Zappes Fantasy Races

[Zappes Raiders]

1. Isle of Wight Classic
A nice race with sharp short hills on the Isle of Wight just a few kilometers off shore of Portsmouth. Maybe a bunch sprint or a classic rider to win this which will make it an interesting race. Includes Sprints in the Cities of Newport (where the finish is) and Ryde and some circuits in the hilly southwest of the island


2. Classica de las Alpujarras
A tough race trough the mountains in the more rural south of the Sierra Nevada. First is a big loop from Motril via "La Cabra" to the north and back down to Motril for the Sprint. A long the coastal road to Castell for the first crossing of the finish line followed by another loop over the Lujar climb. Ends with a nice downhill finish on the mediteranean coast.


3. Grand Prix Plitvicka Jezera
Race from the coast of Croatia to the infamous National Park of Plitvicka Jezera. Main Challenge is of course the Oltari Pass, which s already half way through, so interesting to see what happens afterwards. Will it make a small group or is it fought out by a bigger group?


4. Rotenberg Challenge
Race around the Württemberg in Stuttgart. It starts in the city of Stuttgart with a bigger loop through the wineyards with some short climbs and finishes on a circuit over Rotenberg and Untertürkheim. There are Mointain Points for every second crossing of the finish line and some sprints down in Untertürkheim. It will be a spectacle to watch

[Zappes Raiders]

Designed this little Tour.

Tour of Taiwan
It is a 4 days, 5 stages Tour basically in the mid-western part of Taiwan around Taichung. The Tour has a mostly hilly stages with sharp ascents but also offering chances for hillsprinters and classics with sprint. One of the half stages is a hilly ITT, one is crossing the Wuling Pass.

Stage 1

Mainly 2 circuits around Changhua. The first part has some hills but is not really difficult. In the second loop we climb to Fengshen Temple, which will be probably too hard for all flatland sprinters. It will be a tough battle between breakaway and a reduced bunch.

Stage 2a

A hilly 15km ITT at Sun Moon Lake in the highlands. It will bring a first selection in the GC. The question is how much time lose the good climbers, are there Classics with a good result who might have a look at the GC.

Stage 2b

Its a short stage in the afternoon. The Dapingding hill is sharp enough to create a separation but after this the hills are not really hard anymore even Dalin offers a possiblity to try something. Once again we will see a battle between a breakaway and a (reduced) bunch. As the gaps in GCs wont be big we can see a change in the leaderboard again.

Stage 3

This stage adds another bit of chaos. After the KOMs on Ergui and especially Chikan Peak there is a long flat along a river before offering more possibilities to attack in Jiji and Daping. This will mostly-likely be something for the late-attackers. In the end it will be important which groups we have and how well they work together. This will be the decisive factor for today.

Stage 4

The final and decisive stage for the GC. Until here it might be close but today will create gaps. But be careful as the one who is first on Wuling Pass might have the best chances for KOM Jersey but not for the stage and the GC as there are still 40km of downhill and the the sharp uphill to Fushou Shanzheng on a narrow road in the end. If some attacked too early he might blow-up here

[Nomorelulz]

Interesting Tour Zappes, what do you think about the idea of switching the half stages and having the "normal" stage first, then the ITT. I think that makes it more interesting. Generally I dont like half stages that much.

What happens with the order ITT -> normal stage: leaders go all out, helpers chill in the ITT. Then there is not much strategy for the normal stage, helpers can just control.

If we change the order it gets more interesting, leaders could attack and try something, which needs to be controlled by the others, of course they will try to have helpers used for this, but maybe its not enough so they also have to risk using leaders. And this way there is also the question in the normal stage to have your leader fit or the candidate for the stage. This gives other teams without a GC lead a bit more ooportunities to win a stage.

Whats your thoughts? (Just want to open the discussion about half stages here).

[Zappes Raiders]

My thought was just the other way around - if the stage is first and then ITT all GC leaders will try to save all energy for the ITT and nothing really happens. And in the stage after the ITT it gives chances for others or GC leaders with better reg.

Both ways have there pros and cons. I am also open to change it...

I understand the concerns about half stages. My opinion is I generally like shorter stages and more action. With half stages you double the action (or no "boring" complete ITT day) while the time to play does not increase. Short ITT days are often a bit senseless because everyone just set their settings and nothing really happens. But I like to have ITTs in a tour because it creates the necessarity to do something for worse ITT riders.

[Nomorelulz]

My thought was just the other way around - if the stage is first and then ITT all GC leaders will try to save all energy for the ITT and nothing really happens. And in the stage after the ITT it gives chances for others or GC leaders with better reg.

Both ways have there pros and cons. I am also open to change it...

I understand the concerns about half stages. My opinion is I generally like shorter stages and more action. With half stages you double the action (or no "boring" complete ITT day) while the time to play does not increase. Short ITT days are often a bit senseless because everyone just set their settings and nothing really happens. But I like to have ITTs in a tour because it creates the necessarity to do something for worse ITT riders.

Your argumentation works, if the stage actually is hard enough for GC leaders. They dont need to save energy for a nearly flat stage, only sieb km's are:
45 9
13 6
44 6
46 6

and the finish is at km 84. Last 5 is km70. So this will lead to a boring ITT and a boring stage. 15km ITT will end up for 330ish energy loss, then 45 reg -> rider will end up at ~700 for the last stage. But all his relevant flat helpers will be at 1000. The stage is simply to easy imo for this combination, imagine stage 1 is after the ITT.. Thats some fun then -

> but just my opinion here, I do like your tour, its just the thing with half stages. They can make sense if they actually create an interesting scenario.

But you are right that if ITT is after the normal stage, the GC leaders will probably do nothing, but non gc leaders could abuse this and create a fun stage maybe and fight for the stage at least. This way you split the decision between stage and gc a bit.