Hello everyone,
the end of the Tour de France is a good day to present Campeonato de los Andes 2018. (Not only personally, as I have to get this awful TdF out of my mind):
Andes 2018 will take place in Colombia and Ecuador, but it will also touch Venezuela at the start (to give the country some hope) and later Peru.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS 2018:
- Visiting Casa de Nairo Quintana on stage 5!
- Mountain Arrival at El Carmelo after 11 stages without a rest day!
- Mountain Arrival at Laguna de Cuicocha on stage #13 after 246km!
- Ultra difficult Team Time Trial in Bogota, but no Individual Time Trial!
- No camino de la muerte, but other pavé sections!
- 5 mountain arrivals (some are just hard, some are extreme)
- 4 stages that allow a mass sprint!
- 7 short stages (<160km) for some action.
General design rules
Mountains:
HC-Cat.: 2000hm >6% OR 2500hm
1-Cat.: 1500hm >6% OR 2000hm
2-Cat.: 1000hm >6% OR 1500hm
3-Cat.: 500hm >6% OR 1000hm
4-Cat.: 250hm >6% OR 500hm
Sprints:
3 IS on Flat stages
2 IS on Hilly stages
1 IS on HC stages
Et. 1 (Hilly): San Cristobal - Pamplona - 152km - 3050meters to climb - 87min
Start in San Cristobal to give Venezuela some hope. Andes 2018 starts easy and not easy: 3 short stages give the riders some time to warm up you would think, but as we start with a mountain arrival, this could turn out very different. The arrival is however not too hard. Only few sieb km during the climb with the last 10km being: +5 +4 +10 +1 -2 +3 0 -1 +1 +3
Et. 2 (Flat): Pamplona - Bucaramanga - 134km - 2110meters to climb - 74min
Ok, stage 2 gives some relief. It starts with a climb to El Oriente which could create a sieb. But with a long flat and downhill part afterwards, a good sprint team will be able to bring their sprinters back. Last five kilometer is -1 +1 +2 +2 +3
Et. 3 (Hilly/Pave): Bucaramanga - Barichara - 129km - 3070meters to climb - 79min
Another short stage, but this time very hilly and with some pave at the finish in Barichara. Last ten kilometer are +5 +6 +5 +5 +5 +6 +7 +3 -1*** +5***. This could be a fight between climbers and pavé specialists.
Et. 4 (HC): San Joaquin - Chita - 198km - 5980meters to climb - 120min
3 short stages completed, all riders at 1000 energy and you feel like this is not the Andes you remember? Watch out for the next days. Stage 4 is a real classical HC Andes stage. Uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill, basically no flat. The last climb before Chita is long enough and hard enough (many +8 and +9) to sieb everybody away, but who can come back in the 20km long downhill? Last five km are -5 -3 +3 +3 +4.
Et. 5 (Hilly): Belen - Casa de Nairo Quintana - 233km - 5570meters to climb - 121min
Now this. Emotionally the most important stage of Andes 2018. Who can win at Nairo Quintana's house? Google for it and you see why it is special. The way there however is not as difficult as those stages that Nairo can win. So we made it a 233km stage to make it really difficult. Last ten kilometer are +4 +3 +5 +5 +4 +9 +9 +5 -1 0. So again it could be climber but it is not 100% safe for a climber.
Et. 6 (Hilly/Pave): Casa de Nairo Quintana - Villa de Leyva - 198km - 3540meters to climb - 105min
Leaving Case de Nairo, we head towards a difficult 198km stage with several pavé sections. Why so many pavé? That is how some streets, villages and small cities look like. They only have pavé and so here it comes. As a designer, you cannot find all the pavé and in fact Andes is too easy when there is no pavé as compared to the street quality in real life. But if you focus, you can find some of the pavé and it happens that on this stage I found a lot of pavé, but none is stronger than **. Finish is a small circuit in Villa de Leyva: +1** -1** +1** -1** +1** -1**.
