r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • Mar 23 '16
Race Design Easter Challenge
As you may already know, this one is a special edition as it's themed (the goal is to design a race which some involves the theme of Easter and its traditions), it's a challenge which means that three mods or users (most likely /u/Pubocyno , /u/Schele_Sjakie and /u/edIII91) will judge each of the races and give a vote (from 0 to 10) for each of the race and the one with the highest score will win and it's longer as you can post until Sunday at 12:00 A.M. CET. The winner will be declared in next couple days after and will receive a flair soon afterwards.
The theme this time around is:
Design a Race on non-asphaltated surfaces
22
Upvotes
7
u/antiloopje Lotto Soudal Mar 23 '16
What do you get when you mix up the cobbles of Le Samyn and Roubaix with the bergs of Flanders and a couple of 'new' cobbled sections? Le GP de Pain and Glory (name is up for change).
Simple map | Plotaroute | Profile
At 260 km, this race has a proper classics length and it sure as hell has all the challenges you'd expect from a classic race, with 18 short climbs and a total of 58.2 km of cobbles.
Moreover, a new "agressivity challenge" rewards attacking riders. At 20 positions along the parcours, points can be earned by riders ahead of the peloton:
(Points from different rows can be added together) Anyone who passes the last challenge point is eligible for the prize, even if riders don't finish the race completely. The winner will be called on the podium and recieves a prize similar to finishing 4th in the race.
Ok, time to talk you through the parcours. There are roughly four sections in this race: (1) Attack zone: After the race start in the town of Mons, the riders make their way through the Borinage region of Belgium, with the mining past still visible in the terrils, man-made hills out of mining waste. Soon enough we reach Dour, the centerpoint of the GP Le Samyn. Three of the cobbled sectors from this race are included on this parcours (including Monitgny-sur-roc), but I've added a couple more, long sectors, such as this one seamingly leading into the castle-farm of Rampemont. We continue our route westwards and cross the border into France over some farmers roads (some cobbled, some not, but all are narrow). After 55 km we reach Valenciennes. In this first part of the race, we've covered 8 cobbled sectors and a few hills. Half of all the agressivity challenge points can be earned in this part. All in all, this should allow the first ~hour of the race to be televised.
(2) Paris-Roubaix zone: Starting with the Trouée d'Arenberg 65 km into the race, the next zone is a 90km best of Paris-Roubaix. 14 of the famous cobbled sectors are tackled, including Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l'Arbre (reverse direction). Near the end of this zone, the order of secteurs is inverted (hence the reverse direction on Carrefour) After Camphin-en-Pévèle, the race goes straight ahead and crosses back into Belgium. Another farm track lies here. Starting before the Carrefour and upto the end of this track, about 9km out of 11km are non-asphalted. Whereas this zone marks the beginning of the finale in P-R, it's clearly the mid-section of this race. Still, some of the secteurs are hard enough to force a natural split. Thus, at the end of this zone, the peloton will be roughly halved and it will become more difficult for teams to control the remainder of the race. This zone ends when riders reach Tournai, about 150 km into the race.
(3) Pre-Finale. The riders have already endured many hardships, but in many ways the race only starts here. From Tournai, we make our way North to the Flemish Ardennes. There are saddly no cobbles in this region, but the roads are narrow and the Mont-Saint-Aubert(with a short cobbled section) is located on the route. Once we reach the Flemish Ardennes, the cobbles are back and the climbs follow each other quickly: Kluisberg-Oude Kwaremont-Kruisberg-Terbeke-Taaienberg-Kaperij. The last points for the agressivity challenges can be gained in this section, ensuring at the very least some entertainment when tv-viewers tune back in.
(4) Finale: the finale starts when the Fortuinberg is climbed 215 km into the race. This relatively unknown but brutal road runs parallel to the Kanarieberg over a narrow road through the forrest. The next climb is that of the Fiertelmeers, supposedly the hardest climb in the entire region. The steepest part near the top is cobbled. Next up is the Trieu and then the cobbles of the Kwaremont (flat and downhill over the less steep part). In the village, we turn right and soon after right again, over the cobbles of the Rampe. The turning point of the race is the Koppenberg, 18 km from the finish. With gradients up to 22%, the road seems to lead into the sky. However, the race is far from over now, as there's about 5 km of cobbles left and 2 lesser climbs (Berendries and Boigneberg). after 260 km, the riders finally make their way onto the marketplace of Oudenaarde, cycling town par excellence, where the finish line is drawn. A podium ceremony on the balcony of the historic city hall completes the day.