Robyfiles!

[Robyklebt]

Second irish race
171 km, 9 riders, mintact at 142, flat, max 5%, finish at -1



Scarborough-Newcastle upon Tyne

189 km, 9 riders, mintact at 160, hilly.
An early hilly section, all category 4, 6% to 11%, mostly 1km only, twice 2km. After that a flat middle section, soft hills restart at around 140, next siebable climb is 164. 7%, the one at 175 as well, last climb at 185, Arthur Hill in Newcastle is a bit steeper, 8%.
-1 -3 -4 +1 the last 4 km. Should be for strong classics



Second one for the UK, well, England in both cases:
Blackpool-Carlisle

191 km, 9 riders, mintact at 162, flat, but with hills in the middle.
Start in Blackpool, British summer resort, that seems to do still surprisingly well, also thanks to gambling. From there we move north and then enter the Lake District. A first climb and we soon are on the shores of Lake Windermere. Kickstone pass is the main difficulty of the day, to go from Lake Windermere to Ullswater, another Lake. A 6 km climb, but only 2 km are at 6% or 7%. Leaving Ullswater then another 2 km climb, 7% to Dockray, a 6% just after and we have 65 mostly flat km to reach Carlisle, most likely for a sprint. Of some sorts.

[Robyklebt]

2 Norvegian races


Fredrikstad-Oslo

Wanted hard hills, turned out a dumb race. 163 km, hilly, 6 riders. 2 siebkm, the last one at km 155. So should be for some sort of classics

Ardalstangen-Fargenes



147 km, mintact at 108. Hard hilly. Last climb 8 8 7 then -2 -4 -5 -6 -6 -2 -1, so normally climbers actually should do it. Or 80-70. 6 riders as well. (Fredrikstad-Oslo because the race pissed me off, this one to be consistent in Norway)

[Robyklebt]

2 Belgian races

Bastogne-Athus-Bastogne



173km, 9 riders, flat, mintact 144

Bastogne wants a finish too, after being only known for the turn around in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The character of the race is more like the ride to Bastogne as well, not too difficult. Only a single 6%, at km 131. Should be a rather easy sprint.

Huy-Liège


177km, hilly, 9 riders, mintact 148,
We start with a lap around Huy, of course including the Mur de Huy. But also the Côte de Cherave. 3 laps, after that we climb the Mur de Huy once more, and go towards Liège. All the named, but uncategorized hills have a siebkm, except Cornemont. Last km over 6% is a 7% at km 167. Followed by 5 2 then a slight downhill starting with -1, finishing with -5, last 2 km -1 (ok, so we finish the downhill with -1..) and 0. Should be for LBL type of riders, with chances for a bit weaker classics then there. At least possibly.

[Robyklebt]

Netherlands:

Maastricht-Venlo


164 km, flat, 9 riders, mintact at 134
Early hills from the Amstel Gold Race, but it's flat long enough to be for sprinters.


172 km, flat, 9 riders, mintact 142.
Flat, just flat.

Next Denmark:

Danish Hill festival


140 km, flat, 8 riders, mintact 110

Start in Horsens, finish in Himmelbjerget, which until the middle of the 19th century was thought to be the highest point of Denmark. 147 meters above sea level. Since 2005 Møllehøj is officially the highest, 170.86 m. Beating Yding Skovhøj at 170.77, although including the bronze age burial mound it would be 172.66 and Ejer Bavnehøj at 170.35. Anyway, the race passes near all those scary peaks, but stays around 10 meters lower, avoiding problems with oxygen supply for the riders. The hamlet of Ejer is where the road passes, that's where we pass. 8 times, twice each from east, north, west and south, in this order. The climb from the west even has a km at 6%, according to our measurements. The finish then as said on Himmelbjerget. 3 2 3 2 2 the final 5 km. Should be a sprint still.

Voldingborg-Roskilde



196km, flat 8 riders, mintact 166.
Just flat. No exciting high altitude excursions.

[Robyklebt]

Iceland

Just one for now

Bogarnes-Reykjavik



152 km, flat, 8 riders, mintact 122
Flat, but the end is a bit more challenging. Km 126 and 128 are both 5%, too far for successful attacks normally, but siebing weak sprinters seems a possibility. Then km 145+147 both 4%, here strong classics might then have a chance to survive the remaining 5 km. But of course a sprint is the most likely outcome.

