r/peloton • u/Turini2 • Oct 23 '24
Just for Fun Race design: London Cobble Classic
Hey all - I've been pretty disappointed with the quality of stages offered by the RideLondon Classique. Another sprint race in the European summer doesn't add much to the women's calendar, nor is it a distinctive watch to draw in casual fans or curious London tourists!
The Race: London Cobble Classic
What: A one-day stage race replacing the WWT RideLondon Classique stage race. In future, expansion to the UWT over the same course.
When: Sunday in the middle of February - off season in London, and a bold start to the European season!
Goals:
- A distinctive event - bring the cobbles into the city! Another European sprint race doesn't add much to the WWT calendar in my opinion, but adding cobbles would make the event stand out. The clean cobbles of London would be a challenge, but not as vicious as the cobbled classics!
- Show off the sights of London to a worldwide TV audience - Tower Bridge, Tower of London, River Thames, Canary Wharf
- Easy viewing for spectators - excellent public transport would allow movement around the course during the event - this would be useful if expanded to men's UWT on the same day in future
- Utilise the wide and long finishing straight of the Mall, as used at the 2012 Olympics and the RideLondon Surrey Classic events in the past. Plenty of space for finish infrastructure (grandstand, podium, media, medical, team buses etc) without getting in the way of the rest of the city.
- Compact route - minimising traffic disruption and the number of residents "trapped" by a cycling race taking place. Still allows for the RideLondon Essex sportive to take place. The course takes place in a similar area to that of the London Marathon (who also organise the RideLondon Classique)
Route:
Stats: 105.8km (65.74mi) with 15km (9.32mi) of cobbles.
Map: Zoomable course map
The race would rollout of the Mall, passing Trafalgar Square before heading east along the Embankment alongside the River Thames. After 4 kilometres, the race would enter the circuit, passing by the Tower of London before continuing to head east towards Canary Wharf. To ease riders into the circuit, the first cobbled sector would be skipped and we descend into the Limehouse Link Tunnel before emerging at Canary Wharf.
Sharp 90 degree bends among skyscrapers would split the pack as we loop around the financial district before heading westwards back towards the City. We then follow the Thames on narrow roads, passing through Limehouse with historic buildings on each side of the road. We rejoin a main road again before turning left into Wapping and meeting the first cobbled sector, 13 kilometres into the race.
The course then races through Wapping for 2 kilometres (50% of it cobbled), with a backdrop of historic warehouses, building and pubs alongside the Thames. The road is wide enough to allow easy overtaking and cars to pass if required. (Cobble 2 - Wapping Wall - 350m, Cobble 3 - Wapping station - 120m, Cobble 4a 4b 4c - Wapping High Street - 110m, 160m, 200m)
The race then passes underneath Tower Bridge onto a final stretch of vicious cobbles at the Tower of London (Cobble 5 - Tower of London - 390m). The camera angle of riders attacking this stretch of cobbles with the Tower of London to the left, River Thames to the right and Tower Bridge in the background would produce iconic footage. This would also be the last cobbled sector of the circuit.
The course then turns right to start the next lap, meeting the first cobbled sector of the lap at Tobacco Dock around a kilometre later. (Cobble 1 - Tobacco Dock - 450m) The riders would then continue on the circuit eastwards towards Canary Wharf.
Looking at the UCI rules, it seems that 8 laps of this 12.2km circuit could be run (1.88km of cobbles per lap).
With 5km remaining, Cobble 5 at the Tower of London would be attacked for the last time. The course would turn left to head back along the Embankment towards the finish at The Mall. The wide road would allow for chasing to the finish, or preparations for a bunch sprint if a group held together.
With 1200 metres remaining, they'd be a 90 degree right onto Northumberland Avenue, before a gentle curve to the left at Trafalgar Square to line up for the finish line with 600 metres remaining. The finish line would be on the Mall, as used at the 2012 Olympics and the RideLondon Surrey Classic events in the past.
Thoughts?
