USAPCC Stage 5: Steamboat Springs to Breckenridge, 170.2km (27/8/2011)

[benpounder]

This is Breckenridge:

And at 9600ft (2926m) it is like this a good part of the year.

But not today! Let’s start with the official map and profile.

Contrary to what you may think based on the profile, this stage will be a GC battle. Starting off with the nasty Rabbit Ears pass just outside of Steamboat, the race then faces many kilometers of rolling and very exposed high country tundra.

Rabbit Ears Pass:

As with yesterday’s stage, if the prevailing winds are blowing, from the summit of Muddy Creek over the second crossing of the Colorado River just outside Kremmling and up the Blue River Valley to Silverthorne, they will be side winds. And the roads are well suited for echelons.

 

[benpounder]

The first move real move will be made by domestiques just after the peloton crosses underneath I70 in Silverthorne. While short, this will not be an easy pitch. After summiting at Dillon turnoff, the road is wide-open and usually windswept across the east end of Lake Dillon till the big right turn onto Swan Mountain Road.

This is a two pitch short climb; and it will decimate the peloton. As it is the last place for the GC lads to make up time, I suspect it will be ridden by the leaders in big rings.

Swan Mountain:

Following the summit is a very technical but short descent followed by a really nasty left-hander onto Colo 9 leading back into Breckenridge.

Map of the last 7 miles:

I’ve ridden this stretch numerous times – it is uphill, and usually into the wind. Given what I expect to happen over Swan Mountain, this will be an epic and drawn out sprint by… GC contenders. The finish is fairly straight forward, detouring off of North Main Street as the race enters Breckenridge with an easy right-hander, then around the old-town areas only to pop back onto Main Street at the south end of town. It is a mere 700m slightly downhill to the finish-line in the beautiful former government seat of the Kingdom of Breckenridge. The battle for overall GC will be decided on this finish line.

Profile of the last 7 miles:

Here is the color coordinated full profile showing gradients:

 

[benpounder]

Much has been said about the lack of real mountain top finishes in this race. I agree. Todays stage starts off on one of the most likely MTF’s, the west approach of Rabbit Ears Pass. At 7.25miles it has a modest average gradient of 6.2%; there are stretches above 7%. Now this may seem tame, but it would be a fine finishing pitch.

It is three lanes wide with full break-down lanes on either side all the way - up roughly 52feet or16m wide. And the roads are straight for a high mountain pass. This means that you can see a long way both in front and behind you.

It is not a pass for the explosive attacks of Andy Schleck nor Sergio Henao. It is a pass well suited for the diesel engines of Levi Leipheimer and Cadel Evans.

That sign says 7% grade. It is just below the summit.

FWIW, I'm starting this thread early because I suspect I will be attending the events here in Steamboat for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

 

[killswitch]

These climbs look great for...



descending

 

[roundabout]

Swan Mountain looks like a nice little climb. Question is will it be enough for at least some changes in the top-10.

 

[9000ft]

Swan Mountain looks like a nice little climb. Question is will it be enough for at least some changes in the top-10.

I've ridden Swan hundreds of times and IMO no, it's not big enough to really blow things apart enough that it will create significant gaps by the time the race gets into town although a lot depends on the wind once they get off Swan. It usually blows up or down valley, usually a headwind climbing. It's a gradual rise to the finish so I'm expecting a group sprint. There are a couple ways they could have configured a finishing loop that could blow the field open to the line, (one has a 500M long climb with 10% grades) but the politics of closing those roads would be difficult.

 

[roundabout]

Shame. Oh well, there's next year to look forward to.

 

[Deagol]

There was a very short wash-boad/Gravel section of the road west of Green Mountain Reservoir, north of Henney this past weekend. The road is normaly all paved, but it seems they ripped-up a small section to do something ?

Hope no one crashes/flats there...
Or perhaps they will have it fixed by then?

 

[Tank Engine]

Well looks like a stage for that great all-rounder and excellent sprinter CvV ... or did I mean Morkov?

 

[benpounder]

There was a very short wash-boad/Gravel section of the road west of Green Mountain Reservoir, north of Henney this past weekend. The road is normaly all paved, but it seems they ripped-up a small section to do something ?

Hope no one crashes/flats there...
Or perhaps they will have it fixed by then?

I noticed that several weeks ago when business called me to Breck. Kind of surprised that it is still there. Also that left-hander coming off of the dam may be interesting.

I've been tossing coins all day trying to decide where I'll watch. I'm thinking just below the summit of Rabbit Ears (I'm sure a break will try and form here) when there is no live coverage.

@9000ft Are you talking about Boreas Pass Rd? That would be a stinger of a finish.

Also, it is not just Swan Mt that I think will cause separation, but combo of the climb and the descent and uphill drag into Breck. There are better descenders than Levi, and if he is gapped by anyone in the top five, he will have to go into ITT mode.

 

[benpounder]

These climbs look great for...

descending

Actually this side of Rabbit Ears is kind of a boring descent.