[Robyklebt]

Second Iceland race



155 km Flat, 8 riders, mintact at 116
Siebs at km 33 (6%), 64 (7%), the climb of the day from km 78 on, 10-6-5-6, 111 6%. Should end up as some sort of sprint, maybe not with all the sprinters.

[Robyklebt]

Gave up on my west to east Europe, Sweden looked too annoying.

So Japan, Iwate prefecture to be more precise



183km, hilly, 9 riders, mintact 154
140-144 a steep climb, but the race should only be decided at km 179, a 7%




156km, 9 riders, mintact 122.
Quite a few hills, last siebkm a 9% at 151, but here the decision could happen earlier, In the final there are siebkm at 114, 122, 131, 134, 140, 141 before the last one at 151.

[Robyklebt]

2 more races in Iwate



159km, flat, 9 riders, mintact km 128

AAD request, flat stuff, so this one is very flat. Max 4%.



191 km, hilly, 7 riders, mintact km 150

Hilly, not what AAD needs, but looked too nice to pass. Only 7 riders. Hard start, climbing starts at km 5, then lots of hard climbs until km 64. Then it eases up, a double 6% at 93-94, otherwise nothing above 5% until Otsuchi. A 8% there, then the final starts after Yamada, km 150. 4 final hills, 10... 7-6....6....7 with some km below 6% obviously. Final downhill and 10 flat km into Miyako.


AAd wants flat, so more flat
174km, 9 riders, mintact 144. Early climb, first the Omote Tsukuba Skyline, start with an 11, then only 2 more km at 6% or more until we until we're close to the Mount Tsukuba ropeway, down, from there down and we cross the range twice, east to west, then west 2 east, 6 8 8 and 11 11, after that down and no more climbing. Hard start, but with 130km to come back seems very doable for sprinters.


165 km, 8 riders, mintact 136.
Flat, first climb has max 5%, the second one a 7%, after that it's never more than 4%. Easy sprint normally.

[Robyklebt]

2 outstanding races in Libya



Gharyan-Yafran, 176 km, 9 riders. 30km mintact
Starting in Gharyan, a little incomplete circuit, then going west, taking some of the climbs up and down the Nafusa Mountains. Hilly, but the last siebkm at 136, a 6 10 9 combination, after that it's 40km mostly flat, some +3 and -4 max towards the end. Should be for hill sprinters most likely, possibly classics with sprint or maybe even flat(tish) sprinters



Wazin-Rahibat 182km 9 riders, 30 km mintact
In the Nafusa mountains too, we start in the west, at Wazin, at 400 meters above sea level. Up a very gentle slope, max 2% to 660 meters, which is the altitude we will keep till the end. With one exception, shortly after the intermediate sprint in Nalut we dip into a valley, and back up on the other side, 5%+8%, but the organizer wanted to hand out a bit of money in a place where there might actually be spectators, so it's classified as HC. After that again all is between +2 and -0, till the end in Rahibat, last km a 0. Should really be an easy sprint, some mountain weaklings, older sprinters, might be dropped after Nalut, but normally they should be able to come back, unless somebodies train seems weakened enough to try to keep them away.

[Robyklebt]

2 sub-saharan african races


In Cameroon, 172 km, hilly, 30 km mintact. 8 riders. 5 hills, the fifth and last one is not part of the KoM competition, it's a 6% at km 157, which will normally eliminate the hill sprinters who otherwise actually might have had a chance to come back, since the second last sieb km is at km 114



We move to Chad, 155km, very flat, 30km mintact, 9 riders

Nothing much to say, it's flat. 3 IS, first one after 102 km, so maybe good for later escapes? Or a strong early one that keeps going.

[Robyklebt]

Do some Oceania next

Apollo Bay Cycling Cup



188 km, 9 riders, mintact km 158. Last sieb at the last GPM, so km 89. A number of 5% in after that, but nothing more. Normally shouldn't be a problem for sprinters.

Dunedin Cycling Cup



170 km, 9 riders, mintact km 122.