Et. 7 (Flat): Villa de Leyva - Bogota - 142km - 1690meters to climb - 76min
Stage 7, short flat stage to Bogota after three exhausting 200km stages in a row and before a decisive team time trial! So, this is really for the escape. This will be your day if you are not a GC favo. Except, yes, except if somebody is smart enough to bring a sprint team to Andes. Why? The flat stages are rather short and easy. The big crazy mountains come relatively later. So if you ever thought about bringing your train and a sprinter to Andes, this is it probably.
Et. 8 (TTT): Bogota - Bogota - 46km - 810meters to climb - 46min
Stage 8, no rest day yet and you have to ride a 46km team time trial with 810meters to climb, holy shit. This means you need riders with time trial and with mountain and downhill skill. Hard to find. Good luck.
Et. 9 (Flat): Islilla - Las Lomas - 145km - 770meters to climb - 78min
Stage 9. After the TTT we fly to Peru and this is again a chance for the escape as well as for the unlikely sprinter team at Andes. Climbers will try to relax after the TTT and before the mountain, but this means also that a GC attack could work.
Et. 10 (Hilly): Las Lomas - Orianga - 189km - 4880meters to climb - 101min
Stage 10 leads the peloton to Ecuador and provides a hilly experience to Orianga. Final 12km are +6 +6 +6 +4 +4 +3 +3 +3 -4 -8 -9 0. A hill sprinter might take his chance.
Et. 11 (HC): Machala - El Carmelo - 201km - 5900meters to climb - 119min
Stage 11 and if you don't feel tired yet after 10 stages without a rest day, you probably have 65 reg or you are crazy. Today brings the tired peloton over HC climb Arcapamba to El Carmelo, which is a safe climber's stage because El Carmelo is the Zoncolan of Ecuador. Last 10km are +7 +5 +9 +5 +13 +10 +8 +10 +17 +16. After this, you will probably really need the rest day.
********************************* REST DAY *******************************************
Et. 12 (Hilly): Ipiales - San Jose de Tinajillas - 140km - 2730meters to climb - 84min
Off to an incredible 4 stage final after the rest day. 2 mountain arrivals, one very difficult arrival in Quito and the last stage in Quito are waiting. We start relatively light with 140km, but the final climb to San Jose de Tinajillas has everything you need for a fight between climbers. It starts super steep, but gets flatter at the top: +4 +7 +10 +11 +14 +17 +11 +11 -4 -3 +12 +11 -3 +8 +8 +7 +4 +4 +3 +1 0. This arrival makes it really difficult to time an attack if you want to be fit on the next day for 246km and Laguna de Cuicocha.
Et. 13 (HC): San Jose de Tinajillas - Luguna de Cuicocha - 246km - 6360meters to climb - 139min
Stage 13 is the king's stage. 246 difficult kilometer with a final climb to Laguna de Cuicocha, which we visited last year already. The climb is split into 3 parts, with the middle part being the hardest (up to 12%). The last 5km are +7,+7,+7,+7,+3.
Et. 14 (HC): Laguna de Cuicocha - Quito - 221km - 5700meters to climb - 123min
Downhill from Laguna de Cuicocha the road will lead us over 221km to Ecuador's capital Quito. The profile makes it quite likely that only a small group arrives together in Quito for the final circuit. Riders have to complete a 8km city circuit three times: +3, +7, +5**, -10, -4, -2, +3, -2*. After stage 14, the winner of Andes 2018 should be decided.
Et. 15 (Flat): Quito - Quito - 90km - 1200meters to climb - 50min
Stage 15 is a relaxed 90km ride, at least if the team of the GC leader is still in a good condition to protect their leader. The course is a bit hilly but has no sieb km: +3 +3 +2 -5 -3 -2 +2 +2 -2*. Another mass sprint is possible if any of the sprinters survived Andes.
I am looking forward to this extraordinary race and I hope your riders are strong enough to enjoy it a little bit!
Any remaining errors are my own and please be so kind to report them. Also, please feel free to comment.
Best regards,
Gipfel