toolittle said:
U23 finished.
Are the climbs selective enough for elite group pure climbers?
It seems that the route is for the faster finisher whose climb well and clever.
I think the climbs are definitely selective enough. There might be a chance that nobody wants to move early and everything comes down to the final ramp (something I don't think will happen but apparently lots of experts do). In that case everything could theoretically come back together on the descent and the race could be decided in a sprint out of a small group, but then again I think even the likelihood of such a scenario is very small. The Clasica San Sebastian, a significantly easier race with an easier final climb, but a relatively similar run in has been decided in a sprint 4 times in the last decade, once in a five men sprint, once in a 3 men sprint and twice in a two men sprint.
Also, let's not underestimate just how much easier the U23 race was than the elite race. They were missing 4 climbs, which means that the elite men's race has almost twice as much climbing as the U23 race and the difference in strength between the U23 and the elite class isn't that huge (Mark Padun, who was looking like one of the strongest today, won the Tour of the Alps stage this year which finished in Innsbruck went over the main climb of the road race). So if you aren't sure if this course is hard enough to force a selection among the worlds best climbers, with only four laps like today it might have been possible but difficult, but with 3 more laps + a super steep climb at the end, it's more likely than not.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram