In the preview, I saw that we have 12 days in the calendar for January Tour. So I decide to withdraw of my tour 1 stage + the rest day.
Stage withdrawn is stage 2 because of its lenght due to the removal of the restday
http://www.radsportfreaks.de/radsport/p ... ension=c4f and also because I want to keep the balance for the GK with the TT and mountain stages, and let some flat stages for sprinters teams as well.
We have left this tour with 12 stages in that order :
(Later when I have time I will adapt names of stages and altitude graph with the new tool of the editor that allows a min altitude higher than 0meter).
Stage 1
186kms, Hilly
Mintackt : km152
Last sieb (6% and >) : km 155
Comment : A very steep hill in the middle of the stage (5 kms at 11.6%) where lots of things can happen. Last long climb is not very steep and with many flatish parts.
Stage 2
180kms, Hilly
Mintackt : km159
Last sieb : km173
Comment : Along Lake Kivu, it's up and down non stop. Even if not so steep all the time, this will affect riders at some point. And who knows, someone could have offensive ideas for such a day !
Stage 3
35kms, TT
Mintakt : km1
Last sieb : (irrelevant)
Comment : We are on Lake Kivu, in the Idjwi island ! A 35kms long time trial is waiting the riders here ! The really hilly profile especially in the first 2/3 of the TT will make it not so easy to manage !
Stage 4
161kms, HC Mountain
Mintakt : km120
Last sieb : km147
Comment : We go on the West side of Lake Kivu for the start of that Fifth stage. Stage is hilly in its first part with some steep parts in the firts climbs of the day, then, it get's more flatish until the end of the stage. Last Cat3 climb is 9% steep (2kms) and followed by 13kms of downhill, climbers that gave too much energy in the TT the day before could regret it and loose contact here !
Stage 5
183kms, Flat
Mintakt : km163
Last sieb : km8
Comment : Flat stage in the valley North of Taganyika Lake. No difficulty, last km is 1%, a sprint or a break-away should make it.
Stage 6
213kms, Hilly
mintakt : km 201
Last sieb : km140
Comment : A long stage to start second part of ART. Going through mountains in North West of Burundi, Up and down non stop, before the last section, a long downhill/flat part to Bujumbura. A stage where it's possible to see team make some moves from really far, or if the race is calm in the mountains, we could see a fight between different kind of sprinters !
Stage 7
176kms, Flat
mintakt : km156
Last sieb : km22
Comment : A loop in the mountains next to Bujumbura before 150kms along Taganyika Lake to the South. Last 10kms are a bit more hilly, but nothing to scare pure sprinters, finish still in Burundi but close to Tanzanian border !
Stage 8
175kms, HC Berg
mintackt : km157
Last Sieb : Last km
Comment : Hard mountain stage, all in Burundi ! Up a down all way long, with some flatish parts. Final climb in 2 parts, with a final km at 15% ! Big time difference could happen here if the fight starts early in the stage !
Stage 9
207kms, Hilly
mintackt : km176
Last sieb : km191
Comment : From South to North, from Burundi to Rwanda, country of hills ! And you can feel these smalls hills on the road, steep ones from km80 to km160, and soft ones at the end, still enough to make that stage a trap one ! Really open scenario here !
Stage 10
190Kms, flat
mintackt : km 176
Last sieb : Only 5% on the way, no close from the finish line
Comment : A stage without big difficulties, even if it's flat, it's still a bit up and down (without sieb), sprinter's should have it in Kigali on stage 11, because the day after, sprinters won't have it in Kigali !
Stage 11
112kms, HC Berg
mitackt : km1
Last sieb : km111
Comment : Is it the king stage ? Impossible to know it in advance, but what is pretty sure is that this stage will be spectacular and that everything can happen here ! Semi Urban circuit to ride two times, with steep climbs on the way, the valley parts are quite short. Expect fast, hard and crazy race. 1Min/km all stage long for managers !
Stage 12
192kms, Flat
Mintakt : km168
Last sieb : km114
Comment : A flat stage to finish this tour, but not a totally flat one, few siebs possible in the first 114kms, and the final circuit is a bit hilly ! Teams might be tired after the mountain festival in Kigali, that final circuit might be stressful for some sprinters/gk contenders !
Detail of stages here :
http://www.radsportfreaks.de/radsport/p ... ension=c4f
(not accurate for January)
http://www.radsportfreaks.de/radsport/p ... ension=c4f (withdrawn)
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