Volta do Brasil So today i want to present my december which i created during this past year. As you could imagine long before it will be located in Brasil. A wonderful country but mostly unknown to the world of cycling. The tour has a little prolog at the beginning and after that there will follow 12 other stages through Brazil. It will go along the coast from Belem to Porto Alegre, which is the location for the last stage. We will cross the most important cities like Rio de Janeiro, Santos or Sao Paulo.
My goal was to create a tour which can be won by climbers, but only if they have a strong team behind them. So we have 3 mountain arrivals during this Tour as well as an TTT in the middle of this tour. The stages left should be for sprinter teams with some balls, always chances for a hill sprint or classic riders as well. In the following i will present each stage with some pictures and informations necessary. Have fun and vote for Brazil!
Prologo
Like i have said the first stage is a little Prolog in Belém. 9 Km with no difficulties on straight streets. Finish is on the Igreja das Merces(pic 4) close to the Amazonas(pic3).
Stage 1: Belo Horizonte - Lafaiete (154 km)
In the afternoon after the prolog in Belém the riders have to take the plane to go on the biggest transfer to Belo Horizonte(pic 1) which is about 2500 km away from Belém in the north, but after this short time trial it should be no problem for them and they all should be fit on the next day when the tour really begins.
It's a short stage to the city of Lafaiete (pic 2) which has about 115.000 inhabitants.
With 4 mountain climbs it will be a fight for the red jersey and at the end it should be a fight for the stage between between classic riders, classic sprinters and maybe some hill sprinters. The leaders jersey should change his owner for the first time.
Pico do Itabira
Difficulties: Serra do Mola Roca (Cat.3): 3-4-5-15-11
Pico do Itabira (Cat.2): 5-7-12-11-18
Serra do Espinhaco (Cat.3): 7-1-4-(-1)-6-9-5
last 10 km: 1,7,4,-9,-1,0,3,1,-1,-1
Stage 2: Lafaiete - Tres Rios (230 km)
The 3rd stage begins in the arrival town of the last day and leads the peloton over Juiz de Fora(pic 2) to the city of Tres Rios(pic 3) on the Rio Paraiba do Sul.
With 230 kms it is the longest stage of this tour. With only 2 cat.4 climbs there are nearly no difficulties for the sprinters but nevertheless some strong classic sprinters or hill sprinters can leave them behind and win on their own. A resting day for the GC leader even if he has to be attentive at the end.
Tres Rios was once the end point of one of the first railways in Brazil around 1900. La Linha do Norte(pic 1) connected Rio de Janeiro with it.
last +5 or more: km 219 (+5)
last 10 kms: -5,1,1,-2,-1,-1,0,2,-1,0
Stage 3: Rio de Janeiro (177 km)
The 3rd stage is located in and around Rio de Janeiro. Start will be on the Ponte Pres. Costa E. Silva(pic 1), then the course leads us around the Baia Guanabara and back to city of Rio. In a big circle its going back to the beach and then along the coast where we leave the well known beaches of Ipanema(pic 3) and Copacabana(pic 2) behind us. After that the peloton rides back into the city and with another circle it is going up to the most famous place in whole Brazil, the Corcovado(pic 4) with the big Jesus-statue on top. A spectacular finish and the first so to say mountain stage of this tour.
Difficulties:
Corcovado(Cat. 1): 3-7-11-3-8-3-5-8-5-3-(-2)-(-5)-(-2)-(-2)-8-8
Stage 4: Petrópolis - Morro do Guandu (156 km)
Next stage, next mountain final. This time the climb up to the Morro do Guandu has to be done by the peloton. Before that they are on a course which starts in Petrópolis(pic 1) and after they go down to sea level they have to climb back to Petrópolis. With 156 km its a quite short stage. Courageous teams can try to decimate their opponents but it's a long flat way before they arrive at the bottom of Morro do Guandu.
Difficulties: Petrópolis (Cat. 2): 20 km; 4,5 %
Morro do Guandu (Cat. 1): 6-6-10-9-5-13-12-7
Stage 5: Rio de Janeiro - Angra dos Reis (190 km)
After 2 mountain stages its following a flat stage. It leads us away from Rio de Janeiro along the coast to Angra dos Reis (pic 1). Like always it is not only flat but the sprinter should have a good chance to win if they show a good team work.
