Tour of Beijing - Stage 2 Guide

Close-up detail of the Bird's Nest. The
apparently random placing if the steel
spars isn't ransom at all
(© JJ W CC2.0)

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Stage 2 begins, as did Stage 1, at the iconic "Bird's Nest" National Stadium (39°59'28.06"N 116°23'14.38"E), but rather than a high-speed course around the city and managed parks, today the route heads out into the real countryside. The finish line is in Men Tou Gou, just west of Beijing and contiguous with it, but as the riders head north-west they'll soon be leaving the city behind. At first, it's all wide arable fields, but once the race begins to proceed south after passing through Yangfangzhen, it's not long until we see the first mountains of the tour. The teams will only be climbing two small ones today and only the second, at 188m, is categorised (3) - but they'll go up it four times, giving a total of around 900m climbing over the entire 137km stage.

Beijing to Jun Zhuang

After riding 1.05km north from the stadium, the peloton will turn left onto Datun Road to begin the neutral zone.  The turn is tight due to the wide central reservation with riders needing to avoid the barriers lining the narrow passage on the southern side of the road. They then turn right 500m later, passing onto Beichen West Road - as they approach it along the left-hand lane of Datun Road and the junction is around 50m wide, there should be no problems with the pedestrian crossing and central reservation just around the corner. From here, the race takes the same route as yesterday for the next 2.9km, passing onto Aolin Road West. However, rather than crossing the bridge over the N 5th Ring Road they'll take the left lane slip road down onto it (40° 1'10.89"N 116°22'44.46"E), heading west and reaching the end of the neutral zone and the beginning of the race as they do so.

Olympic Centre Court (© Doma-w CC3.0)

The following 9km run along motorway and, like all motorway sections in all cycle races, will be rather boring as the peloton settle into a rhythm, nobody bothers making an almost-certainly-doomed breakaway attempt and nothing much happens. So, it's fortunate for we spectators that there are a few interesting things to look at along the way. The first, coming up on the left, is the Olympic tennis courts, now home to the Chinese Tennis Association and, since 2009, the China Open tournament. Designed to suggest the shape of a lotus flower - symbol of the 2008 Games - the central court can seat up to 10,000 people.

Ruins of the Old Summer Palace (public domain image)

Even more impressive are the Yuan Ming Yuan Gardens (the gardens of perfect brightness) 6.2km along the road and also on the left. Begun in 1707 as a gift for a prince of the Qing Dynasty and who later became Emperor Yongzheng. In time, the Gardens grew until the covered some 348 hectares (860 acres) and included the Old Summer Palace, built in European style at the behest of the Qianlong Emperor who was known for his love of exotic architecture. The Palace was destroyed during the Second Opium War in 1860 by French and British troops in retaliation for the murders of twenty French, British and Indian soldiers who under a flag of truce had accompanied envoys to talks with the Emperor. The Emperor, after a single day of discussions, ordered his forces to capture the foreigners and had them imprisoned, where they were subjected to horrific torture. The envoys, Harry Parkes and Henry Loch, survived, as did fourteen others. They were released a fortnight later with the corpses of those who had died, the bodies so mangled by the ordeal that they were close to being unrecognisable.

Yihe Huang (© Zhangzhe0101 CC3.0)

As they pass the Gardens, the riders will take the slip road up onto the fly-over carrying the Yuan Ming Yuan West Road and for km travel south before a right turn onto Yihe Yuan Road (40° 0'2.86"N 116°16'58.08"E) 1.23km after the bridge and leading through the Yihe Yuan (gardens of nurtured harmony) Summer Palace Park. Not quite as extensive as the Yuan Ming Yuan at 2.9km, of which 75% is water - the lakes are all man-made, the excavated soil having been used to create 60m Longevity Hill. Among the various spectacular structures on the hill is Fo Xiang Ge (variously translated as the Temple of Buddhist Incense or the Temple of Buddha's Fragrance), one of the finest in Beijing. The road carries the race underneath N 5th Ring Road, then northward along Heishanhu Road, a much narrower route that will cause the peloton to lengthen, continuing for 2.5km until they arrive at a right turn onto Malianwa Road.

Much of Stage 2 takes place in the forested Western Hills
(© Shizhao CC2.5)

The corner looks a likely spot for diesel spills, but the road beyond should be problem-free. After 615m, having crossed the bridge at the start, the pack turn left for Yongfeng Road. To the right of the road immediately after the corner is the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, then the riders need to stay right to follow the correct route north. We see a very different landscape to that around the Olympic Park here - the mixture of heavy industry and grim, regimented housing blocks is very much of the Maoist era and far more indicative of how millions of Chinese still live. The Tour's first intermediate sprint begins at 17.5km on this road (40° 2'52.49"N 116°15'7.22"E), decreasing the time it'll take to get to Beiqing Road another 3km ahead.

Beiqing Road heads west for 7.16km - another rather boring section that forms part of the race solely to convey the riders from one place to another without any technical features. Fortunately, the countryside through which it passes is attractive; a compliment that cannot also be paid to the towns - though Sujiato, just around the right-hand corner leading onto Wenyang Road, has at least one thing to recommend it in the annual fruit-picking festival. Sadly, it's a tradition that will probably not last until the end of the current decade as the little town will, sooner or later, be swallowed up by Beijing as the city grows ever larger in the biggest expansion and urbanisation project the world has ever seen. Also worthy of mention is Sujiato's peculiar liking for blue roofs - a liking that also manifests itself in the surrounding towns and villages.

Peking Man (homo erectus pekinensis), an early
human ancestor from as long as 780,000 years
before the present, was discovered in a Western
Hills quarry during the 1920s
(© kevinzim CC2.0)

The race passes under the W 6th Ring Road 1.56km after the town is left behind, past conifer plantations and crossing Niegezhuang East Road before reaching Qianshajiancun and Houshajiancun on the way to Yangfangzhen. It arrives at Shayang Road after 3.97km (40° 7'50.75"N 116° 8'47.29"E), riders needing to be careful to stay left around the bend to avoid hitting the central reservation. 1.36km later, they turn left again for Webai Road - there's some attractive parkland (including a feature shaped like a giant guitar) to the north-west and, just beyond, green mountains - and travel south, following the river for the next 7.2km back to Beiqing Road. The section isn't testing, but trees along both sides may have dropped thorny twigs and/or slippery leaves on the road. At Beiqing Road, the peloton turn right and continue west for 1.53km to Bei'anhe Road, turning left onto it as they reach 45km from the start of the race (40° 3'57.27"N 116° 6'47.16"E).

The turning itself shouldn't be problematic - though the pedestrian crossing just around it may be slippery after rain - but the road immediately enters a section with many overhanging trees as the race enters Bei'anhexiang, thus increasing the likelihood of punctures. There's more of the same on the way out of the town, then the race turns right onto Wenquan Road (40° 3'13.56"N 116° 7'16.81"E) which, after 1.1km, becomes Da Jue Si Road - the stage itinerary misses Wenquan Road, apparently mistaking the entire section for Da Jue Si Road.

A few kilometres to the south-west of the finish line is the
Tanzhe Temple. At 1,700 years old, it's among the oldest
temples in the Beijing area.(© Ding CC2.0)

The details then become a little unclear - the stage map suggests that the race continues on the W 6th Ring Road, whereas the itinerary states it to be the Jun Zhuang Road - there isn't a road with this name, but the W 6th does lead to Jun Zhuang village. However, so does Junwen Road; making it difficult to establish with total certainty which one will be used. We think it'll be the W 6th, in which case it's another motorway section leading to an interchange and slip road (39°59'23.44"N 116° 5'16.65"E) onto the G109 National Road travelling south; whereas if the organisers mean Junwen Road there are a few sections overhung by trees before arriving at a junction with the G109 and a right turn (39°59'41.46"N 116° 5'17.06"E). Entry onto the G109 marks the beginning of the first of three 21km laps.

The Circuit


The first lap of the circuit begins 55.5km from the start of the race, passing through an urban area for the initial 0.92km before heading into countryside. The road is sandwiched between a golf course some way below the road on the left and a steep mountainside rising up on the right. The first categorised climb, a Cat 3 to 188m, begins 3km into the first lap, ending 1km later.

Almost immediately after the end of the climb, the road turns tightly right - potentially a danger spot for riders who attempt to descend fast to make up time lost on the way up. It passes by a junction with the X002 Danijan Road a short way ahead, then passes to the left of Dan Li village. Riders remain right to pass through a 40m tunnel, then turn left; the road becoming known as Shidan Road once it turns slightly right and away from the river. The stage's second sprint begins 2km later (39°58'32.28"N 116° 2'58.28"E) followed by the feed zone 1.5km after that (39°59'2.90"N 116° 3'39.40"E) - 65km into the race. The road sweeps to the right, passes a bridge on the left and then bends right again 1.2km later, soon becoming Chengzi Road and continuing south for 3.86km until a left turn onto Shuizha Road Bridge.

