5 candidates online! Time for a first review! I was actually waiting for somebody else, ideally somebody neutral, to post a review... and always a bit tricky to review my own tour... but no problem, I'll do it!
If there are last-minute candidates within the October 31st deadline, they are missing out on this review. A reason is punishment for being so late! But main reason is, that voting will start November 1st, so let's start the discussion before that! Excited to hear your opinions!
Summary:
8/10 ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Mediterranean Islands Tour (Pokemonogatari & OLCycle)
8/10 ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Humuhumunukunukuapuaa Tour (Gipfelstuermer)
7/10 ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ Tour of Myanmar (Hansa)
6/10 ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Tour of Algeria (Dickson PRT)
6/10 ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Tour of Sri Lanka (Los Galacticos)
Detailed Review:
Mediterranean Islands Tour (Pokemonogatari & OLCycle)
Design & Location:
First impression was not the best: Weird abbreviation for a tour! Why we ride 2 weeks around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology? But here MIT means Mediterranean Islands Tour... ok, Mediterranean again doesn't sound too interesting. We ride there very often, right now Sardegna, and the climate is actually not the best in December. Corsica on stage 5 and Elba on stage 6 could be covered in snow, especially the Col de Scalella (1139m) and Col de Vizzanova (1163m). But looking closer at the design, everything else is really, really nice! Very innovative to have 2 designers and their presentation in the forum is complete, well written and I like the random Wikipedia facts. In addition, it made me realize they chose interesting locations in the Mediterranean. No boring Mallorca or Sardegna in there. Mostly interesting islands like Malta, Krk, Brac, Pantelleria and Chios, where we don't have that many races in RSF.
Route & Race:
The designers clearly reached their objective to produce a race with many nervous stages and an open GC battle. Although stage 1 and 2 are boring sprint stages, the tour really kicks off after that: Downhill finish on stage 3, TTT on stage 4, early hills on stage 5, ½ mountain top finish on stage 6 and before the restday a probably active hilly stage on stage 7. Then after the restday, uphill sprint on stage 8, hilly dirt road stage 9, uphill sprint on stage 10, the only mountain arrival on stage 11, ITT on stage 12 and finish on flat pavé circuit on stage 13. Stage length is also reasonabl between 133km and 195km. I really believe it can be an open and nervous battle for GC. But there is one problem. 1 ½ mountain top finishes is really not much. I am afraid, climbers without TT or without a strong team might not even join the race. Other than that, it's probably one of the best designs I have seen for a December Tour contest.
Highlights:
- Very diverse stages for various types of riders
- Possibly unprecedented nervous and open battle for GC
- 2 designers
- Well-structured, on-point presentation with Wikipedia random facts
Lowlights:
- IMO the small 1 ½ mountain top finishes may not be enough for climbers to join the race (minus 1 star ☆)
- Snow on Corsica could destroy stage 5 (minus 0.5 star ☆)
- MIT = Massachusetts Institute of Technology (minus 0.5 star ☆)
Result: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10 Stars
Humuhumunukunukuapuaa Tour (Gipfelstuermer)
Design & Location:
Not sure if it fits everybody's humor, but I like the name Humuhumunukunukuapuaa
Of course the name doesn't matter much, but it represents the location of Hawaii very nicely: It's a relaxed and funny location, but it has a passion for long words and long distance endurance sports. That's also, why I chose the Ironman as a highlight and the volcano climbs. But of course others should review my tour. You can judge on your own.
Route & Race:
In terms of highlights, I admit the tour is very front-loaded. We start with the 3 Ironman stages and then two mountain top finishes on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. First impression may be, that this is perfect for climbers, but on stage 3 the circuit on Mauna Kea makes it difficult and on stage 4 the final climb to Mauna Loa is not very steep. In any case, these will produce some gaps in GC and that should encourage active riding in the stages afterwards. There are lots of hilly stages, where it's going to be escape vs. sprinters vs. hill sprinters vs. classics... depending on the peloton and the managers. So it also opens up chances for GC attacks. But of course the second week is not as packed with highlights as the first week... and the last stage is more of a relaxed stage, too. Personally, I like those relaxed last stages. It is nice to chat with others and enjoy the success of the past two weeks. But of course I understand those who want the race open until the very last km of a tour.
Highlights:
- Balanced tour, which requires a strong team for TTT, Mountains and Reg
- Large gaps after stage 4 will encourage active riding and attacking
- Exciting volcano / dirt road stages
- Innovative Ironman structure at the start
- Longest Dec Tour name
- Realistic and nice location
Lowlights:
- Second week not as exciting as first week (-1 star ☆)
- Final stage is relaxed instead of exciting (-1 star ☆)
Result: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10 Stars
Tour of Myanmar (Hansa)
Design & Location:
Myanmar should be fine in terms of weather. Warm and no monsun season. Hansa even promises new roads build for RSF! Nice! Well, sounds a bit like an excuse to avoid research about dirt road... and certainly not good for the environment to build all these streets! Other than that, presentation is fine. No map, no fun facts, etc., but everything is there.