Start in Balclutha the hills start at km 66, soon pass Dunedin a first time, an excursion on the Otago Peninsula, where we pass the highest point of the race, (by a few meters) back to Dunedin and at km 123 the serious stuff starts with the race going up Sydney Street. All cat 3 are 10% with one at 11%, the 2 cat 4 are 6%. All one km. The hardest climb of the day, 14 9, Upper Junction is categorized as cat 2. Some flat, a last 10% up in Ravensbourne and after the downhill 4 more flattish km 1 -2 0 1

[Robyklebt]

Boredom and lack of motivation to update my press center, let me design 2 stage races. Hoping to get motivation for design back this way. No need for these things year, all planned out, no problem, next year thenn, (although I'll win the Dec competition, so not too much Donkey good too) so 26-27-28-29-never ok too.

Nafusa Mountains Tour:
It's not a mountain tour, but a tour in the Nafusa mountains.
4 stages, 8 riders per team, 30 km mintact, except last stage where it's 32. 1 IS per stage, all climbs cat 3.


190 km
Stage 1 an easy sprint stage, no siebkm, never more than 3% We start at the western edge of the mountains, slowly gain altitude on the plateau. Should be easy for the sprinters, but getting the points jersey promises to be difficult, with 3 more stages.

208 km.
Now we start going up and down the northern edge of the mountains, down to the plain, up to the plateau again. 3 climbs, the first one the steepest, 8 8 10, the second one only 2 siebkm, more 5% and 4% there. The last and decisive one 4 5 7 6 5 6 6 4 3. From the top it's 8 more km, slight down, second last km +3%, finish 0. Should be for strong classics or 80-70. For the sprint jersey, a present for sprinters, the IS is early, very early, and should be won by a sprinter, if it even make sense trying. A, the unpaved climb is *


150 km.
The climber take control. A hard start, 3 climbs in the first 53 km, all have a 10% in there. But then it gets easier, next climb at 101, then down again, flat again and the final climb: 6 9 11 9.


196km
The queen stage. What? I thought on stage 3 the climbers take control? Yes, but they risk losing it here again. The stage is harder than stage 3, but fits classics or 80-70 better than your standard climber. Just a bit more altitude gain than stage 3, 46 km longer, but the race really starts at km 90. 15 14 2 6, the same climb we did in a 1 day race in October. After a second climb immediately after 8 9 7 7, we pass Gharyan for the first time. Do a short lap with an unpaved climb (*) passing Gharyan again, do a longer lap, the climb to Danoon 6 5 7 8 10 10, a final climb 6 7 at km 187, then 0 -3 -1 -2 4 -1 -4 -1 1. Again should be for 80-70 or strong classics, unless somebody with a climber wants and has the team to control.

GC not automatically a climber, although they can win some time on stage 3, stage 2 and 4 fit 80-70 and classics more.

5 Dias en Atacama

5 days, in Chile they can count, it is indeed 5 days. Not like Dunkerque where 4 days are somehow more than 4.
This is sprinter friendly, but no chance for GC
9 riders, the usual 30 km mintact.


175 km.
Max 4 5, shortly after the intermediate. Sprint at 0 The GPM will guarantee the mountains jersey until stage 3, so there might be a big fight for this cat 4 climb, 4 5 as said before.

142 km
Flat, big downhill to the sea, final 2 km 0. Another easy sprint


191km
From 10 to 4920 meters above sea level. Nice new road, that refuses to be read properly by plotaroute and the editor, so almost did it km by km from the IS on... still probably too irregular. Anyway, last 8 km we leave the main road and climb the Cerro de Tapa on a gravel road. *. The last 7 km steep, between 7+9%.

31 km ITT
After the energy sapping stage the previous day, today the ITT. Which should decide the GC


235 km
Hilly, but the big climb of the day, 22 km, is not THAT difficult. 5km at 6%, 2 at 7%, The last one at km 145, the others before km 139. Drop the sprinters and ride, but since this tour isn't really classics friendly, some sprinters might come back. After all from the last siebkm it's still 90km to go. In the last climb only 1 5%, the rest less. A sprint is not impossible here, not with full trains, not with all sprinters, but a restricted sprint certainly is.

[Robyklebt]

Another one, not sure what that one is actually

Heroes de El Salvador

3 days in El Salvador, 8 riders, mintact if not mentioned 30km
About heroes of El Salvador, educational, so we can study some history at c4f! Research the 3 guys yourself. Start in their birthplace, place of death is the finish, except stage one, where it's another important place in the life of the hero.


138 km, hilly start, last climb ends at km 55 with a 10%. So should be possible for sprinters, if not at least for hill sprinters. If they have the team to control



142km Similar, but more difficult Less supershort climbs, a bit longer, and the last climb is closer to the finish, a 6% at km 102, another one at 97. What makes it more difficult is that after that it's hardly really flat, slight climbs, slight downhills. Pure sprinters normally should have no chance, hill sprinters should be able to do it.


169 km. The decisive stage. For GC, but also for the mountains jersey. 2 cat 2 and 1 cat 1 on the way to San Salvador. The decisive climb the last one, from 124 on, where the mintact starts. 11 km up, after that it's slight up and down until km 147 where 1 km at 8% waits. Downhill starts at 153 then, but it soon changes to -4, -2 etc. The 10 km climb should normally not be enough for climbers vs classics. The slight up and down too long, the downhill not steep enough. Strong classics normally.

[Robyklebt]

And another one:

Tour of Amhara

5 stages, 2 sprints, 1 middle mountain, 2 HC.
9 riders, mintact 30 km unless mentioned, 2 IS per stage


193 km, flat stage
Slighly up, 400 meters, in the first 43 km, 2 km a 6% and the first GPM. After that the long downhill starts.
Last difficulty is 5 5 5 6. 40 km left, but some downhill. Final km +1


190 km, hilly stage
No siebkm until the climb to Dessie, a few 6, but nothing more. Next cat 3 has 2 siebkm, the cat 4 have only one. Last cat 3 is only 3 km long, but with a 7 and an 8 there. Last climb 5 6 5 4, followed by a 5km downhill, max -5, min -2, finish at -2. Should be too easy for climbers, so for classics with downhill.


178 km Hc stage

The stage starts with a monsterclimb, from 1750 to 3550 in 33 km. Then nothing much until the final, a 7% at Filakit, then the final climb, a first steeper part with 7 8 , then a short downhill and the finish, 5 6 6 6 6 4. Should be for climbers, but after the big climb controlling vs strong classics might not be easy.

174 km, flat stage.
Downhill again, the only difficulty this time a lonely 6% at km 23. In the final there's a few 4 and one 5, but with more than 20 km to go should be easy to control


104 km, mountain stage
A transfer from Bahir Dar on the south end of Lake Tana to Mekane Birhan in the Simien Mountains. We'll ride the Mekane Birhan-Dil Yibza Road today, which actually looks partially paved. We paved the rest. Up to 4200 meter, passing below Ras Bwahit, the third hightest mountain of Ethiopia. Down to the river valley at 2500 then up to 3200 again, some up and down toward the finish, a last climb of 4 6 6 2, follwed by the final km, -4 to finish the tour. Which should easily be won by climbers.

[Robyklebt]

Since I suspect that AAD might run out of Indian races soon, one more tour, in India logically.

Karnataka Coffee Tour

8 riders, 30km mintact.

Karnataka which for some reason until today I read as Karnatka, learned something, the biggest coffee producer in India. Especially the region around Chikkamagalaru, first Indian coffee plantation Baba Badangiri, but since that's we go for the Karnatka (wrong spelling) Cycling Cup, we had to change the finish of the final stage. So from Bangaluru, state capital, to the Chikkamagaluru region in 4 days


TTT in Bengaluru, 20 km, lots of +1 -1


Flat, 170 km, no GPM, finish at +1

Hilly: 167 km
Flat start, then hilly, almost always up and down, but few km at 6%+. A 13% when doing a loop around Madikeri, last GPM is 6 6, followed by 0 1 0 0 0.

Mountain stage 187 km. Not much going on before the finish, 2 siebkm in the climb at 139, then out of lazyness we didn't take small more mountainous side roads, but took the main road, so basically only the final climb to Mullayanagiri, highest peak of Karnataka, road goas to +/- 70 meters below the peak. Quite easy climb, only the last 5 km there to make differences, 7 4 5 7 10.

GC could very well be decided on day 1, the TTT. 20 km should not bring huge differences, but neither stage 3 or 4 normally will produce huge time gaps either.

[drei.zehn]

Boredom and lack of motivation to update my press center, let me design 2 stage races. Hoping to get motivation for design back this way. No need for these things year, all planned out, no problem, next year thenn, (although I'll win the Dec competition, so not too much Donkey good too) so 26-27-28-29-never ok too.

Nafusa Mountains Tour:
It's not a mountain tour, but a tour in the Nafusa mountains.
4 stages, 8 riders per team, 30 km mintact, except last stage where it's 32. 1 IS per stage, all climbs cat 3.


190 km
Stage 1 an easy sprint stage, no siebkm, never more than 3% We start at the western edge of the mountains, slowly gain altitude on the plateau. Should be easy for the sprinters, but getting the points jersey promises to be difficult, with 3 more stages.

208 km.
Now we start going up and down the northern edge of the mountains, down to the plain, up to the plateau again. 3 climbs, the first one the steepest, 8 8 10, the second one only 2 siebkm, more 5% and 4% there. The last and decisive one 4 5 7 6 5 6 6 4 3. From the top it's 8 more km, slight down, second last km +3%, finish 0. Should be for strong classics or 80-70. For the sprint jersey, a present for sprinters, the IS is early, very early, and should be won by a sprinter, if it even make sense trying. A, the unpaved climb is *


150 km.
The climber take control. A hard start, 3 climbs in the first 53 km, all have a 10% in there. But then it gets easier, next climb at 101, then down again, flat again and the final climb: 6 9 11 9.


196km
The queen stage. What? I thought on stage 3 the climbers take control? Yes, but they risk losing it here again. The stage is harder than stage 3, but fits classics or 80-70 better than your standard climber. Just a bit more altitude gain than stage 3, 46 km longer, but the race really starts at km 90. 15 14 2 6, the same climb we did in a 1 day race in October. After a second climb immediately after 8 9 7 7, we pass Gharyan for the first time. Do a short lap with an unpaved climb (*) passing Gharyan again, do a longer lap, the climb to Danoon 6 5 7 8 10 10, a final climb 6 7 at km 187, then 0 -3 -1 -2 4 -1 -4 -1 1. Again should be for 80-70 or strong classics, unless somebody with a climber wants and has the team to control.

GC not automatically a climber, although they can win some time on stage 3, stage 2 and 4 fit 80-70 and classics more.

5 Dias en Atacama

5 days, in Chile they can count, it is indeed 5 days. Not like Dunkerque where 4 days are somehow more than 4.
This is sprinter friendly, but no chance for GC
9 riders, the usual 30 km mintact.


175 km.
Max 4 5, shortly after the intermediate. Sprint at 0 The GPM will guarantee the mountains jersey until stage 3, so there might be a big fight for this cat 4 climb, 4 5 as said before.

142 km
Flat, big downhill to the sea, final 2 km 0. Another easy sprint


191km
From 10 to 4920 meters above sea level. Nice new road, that refuses to be read properly by plotaroute and the editor, so almost did it km by km from the IS on... still probably too irregular. Anyway, last 8 km we leave the main road and climb the Cerro de Tapa on a gravel road. *. The last 7 km steep, between 7+9%.

31 km ITT
After the energy sapping stage the previous day, today the ITT. Which should decide the GC


235 km
Hilly, but the big climb of the day, 22 km, is not THAT difficult. 5km at 6%, 2 at 7%, The last one at km 145, the others before km 139. Drop the sprinters and ride, but since this tour isn't really classics friendly, some sprinters might come back. After all from the last siebkm it's still 90km to go. In the last climb only 1 5%, the rest less. A sprint is not impossible here, not with full trains, not with all sprinters, but a restricted sprint certainly is.

I like Atacama…for late Dez maybe?

[Robyklebt]

And a last one, now I can find something else to do... update my press center?

3 day Tour in Fiji
8 riders


We start with a 8km individual time trial from the airport to Labasa. Flat. Mintact km 1. A half stage


The second half stage is.... a team time trial. 25km, mintact km 1. The first 8 km the same as the ITT, then we keep going until a bridge over a river.