Last +5 or more: km 148 (+5)
Last 10 kms: 0,-2,-1,-2,1,-1,1,-1,0,0
Stage 6: Angra dos Reis - Sao Luis do Paraitinga (196 km)
The 6th stage leads the peloton again along the coast more and more into the South of Brazil. Finish will be after 196 kms in Sao Luis do Paraitinga(pic 1). Biggest difficulty on this way is the Pico do Cuscuzeiro about 80 kms away from the finish line. An open stage for strong teams. Strong classic riders can win with an attack against the classic and hill sprinters.
Difficulties: Pico do Cuscuzeiro (Cat. 1): 4-9-7-9-11-11-14-10-10-12-11-8-8-8-7-8
km 131-132 (Cat. 4): 8-8
Last +5 or more: km 162 (+6)
Stage 7: Taubaté - Sao Paolo (195 km)
This stage starts in Taubaté(pic 1), a city with about 270.000 inhabitants. Then the course takes its way to Sao Paolo(pic 2) in mostly flat terrain. It should be a clear sprinter stage. The only hills on this stage are very early and not very long or steep. A day to relax for the GC candidates.
Stage 8: Santos - Praia Grande (25 km TTT)
The 8th stage is a little but maybe deciding TTT from Santos(pic 1) to Praia Grande(pic 2). With 25 km its not too long but the guy who wants to win this tour needs a strong team here to save his chances for the win. The TTT is almost flat and goes along the coast so it could become very windy which is another difficulty for the teams on this day.
Stage 9: Peruibe - Cananeia (188 km)
Stage 9 ends up in Cananeia(pic 1), a little city in the South of the state Sao Paulo. The start is 188 km away in Peruibe(pic 2). Except of one little hill the profil doesn't show hard difficulties but at the end the peloton has to climb up a little road near the harbour of Cananeia. On picture 1 you can see the road and in the background is the little hill where the finish line is located.
last 10 km: -1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,5
Stage 10: Cananeia - Antonina(154 km)
Stage number 10. The tour goes to the end. This time its a stage which will hopefully create a good fight between sprinters and teams with different interests. With 154 km its a very short stage so that it should come to a lot of action. From the last mountain its nearly 40 km to the finish in Antonina(pic 1). Enough time for strong sprinters to come back and a good classic or hill sprinter team will have his problems to hold the group together as well. At km 136 there is a last single +6 where a strong group can be builded as well.
Problem: Some parts of this stage are on dirt road, but as long as we have no good solution for it i left it like it is. IF you want pave * i can change it easily! I ask here for some advice.
Difficulties: km 113-116: 7-10-13-14
Last +5 or more: km 136 (+6)
Stage 11: Paranagua - Pico Caratuba (206 km)
The second last stage of this Volta do Brasil. With 206 kms its the second longest stage and the 3rd mountain stage. This time the riders have to climb up to the top of the Pico Caratuba (pic 3). Start is in Paranagua(pic 2) near to the coast. The route leads over the Pico do Marumbi(pic 1) and the following high-plateau.
The final climb is 14 km long but not very steep. It will be a fight for seconds here.
Stage 12: Porto Alegre (225 km)
The last stage changed. First it was planned in Curitiba but as there was no good course found for the last stage they changed the location to Porto Alegre (pic 3), a city of about 1,5 million inhabitants. All in all there are 3 rounds in the city. One round is 75 km long and the field has to climb up to 4 hills during one round. The Morro Santana(pic 1) is ridden 2 times in a round, each time there is a different hill before. With still 30 points for the climbers jersey there is maybe a fight for the climbers jersey as well as for the General Classement. With 225 km the stage is very long so that the actual leader and his team has a last day with much work to do.
Difficulties:
Morro Pedro Redonda (Cat. 4): 2-10-11
Morro Santana (Cat 4): 10-9-6
Morro da Pamecor (Cat 4): 4-9-6
Last 10 kilometers: 10,9,6,-2,-6,-7,-6,-6,0,0
(but also to have a new challenge and because I didn't want to repeat too much and had "farmed" most of the nice stages in europe already in the last years).
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