- Sep 20, 2017
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The women are the last category to start their World Championships this year (unless you count the mixed relay), and do so by taking on the longest ITT they've ever faced at the World Championships. It's the same route as the U23 men do one day before.
Side note: why are there separate medals for the U23 women in the elite road race where it will interfere with the elite medals, but not here? Common sense is beyond the UCI...
Start order, interactive map and live timing
The route
And, because the women are the first elite category to take on the TT, this is the place to go through the route in a bit more detail.
The start, like for all TTs, is basically in the fields on the edge of Stirling. The first third of the route is almost completely flat and has barely any turns. This section takes the riders to Blair Drummond, known for its safari park. The section from there to the midway point is quite narrow and more twisty; this is the only technical section aside from the final kilometre. The inbound half of the route is a bit more rolling, but the main "climbs" have about 20-25 metres of elevation gain with gradients almost always below 5%.
And then, the riders reach Stirling. The smallest of the eight Scottish cities, it is nevertheless one of the most historically important. This was the easternmost and most important place where the Forth could be crossed without a boat until the 19th century and hence the key link between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands. Stirling developed around the easily-defensible hill overlooking the crossing, around the eponymous castle. Stirling and its surroundings were therefore often a site of battle, most notably twice during the First War of Scottish Independence - the first major battle at Stirling Bridge in 1297 which earned William Wallace his fame (his monument is just across the Forth), and the last, decisive major battle in 1314. The castle was also one of the seats of the Scottish royal family. The Union of the Crowns, the eventual loss of its port and the construction of new bridges further east diminished the political and economic importance of the city in later centuries, but it does remain one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country thanks mostly to its well-preserved castle.
And it is the castle in front of which we finish, which necessitates a significant hill in the final kilometre. 860 metres at 7.6% doesn't sound overly hard, but it's irregular, often narrow, with plenty of turns, and mostly on urban cobbles. At the end of a TT of this length, it will hurt.
Here's one of the narrowest bits:
Side note: why are there separate medals for the U23 women in the elite road race where it will interfere with the elite medals, but not here? Common sense is beyond the UCI...
Start order, interactive map and live timing
The route
And, because the women are the first elite category to take on the TT, this is the place to go through the route in a bit more detail.
The start, like for all TTs, is basically in the fields on the edge of Stirling. The first third of the route is almost completely flat and has barely any turns. This section takes the riders to Blair Drummond, known for its safari park. The section from there to the midway point is quite narrow and more twisty; this is the only technical section aside from the final kilometre. The inbound half of the route is a bit more rolling, but the main "climbs" have about 20-25 metres of elevation gain with gradients almost always below 5%.
And then, the riders reach Stirling. The smallest of the eight Scottish cities, it is nevertheless one of the most historically important. This was the easternmost and most important place where the Forth could be crossed without a boat until the 19th century and hence the key link between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands. Stirling developed around the easily-defensible hill overlooking the crossing, around the eponymous castle. Stirling and its surroundings were therefore often a site of battle, most notably twice during the First War of Scottish Independence - the first major battle at Stirling Bridge in 1297 which earned William Wallace his fame (his monument is just across the Forth), and the last, decisive major battle in 1314. The castle was also one of the seats of the Scottish royal family. The Union of the Crowns, the eventual loss of its port and the construction of new bridges further east diminished the political and economic importance of the city in later centuries, but it does remain one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country thanks mostly to its well-preserved castle.
And it is the castle in front of which we finish, which necessitates a significant hill in the final kilometre. 860 metres at 7.6% doesn't sound overly hard, but it's irregular, often narrow, with plenty of turns, and mostly on urban cobbles. At the end of a TT of this length, it will hurt.
Here's one of the narrowest bits:
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