ala stage of the 2021 Giro, except that there are 250 metres of false flat following the end of the profile below.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Stage 4: Rovereto - Predazzo, 152.9k
The queen stage in terms of elevation gain. A lot of it comes early on, though.

Spoiler: Route details

A big uphill start for the first time, and it's also one of the hardest climbs of the race as a whole. The hard side of Passo di Sommo, much of which overlaps with the decisive Passo Coè MTF of the 2002 Giro, could cause chaos early on.

This is followed by the climb to Lago Santa Colomba.

The next two climbs are uncategorised, but far from easy. The first one, Maso Roncador, has a sprint part way up in Palù di Giovo, the village that is the hometown of both the Moser clan and Gilberto Simoni.

After a rolling section and a brief descent, the latter of these climbs, to Segonzano, follows.

This is followed by the easiest part of the stage, into the Val di Fiemme, where the final climb of the day, Passo Pramadiccio starts. All profiles I could find only contain the section on the main road from the roundabout in Cavalese onwards, but here, this is preceded by the Salita della Cascata, the classic final climb of the famous Marcialonga nordic skiing gran fondo. This lengthens the climb by over 2 kilometres whilst increasing the average gradient, making for a pretty hard test.

The summit comes with 15k to go, from where we have an easy descent (most of which is familiar from Pampeago MTFs, as the road is also the first half of that climb) and a flat finale. The profile suggests a bit of uphill near the end, but this is never steeper than 3% (and often less).

Stage 5: Cavalese - Bruneck/Brunico, 144.5k
The last stage of the race is oddly symmetrical, with difficult climbs at the start and end of the stage with little in between.

Spoiler: Route details

The climbing starts immediataly with the Passo Lavazè, the highest point of this year's edition. The first 70% of the climb was also part of Passo di Pramadiccio, but it's after that that things are at their steepest.

After the descent, we have an endless trek up the Etsch/Adige and Puster/Pusteria valleys, which are separated by the easy, uncategorised climb to Schabs/Sciaves. Finally, the riders leave the valley for the climb to Pfalzen/Falzes, the same as used as a finish in the 2012 Giro.

The easy descent takes us into Bruneck/Brunico, through the finish line. From here, it's one lap of a circuit containing the final climb of the race, and it's a brutally steep one to Mühlbach/Riomolino. This is the hard side, the one descended in the 1997 Giro stage. The profile below includes the ensuing rolling plateau.

The tricky descent lasts until about 6k to go, from where it's a largely flat run-in, although the final straight is slightly uphill. It should be a worthy finale.

 

[houtdffan]

is Zomengnan doing the categorizations?

The mountains classifications are beyond a joke. Many climbs that should be counting are not

 

[Rob5091]

Only one man to watch - Pozzovivo!

 

[nightowl]

What a brutal parcours for a 5-day race - can we put whoever dreamt this up in charge of more stage races please

 

[Mayomaniac]

The climb up to Klobenstein is really irregular, ramps up to 15%.
Partially really narrow roads with lots of twists and turns. You have to be really careful descending that way because of cars coming the other way (in some parts it's that narrow). How the bus drivers manage to drive there every day without too many incidents happening is a mystery to me.

The final stage is great, that climb is brutal.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It's definitely a great route. I wouldn't have minded a TTT or ITT like in the past, but the riders can of course get plenty of that in Romandie instead.

A Pozzovivo win would be nice. It's been 10 years since an Italian last won the race, so it's about time.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Val di Fiemme and Salita della Cascata

 

[Poursuivant]

Always a beautiful race

 

[Rob5091]

Ineos versus Bora for the GC it looks like to me. Although EF have Uran & Carthy.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Val di Fiemme and Salita della Cascata

The Ritten stage also finishes inside the speedskating arena.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

is Zomengnan doing the categorizations?

The mountains classifications are beyond a joke. Many climbs that should be counting are not

By the standards of this race, the categorisations are great. I remember that they did Hofmahdjoch/Passo Castrin, a clear HC and easily the hardest climb of the race, in 2021, and it went uncategorised.

 

[Netserk]

Just some false flat!

 

[RedheadDane]

is Zomengnan doing the categorizations?

The mountains classifications are beyond a joke. Many climbs that should be counting are not

It nicely balances out the cases with "climbs" that shouldn't be counting, but are.

 

[geisterhome]

Love tough profiles but damn anyone going all in here for the overall victory won't have much left for the Giro.

 

[KZD]

Love tough profiles but damn anyone going all in here for the overall victory won't have much left for the Giro.

There is still plenty of time to recover for the Giro.

Ineos has the strongest team on paper but I think Vlasov should be the strongest rider.

 

[Sciatic]

We need an Incognito Nairito to show up.

 

[SafeBet]

We need an Incognito Nairito to show up.

Santi Buitrago will make his best impression.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

By the standards of this race, the categorisations are great. I remember that they did Hofmahdjoch/Passo Castrin, a clear HC and easily the hardest climb of the race, in 2021, and it went uncategorised.

Hehe, that made me laugh… TotA doesn‘t even categorize some really tough climbs. And at 2023 Tour of San Juan, there was an epic KOM spot: 0,2 kilometers with 0,5% average gradient. That was one of the funniest things I ever saw. Pure comedy… lol

Today, at TotA, there will be a climb, 5,2 kms, 10,2% average, and listed Category 2…

 

[Salvarani]

Love tough profiles but damn anyone going all in here for the overall victory won't have much left for the Giro.

Top 3 in recent years here has done pretty well in the Giro afterwards.

Yates finished 3rd in the Giro. Nibali 2nd. Sivakov finished 9th, which was a good results for him at the time.

Bardet was 4th on GC in the Giro, when he had to abandon last year.

Pinot was good in both 2017 and 2018, until he got sick.

If anything it is a good indicator for the Giro. You dont want to be too far behind here, even though that can be very dependant on the individual too. For some it could just be training as well.

 

[Rob5091]

Ineos have Hart and Arensman for the GC apparently, which will deprive us of the 4 team mates fighting each other. Thomas is obviously still having problems as he's here for training purposes only.
As for stage profiles, the Vuelta's are always good for a laugh, but remember the classifications have nothing to do with how hard the climbs are. It's just how many points will be dished out along the way. In theory there could be KOM points on valley floors if the organizers think it will spice up the competition.

 

[tobydawq]

Hehe, that made me laugh… TotA doesn‘t even categorize some really tough climbs. And at 2023 Tour of San Juan, there was an epic KOM spot: 0,2 kilometers with 0,5% average gradient. That was one of the funniest things I ever saw. Pure comedy… lol

Today, at TotA, there will be a climb, 5,2 kms, 10,2% average, and listed Category 2…

One of the few climbs Sagan survived in his final season.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Breakaway of the day:

1		36	SAMITIER Sergio
2		56	PARET-PEINTRE Valentin
3		145	HAILEMICHAEL Mulu Kinfe
4		154	GAROSIO Andrea
5		156	MARTÍN Alex
6		173	VERMEULEN Moran

Some interesting riders, Hailemichael is an Ethiopian, Rujano sized lightweight climber, Valentin is the lesser known P-P and Moran is the older brother of the Austrian XC skier Mika Vermeulen (their parents are Dutch).

 

[Rob5091]

I was hoping Team Austria would show up in the break. The man with 'tache, Schönberger or the man himself who gave us the phrase, "to do a Pöstelberger" (for those that remember it).

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

Rough route for a 5 day race. They're lucky it wasn't last week with all the snow fall in the Alps, would've been a brutal race. Now it got warmer so they should be fine.