Now coming down Lookout Mt, the first and only climb of Sunday's stage is awesome. The descent this race will use is just freckin fast...

 

[Escarabajo]

I noticed that several weeks ago when business called me to Breck. Kind of surprised that it is still there. Also that left-hander coming off of the dam may be interesting.

I've been tossing coins all day trying to decide where I'll watch. I'm thinking just below the summit of Rabbit Ears (I'm sure a break will try and form here) when there is no live coverage.

@9000ft Are you talking about Boreas Pass Rd? That would be a stinger of a finish.

Also, it is not just Swan Mt that I think will cause separation, but combo of the climb and the descent and uphill drag into Breck. There are better descenders than Levi, and if he is gapped by anyone in the top five, he will have to go into ITT mode.

I sure hope that you are right, because the profile looks like is not going to create separation among the GC contenders.

 

[9000ft]

Well They could go up Wellington road to High point and Moonstone then come down Boreas Pass and finish in town That is 10% for a while so it's steep enough to blow the bunch apart and break up a group sprint. They could also make a finishing loop by climbing four O'Clock rd/Kings Crown to Beaver Run Resort then back down. That's shorter and not as steep but it could generate at least some modest gaps.

They could for sure do some things to spice up the finish but the Chamber of Commerce want's the finish in downtown and I think trying to take the race through residential areas was more than they wanted to try at least this year.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

At 7.25miles it has a modest average gradient of 6.2%; there are stretches above 7%

That's cute. In Utah, that's called a false flat.

 

[9000ft]

I sure hope that you are right, because the profile looks like is not going to create separation among the GC contenders.

I'd be surprised if Swan produces enough gap that the bunch won't come back together by the time they get to the finish. From the bottom of Swan to the finish is a very modest 6 mile climb - about 600' vert.

 

[hfer07]

i missed today's stage, but when i look at the results-its like nothing happened at all - a finish sprint-as always-with the peloton just behind the winner....wow-that's exciting

guess who's going to win this stage?

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

In a state full of mountains, how the hell do you come up with a stage race without a SINGLE mountain top finish? Seriously.

I'm excited to have this race, but this race is the equivalent of having triathlon in the Bahamas with the swimming portion in a pool.

 

[dlwssonic]

Looks like a good stage for hincapie again

 

[auscyclefan94]

Die Flasche wird gewinnen!!!!!

 

[movingtarget]

In a state full of mountains, how the hell do you come up with a stage race without a SINGLE mountain top finish? Seriously.

I'm excited to have this race, but this race is the equivalent of having triathlon in the Bahamas with the swimming portion in a pool.

Yes it is a bit weird. Like the time trial with no time checks. Should see improvements next year I hope especially if they want to keep attracting such quality riders.

 

[veganrob]

Yes it is a bit weird. Like the time trial with no time checks. Should see improvements next year I hope especially if they want to keep attracting such quality riders.

They've attracted quality riders, most of them just don't seem interested in racing though.

 

[movingtarget]

They've attracted quality riders, most of them just don't seem interested in racing though.

The Americans and Colombians have turned up to race but for some of the riders that rode the Tour, maybe the motivation is not there although if the race grows like the Tour of California and attracts more points and popularity, the European teams will take it more seriously. A few tweaks on the stage routes etc....will make it better. Maybe they should combine the Tour of Utah and this race in the future. Longer, harder and more interesting but then they have the problem of finding a suitable gap in the calendar for a longer race and attracting enough quality riders. With three grand tours already maybe sticking to two, week long races works out better for the teams. Maybe a race over two weeks instead of three. There are plenty of ways to change things for the better.

 

[9000ft]

The Americans and Colombians have turned up to race but for some of the riders that rode the Tour, maybe the motivation is not there although if the race grows like the Tour of California and attracts more points and popularity, the European teams will take it more seriously. A few tweaks on the stage routes etc....will make it better. Maybe they should combine the Tour of Utah and this race in the future. Longer, harder and more interesting but then they have the problem of finding a suitable gap in the calendar for a longer race and attracting enough quality riders. With three grand tours already maybe sticking to two, week long races works out better for the teams. Maybe a race over two weeks instead of three. There are plenty of ways to change things for the better.

Yep. So many on this forum seem to want to be dismissive of the race. Hey, it's the first year! Just getting through the politics of putting on an event like this is pretty amazing considering the place bike racing occupies in the typical Americans psyche. Colorado has a pretty good cycling culture, but bike racing is still far from mainstream. The crowds and enthusiasm have been awesome, but I'm sure the powers that be will receive a lot of complaining from plenty of people who just see the whole thing as a big inconvenience to their automobiles.

Hopefully the race continues and it will improve to it's potential, but right now we're just incredibly lucky to have a race of this calibre at all.

 

[LaFleur]

Cadel Evans on the attack on the first climb with about 150km to go. Man, he just can't get enough..
E: Apparently he has Infantino with him
E: Now Andy attacked, wtf!!! Why can't we have early live from this stage and we had it from the first ones?

 

[theyoungest]

Seems like there's some interesting racing going on. Well what do you know, no live images.