During the rainy season, the Yongding is wide
 (© Vmenkov CC3.0)

The river, known as the Yongding, was once called the Wu Ding - the river of instability, due to its dangerous propensity to alter its course. As the largest river to flow through Beijing, the resulting flash floods and damage to property and farmland could prove disastrous, hence a successful project in 1698 under the Kangxi Emperor to strengthen the banks and confine the water to one permanent course. It remains successful to this day. Long sections can dry out, creating wide swathes of green as opportunistic, fast-growing grasses take advantage of the rich, silty mud before the next rainy season turns it back into a river.

708m after joining the bridge, the race turns left and back onto the W 6th Ring Road heading north. The road itself is as uninteresting as it was earlier, but offers some good views across the river and to the mountains; especially after 908m when it skirts the edge of the water on concrete piles before passing under a 1.08km long railway bridge. The next 2.98km lead back to the start of the circuit and the beginning of another lap 76.5km from the race start.

Though considered separate from Beijing well into the 1990s,
the eastern parts of Men Tou Gou are rapidly becoming
suburbs of the city. However, the mountainous terrain that
covers some 97% of the region will hopefully ensure that
the tiny villages dotted around the landscape will be
preserved. Among them is the famous village of
Chuandixia, dating from the Ming Dynasty and now a tourist
attraction due to its traditional architecture.
(Copyright image used courtesy of Visit Our China)

Having three laps, including the final intermediate sprint in lap 3 (beginning and ending at the same points as that in lap 1), the peloton embarks on a fourth - however, after following the same route all the way to and along Chengzi Road, this time the riders do not turn left onto Shuizha Road Bridge. Instead, they continue straight ahead for 160m, then turn left onto Binhe Road, following it as it bends to the right and passes under a railway bridge. As the riders cross the pedestrian crossing just beyond the bridge, they enter the final 2km - not perfectly straight, but very near to it and completely flat..

Another crossing lies 300m ahead, followed by another marking 900m to go. A short way ahead, the race reaches the large Hetan Road intersection, marking 800m to go. Moments later, Yongdinghe River Cultural Square appears on the left - at the next pedestrian crossing, there are 356 straight metres left, making it territory for the sprint specialists. The finish line is located just before the turning on the left leading into the park, 112m from the fly-over (39°56'12.64"N 116° 6'15.75"E).




All the races we've covered in 2011: click here

Tour de France: Stage 2 debrief

The 2011 Tour is shaping up to be a vintage year already - not that any Tour is anything but - with the crashes of yesterday and today's incredibly close-run team trial. The racing took place over a short 23km course which seems to add to this sort of competition, encouraging hard riding and high speeds from the moment the bikes leave the starting ramp.

Garmin's David Millar is the highest-
placed British rider in second place

The first team out were Saxobank who managed 25'16", seemingly a respectable enough time, but it wasn't too long before Twitterers began to wonder if anyone was going to crack the 25' mark. They needed to do well today after lead man Alberto Contador finished so far down yesterday, but it quickly became apparent that they hadn't done enough - especially when Rabobank set out because it was immediately obvious that they were operating at an altogether higher level, the team easily and immediately falling into a rehearsed formation and rapidly building up to speed. They maintained their excellent form throughout, finishing on 25' dead which made them the fastest team of the day for a short while.

However good Rabobank looked, there was no doubt that Garmin looked even better. They'd arranged themselves almost before their rear wheels were off the ramp and were accelerating away within a split second. That they would do well was obvious, but just how well remained to be seen. Then the first time check proved beyond all doubt that they were literally flying and on course to easily smash Rabobank's time - which proved to be the case, because although they slowed noticeably in the second half the early effort was enough to see them cross the finish line in an incredible 24'48".

Astana looked wobbly, choosing a bad line into one bend and rapidly losing riders, but the first time check proved they were getting the speed aspect right when they passed by with the second fastest time after Garmin. In the end, they recorded a slower time than Saxobank at 25'20" - not brilliant, but enough to keep them in the top ten by the end. Quickstep also had problems - "Quickstep by name, slow pedallers by nature," as Twitterer bernietb described them.

A shaky start for Christian
Knees could have made the
race awkward for Sky, but
the team's skill got them up
to third place.

There was one team that everyone wanted to see today, no matter what their nationality, and that was Team Sky. This is only their second Tour and their results last year were a long way from being as spectacular as many of us hoped but few teams have ever managed to build the same sense of presence as Sky and it's common knowledge that they've been spending a lot of time on TTT drills, honing their technique and working out the best possible tactics. Christian Knees had a bit of an unfortunate start, apparently finding the pace too high and it wasn't long at all before it became obvious he was going to get left behind. Meanwhile, the remaining riders were hitting the gas; by the first time check came around they recorded the fastest time yet, a second quicker than Garmin. But it all started to fall apart in the second half, especially once it became clear that Xabier Zandio was going to follow suit with Knees and drop off the back, leaving seven men to share the work. Luckily, two of those remaining happened to be Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas who not only excel at this sort of thing but work together exceptionally well. Nevertheless, even they couldn't quite equal Garmin and were 4" slower by the second time check, a disadvantage that remained right up until they blasted  across the finish with a time of 24'52". It wasn't the win that they and their legions of fans hoped for, but it was a very impressive result indeed.

