The final 40km of stage 2 of Le Tour is likely to be action packed. The terrain will see to it that attacks will come and the cream of the world’s professional cyclists will emerge at the front to do battle until the finish in Sheffield. The roads here are largely within the Strines region which cyclists from Yorkshire and the Peak District know very well. Many local pros, past and present, have utilised the repeated steep climbs in the area to hone their racing fitness. The Strines Road itself is a notoriously steep stretch of tarmac which begins at the A616 at Midhopestones and terminates at the A57 after 15 rollercoaster kilometres. The Tour riders won’t cover the full length but they will tackle the most severe sections before turning off east towards High Bradfield and further sharp ascents on the approach to Sheffield.
The Climbs of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2014
One of my favourite races of the Pro Cycling calendar, the Critérium du Dauphiné. Named after the Dauphiné province in south-eastern France’s high mountains this race is always packed with the top Tour de France contenders performing their last major competition prior to the Grand Depart. Next time we’ll see this top class field it will be on the streets of Yorkshire! Taking in many of the famous climbs of the Alps with 3 mountain top finishes this year’s race will be a great warm up for the spectators as well as the riders.
Giro d’Italia 2014 – Key Climbs Stages 18, 19 and 20
The 3 weeks of the 2014 Giro d’Italia are almost up and although the snowy high point of the race (Passo dello Stelvio) has been and gone, by far the toughest climb and final showdown of the race is yet to come – Monte Zoncolan. Prior to that though are 2 more days of climbing including an individual, mountain time trial. Will Rigoberto Uran be able to turn around his deficit to Nairo Quintana? Here are all the details of the climbs of these last three mountain stages.
Giro d’Italia 2014 – Key Climbs Stages 14, 15 and 16
The Giro d’Italia is about to get serious! The sprinters will now be fighting to make the time limits as the roads shoot skywards with the next three stages tackling 6 category 1 or above climbs including the Passo Dello Stelvio which at 2,758m is the high point of the race. Fingers crossed the poor weather continuing to plague this year’s Giro (similar to last year) will abate to avoid the cancelling or rerouteing of any of these stages.
Le Cote de Jenkin Road
Jenkin Road is the final climb on stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France. Its position on the route, only minutes from finish in Sheffield, is crucial and is likely to influence the final outcome. Jenkin is only short but it is steep enough to be a significant challenge to the riders of Le Tour, especially as it comes after 195 hilly kilometres.
Giro d’Italia 2014 – Key Climbs of Stages 5 to 9
Now that the Giro has left Ireland things should well hot up on the GC (General Classification) front and apart from the two individual timetrials the biggest moves will be made on the many spectacular climbs that will need to be conquered. There were a few climbs in Ireland but as we all knew, they were never going to cause even the sprinters any concerns but for the remainder of this first week there are many climbs that will cause some serious time splits.
The Climbs of the Giro d’Italia – Stage 3
Following stage 2’s scenic trip down coastline of Northern Ireland, stage 3 will take the peloton south from Armagh to the finish in the heart of Dublin. Similar to stage 2 this stage is one for the sprinters with only a couple of early climbs to allow an escape to get clear, scoop up the King Of the Mountain points, grab some TV time for their sponsors before being caught by the sprinters teams within sight of the finish. Although you’ll probably see little of these stage 3 climbs on the television coverage, you might fancy heading out to watch the race or to try them for yourself so here’s all you need to know.
The Climbs of the Giro d’Italia – Stage 2
The UK and Ireland are in for a real treat this year for cycling fans with the two most iconic races of the calendar hosting their first stages on our shores. The perhaps better known Tour de France is starting in Yorkshire this July (see the climbs of stage 1 and stage 2 parts one and two!) but the arguably more glamorous and exciting Grand Tour will be travelling around the beautiful countryside of Northern Ireland and down to Dublin. The first stage is a 22km team time trial where each 9-man squad will attempt to make a choreographed blur of carbon and lycra through the streets of Belfast with the time being taken on the 5th rider across the line, but as always, it’s the hills which interest me the most as it is the key aspect of professional cycling that is open for all of us to easily try for ourselves on the roads used by the professionals themselves. Continue reading
Velobici Spring Classics Challenge – The Prizes!
I’m sure you lot don’t need any more motivation to clock up the miles for the Velobici Spring Classics Challenge with, as I type this, 132(!) of you already having completed the full distance and 3 of you having done double the distance! Well, with 10 days still to go here is a quick reminder of the prizes up for grabs from our partners on this challenge. Remember, the more Classics you cover off, the more chances you’ll have of winning as you’ll be in the draw for prizes for all the Classics you have completed. So what are you doing still reading this when you could be out on the bike!
Britain’s 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs Official Leader Board
VeloViewer has partnered up with 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs’ Simon Warren to provide an all-time leader board for the best climbs in Britain. If you’re not already an owner of these great books then you MUST get them on your next birthday wish list as they are fantastically inspirational and perfect for planning rides or even holidays. But who’s ridden the most and who is the fastest (ok, that’ll most likely be Tejvan)? Time to join the 100 Climbs Strava Club and see how you compare.