The Rio Olympics’ road cycling events are set to be a real opportunity for the climbers with gradients approaching 20% on both the road race and time trial courses. I suppose the sprinters have got the World Road Race Championships in Doha to look forward to this year! (Update: now also includes triathlon bike loop)
Category: Climbs
Tour de Yorkshire 2016 Route Details (including Women’s race)
It is an exciting time of year for us Yorkshire folk as some of the best cyclists from around the world compete on our roads and show off our county to the rest of the world. Not only do we have the 3 day long men’s race we also are treated to the full women’s peloton racing the full route of the 2nd stage including World Champion and Yorkshire lass Lizzie Armitstead along with a Emma Pooley who is looking to make the Olympics squad with some Rio courses that are perfectly suited to her abilities.
Tour de France 2016 Stage 18 – The Final, Mountain Timetrial
The final timetrial of the 2016 Tour de France comes with just 2 more “proper” stages remaining and will provide a great opportunity for the final GC positons to be decided although the next day’s summit finish at Le Bettex and stage 21’s final climb of the Joux Plane. The timetrial itself takes in the classic climb from Domancy (tackled 20 times in the 1980 World Champs), up through Combloux before a couple of steep ramps and a short descent to the finish in Megève.
Etape du Tour 2016 – Megève to Morzine
The Etape du Tour is justifiably up there as one of the most prestigious sportives in the world, taking in a stage of the Tour de France just a few days before the race tackles the same roads. The 2015 route was 138km with 4,400m of climbing but the 2016 route, despite being slightly longer at 146km, looks to have a fair bit less climbing at around 3,500m. But it isn’t all good news, the fearsome Col de Joux Plane, often touted as the hardest of the main cols in the Alps, is saved till the end with just the roller-coaster descent to Morzine to follow. More details on the four climbs of the day below.
Monsal Hill Climb 2015
Over recent years Monsal Hill Climb has become one of the cornerstones of the increasingly popular British hill climb calendar and in 2015 I was very proud to be able to help support the event via VeloViewer as well as compete for the 4th year running, this time alongside 6 others riding for team VV. Here are some pictures of the event that, once again, was the welcome recipient of some amazing weather. The event was won by Joe Clark and Lou Bates with Adam Kenway & Jack Pullar and Jessie Walker & Dame Sarah Storey completing the podiums.The Climbs of the Aviva Tour of Britain 2015
The Aviva Tour of Britain has established itself as the main alternative preparation race for the World Championships (the other being the Vuelta a España). The parcours is tough and often ridden very hard with the domestic teams wanting to show their pedigree whilst the top WorldTour riders looking to get some hard day’s racing in the legs to help rebuild their form. Team Sky always want to fare well being the teams, main, home race but the top tip could well be ORICA GreenEDGE’s Yates brothers looking to take control of the race on their home roads of stage 2. Here are more details of all of the climbs from each stage. Interactive profiles and full stats available on the climbs page.
Getting and Sharing 3D Profile Images
Hopefully lots of you will have seen the 3D profile images being showcased on Eurosport throughout the Tour de France coverage this year. I have now massively improved the way you can get hold of your own 3D profile images of rides, runs or segments to make it much easier for you (as well as me) to attach to your Strava activities or share on social media from your phone, tablet or PC/Mac.
Key Climbs of the 2015 Tour de France
The 2015 Tour de France is set to be one for the climbers (if they all make it through the cobbles) with 12 stages finishing at the top of a hill of some kind and a few more testing mountain stages with descending finishes. The early, classics style climbs will certainly make the initial competition for the yellow jersey more exciting with the puncheurs looking to take the lead, but the main GC battle will be decided on the classic climbs of the Pyrenese and Alps. Checkout some of the key climbs of the race below.
Critérium du Dauphiné 2015 Stage 7 Preview
The Critérium du Dauphiné is always one of my favourite races of the year, primarily for the awesome scenery of the high mountains and this year is set to deliver again. Stage 7 is undoubtably the Queen Stage heading from Montmélian to the ski station at Le Bettex perched above the idyllic mountain town of Saint-Gervais. Five 1st category climbs stand between the two towns with the last two basically making up one HC climb with a short and potentially tricky descent thrown in to disrupt the rhythm. I was “lucky” enough to test out those final two climbs for myself and noticed my Garmin reading as much as 20% gradient!
Terms and Conditions of use of Interactive and Static Image 3D Profiles
I’ve had my interactive 3D profiles since 2013 and they have become a core feature of VeloViewer allowing you to view segments and your own rides in a really engaging way. I encourage the sharing and use of these profiles as long as you abide by the terms and conditions below.