Route & Race:
We start with a classical Prologue, ok. But then 3 (!) flat stages in a row might be a bit boring. Stage 4 before the TTT is hilly, but before the TTT less action is likely. So action might start with the 40km TTT on stage 5 and might continue on a hilly stage 6. But the action will clearly be on week 2, which kicks off hard with a hilly stage (which I would classify as mountain), then 25km hilly ITT, then two more mountain stages. In case that doesn't produce a clear winner, Hansa designed an interesting last stage. It's mainly flat, some tiny hills here and there, and then finishes on a +5 +7. If the gap is tiny, this can be the decisive stage.
Highlights:
- Strong teams will have a clear advantage (TTT and Reg is important)
- Stage 8 - 11 will be very intense
- Final hilly stage can be exciting if gaps are small.
Lowlights:
- Perhaps research would reveal dirt roads and paving them is not good for the environment. (-1 star ☆)
- 3 flat stages in a row looks a bit boring. (-1 star ☆)
- Slightly back-loaded tour with focus on week 2. (-0.5 star ☆)
- 2 ITT's and 1 TTT in 2 weeks sounds too good for TT-specialists (-0.5 star ☆)
Result: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 7/10 Stars
Tour of Algeria (Dickson PRT)
Design & Location:
Algeria. Definitely O.K. in terms of weather. Other than that, I will be honest, I don't know a lot about the country or the cities and the climbs of the race. So would have been nice to learn more about the location and why the designer chose this location. What I like is, how Dickson has presented the climbs with colors. It is intuitive for the players, slightly easier to read. Might use something like that in my presenetations as well in the future.
Route & Race:
So we start and end with a 19km ITT. The opening ITT ends on a mountain, the final ITT is flat. What do we have in between? A balanced race with flat, medium and mountain stages. Flat and medium stages don't look too boring and have some interesting profiles. The mountain top finish on stage 6 is interesting, not too steep, but why so late in the race? And why before the restday? I am afraid that will discourage action on stages 2-5 and make the mountain top finish predictacble. Overall stages 1-9 can be a bit boring, seems like waiting for the decisive final 4 stages: Stage 10 mountain top finish, Stage 11 mountainous but downhill finish, Stage 12 flat, stage 13 ITT. Reminds me of this year's TDF. Can be an interesting ITT at the end, but might also well be that everything is decided before that last stage. The clear GC favo will be a climber with TT. 3 mountain stages and 2 ITT will help. It's no big problem, that type of rider will always be strong in tours, but a fight vs. pure climbers and/or classics with TT could be more interesting. In addition, the strength of a team might not play a big role here. No TTT and Reg won't be very important. The ITT at the start and at the end. The mountain stage before the restday and before a flat stage. Only for stage 10/11 Reg looks important or if some teams ride super aggressively.
Highlights:
- Well balanced tour for different types of riders
- Final ITT can be exciting
- Intuitive presentation of climbs
Lowlights:
- Designer doesn't tell us why we should ride in Algeria (-1 star ☆)
- I have no idea why we should ride in Algeria (-1 star ☆)
- Very back-loaded route, in which Stage 1-9 look predictable for GC (-1 star ☆)
- Climber with TT looks like clear favo (-0.5 star ☆)
- Strong team doesn't play a big role because no TTT and little impact of Reg (-0.5 star ☆)
Result: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 6/10 Stars
Tour of Sri Lanka (Los Galacticos)
Design & Location:
Similar as Myanmar: Sri Lanka should be warm and it's no monsun season, so good climate. Gala says it is a beautiful island, but we don't really learn why. Seems he had no time for a description, might be added later. Information about climbs etc. also missing.
Route & Race:
1 TTT, 1 ITT, 4 Flat, 4 Middle and 3 HC stages is balanced. The route itself is getting more difficult with each day. We start with 2 flat stages and we end with the HC mountain stages 10-12 and the ITT on stage 13. So very back-loaded in my point of view. I think it's an attempt to build up tension, but usually that setup doesn't allow much action before the end of the 2nd week. The only earlier big stage is stage 6 before the restday with something that looks like a mountain top finish, too. But looks a bit predictable before the restday.
Highlights:
- 3 mountain stages in a row can produce action and require high Reg
- TTT will also encourage managers to participate with strong teams
- ITT on final stage can be exciting
Lowlights:
- Gala doesn't explain why it is a beautiful island (-1 star ☆)
- Climb details are missing (-1 star ☆)
- Very back-loaded route with mountain stages 10-12 and ITT on stage 13 (-1 star ☆)
- I count 3-4 mountain top finishes, but downhill plays only minor role (-1 star ☆)
Result: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 6/10 Stars