So important decisions to be made on day 1. For teams with one strong TT man, actually not a big problem, weakening him a bit for the TTT might not be bad. But for teams interested in GC, it might be tricky, if the GC rider has not much TT. Let him ride the ITT slowly so he can go full power and follow in the TTT? Or go full power with all? Or what? But the GC might be decided after the first day already of course. And there is a GPM in the TTT, on a +2, highest point of the stage, 40 meters.


HC stage, 115 km. mintact at km 80
We start in Loa, Buca Bay, go to Suwasuwa on the Hibiscus Highway, which according to some minister is in rather bad state (but paved), will be repaired by Chinese until 2026, who will pave some more roads on Vanua Levu too. A more direct on between Buca Bay and Labasa too it seems. Anyway, from Suwasuwa on the road is called Cross Island Road, we follow it until the connection to the Nabouwalu Road. Start with a cat 3, 3 8 7, then it's flat until Sawusawu, where the hard stuff starts. Cat 4 are one km, cat 3 2 km climbing. The main climb of the day goes up to 590 meters, 8 km climbing, the downhill has a +1 in it, then the last cat 3 is just one km, but at 11, so deserves cat 3. Maybe the goal would better have been before that hill, which might cost early attackers a lot, does discouraging attacks on the main climb.


136 km, flat, mintact at 106.
Start in Labasa again (where the riders will be in hotels, even if there are tons of resort hotels near Sawusawu, but only Donkeys will be allowed there, other riders have to stay in Labasa, lower quality I fear, sorry. But then 3 star hotels are perfectly fine.) Some early hills, after the GPMs there are no more siebkm, but it stays a bit hilly. Normally no problem for sprinters, IF they decide to show up, otherwise might be for hill sprinters, classics sprinters, late escapers, early escapers or GC stage. We'll see. We finish in Nabouwalu, where the ferries from Viti Levu arrive. And depart to there too, so after the stage the riders will immediately board a ferry to the main Island and go to the Airport in Suva. A 51km TTT, the 4th stage, that won't count for the GC, there is a km at 6% in it too.

[Robyklebt]

Back to 1 day races

2 in Asia

Despite AAD's insistent pleas (telepathically) to design Indian races, the Donkey went to Indonesia

Bandar Lampung Cycling Cup



159 km, 9 riders, flat, mintact at 130

It's flat, only 1 km at 7% in the long climb, second last km of the climb, followed by a +2, slight downhill, 5 4 and then down. With still 80 km to go that should pose no problem, the problem might be the kms at 5%. 5 1 5 at km 137-139, another 5 at km 153. Sieb and classic attack risk.

Bandung-Lembang-Bandung-Lembang-Bandung-Lembang-Bandung-Lembang-Bandung-Lembang-Bandung
Shortened to Bandung-Lembang-Bandung

191 km, 9 riders, hilly, mintact km 158
From Bandung to Lembang and back, 5 times up, 5 different roads, the downhill always on the same road. 15km from the Lembang IS to the finish, but in the last lap the real climb finishes at 163, there is a single +7% at 175 though. Last 6 km twice -2, twice -1 once -3 and once 0 (0 the last km). So normally climbers should not be able to do it. Except Pogacar of course, with him the question is only if he attacks in the first or second climb.

[Robyklebt]

2 in South America

Laguna de Tota-Aguazul

142 km, hilly, 8 riders, mintact at 112

Start on the east side of the lake in Antiquoia, ride 3/4 around the lake and climb the Crucero. Technically the high point is probably called Alto los Pinos, but the climb seems generally known under Crucero, named after a small settlement at the junction of the roads from Sogamoso, the Laguna de Tota and Aguazul. 2km at 8% when going back to the lake from Tota, then 4 km at 6,75% to the first high point, a 6% to the second. There the long descent starts, from 3460 we go down to 770. There the Boqueron waits, 3 6 8 8 2, down, up again immediately with a 7%. The road flattens out at km 134, for the last 9 km, last km at -1%. A strong downhill team necessary here, a successful escape doesn't look unlikely.

Yopal-Tauramena

155km, hilly, 8 riders, mintact 124

Flat until km 67, where there's a 6, go through the finish in Tauramena for the first time at km 74. Then a lap, 2 early climbs, short but steep, then nothing at 6% or more until the last 8 km, which will be the same as km 67-74.
With a 6% at 8km from the end should be for classics