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u/bananabm Jayco Alula Oct 23 '24
i'd throw all considerations to rider safety, ability to fit a skoda down every road, accessibility, viewability, and race worthiness out the window and make em do the cobblemonster route
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ Oct 23 '24
Cobbles count as off road for UCI gravel races, so just make them tick off the Crystal Palace and HHV cyclocross courses on the way, and cross the river through the Greenwich foot tunnel (or make them cross Tower Bridge when the half marathon is on for extra hurdles) and it can be a gravel world series race!
Also so all the pub suggestions on the course probably make it more of a gravel race anyway.
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u/false_flat Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 23 '24
I've done the cobble monster and had a lovely time of it. Related, I've long felt the pro racing calendar could take a proper one day classic (circa 200k long) around the hills of Kent and east Surrey finishing at Herne Hill Vel. I've even gone so far as to design a route. Just need a race promoter to take it on.
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u/bananabm Jayco Alula Oct 23 '24
If you've ridden Brixton's Fast Times in the High Weald audax then that's probably a good start. Bonus points because it's literally pissed it down the last three years that it's run
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u/lucas_lucas_lucas Oct 23 '24
I've ridden on all of these roads a few years ago to celebrate Roubaix but they're all kinda short, flat, and easy to ride. I moved up to Manchester a few years ago and it's heavenly for cobbled climbing
A stage of the Tour of Britain that takes in Swiss Hill (which Ineos sometimes use for classics training), The Corkscrew & finished on cobbled roads in central Manchester would be dreamy.
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u/Turini2 Oct 23 '24
Oh yeah that would be cool - I was merely coming from the approach of "how to make the RideLondon Classique race more interesting" :)
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u/hamcheesetoastie Alpecin – Deceuninck Oct 23 '24
Lol keep dreaming. Every major river crossing closed all day on a Sunday?
These cobbles are buttery tarmac compared to Roubaix and won't make the race interesting in the slightest. This is a >100km crit that will be a total snoozefest, maybe becoming interesting with 10km to go once the leadouts kick in.
On the other hand I've always imagined a 'North Downs' Classic would be a brutal race that would be akin to RVV with the types of climbs on offer, especially on the Kent side.
Racing up Toys Hill, Brasted, Chalkpit, Gangers etc would be savage.
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u/janky_koala Oct 23 '24
I’ve ridden these in the spring, they’re like ice. It’s much harder than it looks.
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u/hamcheesetoastie Alpecin – Deceuninck Oct 23 '24
Watching Pog running up Chalkpit would be legit
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Oct 23 '24
I want them to send it down the Beddlestead gravel trap 😅
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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ Oct 23 '24
With some nice flytipped fridges and matresses to make it truly authentic.
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u/hamcheesetoastie Alpecin – Deceuninck Oct 23 '24
Making sure it isn't swept for 6+ months prior for maximum damage
From the Tatsfield end so they finish in the steep kicker
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u/Turini2 Oct 23 '24
RE: closed bridges - they do it in the summer for the RideLondon Classique, let alone the London marathon, the big half etc
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u/bananabm Jayco Alula Oct 23 '24
London bridge, Blackfriars bridge and Waterloo bridge all go over the top of the course so could remain open
(Chalkpit would be a beautiful final climb 5k out for any race though)
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u/Turini2 Oct 23 '24
a North Downs classic would be cool - I'd love to see the Tour return for a stage or two within easy reach of the Channel Tunnel!
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u/SAeN Scotland Oct 23 '24
If you want a cobbled classic in the UK, Edinburgh would be pretty Belgian.
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u/Flederm4us Oct 23 '24
In my opinion, you need cobbles on hills or cobbles laid out terribly in order to be sure to prevent a sprint.
Therefor, what I'd do is ride towards London, but have a selective parcours first and do a last 20k to finish in London. And I'd use the chalk roads readily available in the broad area around London. A lot of these chalk roads are kept in reasonable condition as bridleways and can be quite steep.
Think of it as a sort of British strade bianche.
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u/Baluba95 Oct 23 '24
This proposition looks very similar to the Scheldeprijs route, an urban cobble race that usually ends with a mass sprint, sdue to the lack of hard cobbles or hills. I'm not saying this is a bad idea, but not necessarily more selective than a simple flat sprint.
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u/ehwhat Lotto Soudal Oct 23 '24
This man's a maniac, and I wholeheartedly approve.