Confidis had the worst start of the day when 23-year-old Frenchman Tony Gallopin's bike developed a mechanical problem as soon as it left the ramp. With the cameras concentrating on the action it was difficult to see exactly what was going on but it looked rather as though the chain was slipping on the cassette - one of the things team mechanics would check before a bike goes out, so it's possible that a bit of rubbish had got caught up in the derailleur or that the chain had been dislodged and put out of line as the bike was lifted onto the ramp, both minor faults but the sort of thing that can very easily be overlooked in the heat of the moment. There were no such excuses for the rest of the team, however, who were unable to match the sorts of speeds already set and they finished in a disappointing 21st place out of 22. Last place was taken by Euskaltel-Euskadi, but the Basques are unlikely to care because for them racing is all about climbing and they'll be looking to exploit the sheer strength of their riders later on when the Tour reaches their home turf in the Pyrenees.

HTC-Highroad were always going to be a team to be reckoned with in this stage, but things were made difficult for them when 30-year-old Bernhard Eisel suffered a crash and the team members behind him only just avoided going down with him. This being a time trial, there was no way they could hang around and help him regain pace so the unlucky Austrian was forced to ride the rest of the way alone. Fifth place was a good result, all things considered.

On a good day - which is most of them for him -
thereis no rider in the world who can take on
Fabian Cancellara, who was instrumental in
LeopardTreks' remarkable fourth place.

LeopardTrek, an even newer team than Sky, were very much an unknown quantity today. Their leader is Andy Schleck, a definite contender and second favourite to win the overall General Classification this year, but Andy is a climber. He's a very good climber indeed, but climbers do not tend to perform well in such high-speed stages as time trials and it's always been his least favourite part of multistage events. Brother Frank is much the same. But LeopardTrek had two time trial weapons primed and ready in the shape of Jakob Fuglsang, Danish TT champion in 2010 and - even more lethal - Fabian Cancellara, commonly believed to be the greatest time trialler to have ever lived. Between them, they managed to drag the team to a far better time than perhaps even they hoped for, reaching the finish in a remarkable 24'53".

It looked like the results were as good as set in stone, but there was one last surprise for the day. BMC left the start line looking efficient and well-rehearsed, mimicking the smooth way that Garmin slipped into their positions which was an early indictor that they were going to shake things up somewhat, which is exactly what they set about doing. By the first time check they'd moved up to third place and appeared to be equaling Sky's effort. Perhaps they delivered just that little bit more or perhaps they made a better decision somewhere along the way, because in the end they finished just a fraction of a second quicker and gained second place.

The big question is, where does leave Tour favourite Alberto Contador? Not in a very good position at all is the answer - he's slipped right down to 75th place behind new race leader Thor Hushovd who will wear the yellow jersey tomorrow, a great honour as the peloton enters Brittany, the region that has produced a large percentage of the pantheon of cycling gods including the great Bernard Hinault. That puts him at a disadvantage of 1'42" behind the race leader and he's going to have to work hard over the coming days if that's not to increase - not good news for a man who specialises in efficiently defeating mountains and who would have been hoping to conserve his energy in preparation for the climbs still to come. Meanwhile, his arch-rival Andy Schleck, aided by Cancallara, moves right up to 10th place, a mere 4" behind Hushovd. If he can maintain that until the mountains, there might not be anyone capable of catching him. But it would be a very foolish rider who discounted Contador - he is, after all, a remarkable rider, and the weather is not the only thing that can change quickly in the mountains.

A great day for British cycling, with Scotsman David Millar holding the second position and Welshman Geraint Thomas in 4th. Bradley Wiggins is just outside the top ten at 12th, Mark Cavendish is 18th and Ben Swift 24th. That's all the British riders in the top 25! Thomas also keeps the white jersey for another day.

Results of Stage 2 (team time trial):


1. Garmin 24'48"
2. BMC +04"
3. Sky +04"
4. Leopard +05"
5. HTC-Highroad +05"
6. RadioShack +10"
7. Rabobank +12"
8. Saxo Bank +28"
9. Astana +32"
10. Omega Pharma +39"
11. FDJ +46"
12. Europcar +50"
13. AG2R La Mondiale +53"
14. Quick Step +56"
15. Liquigas +57"
16. Saur-Sojasun +1'02"
17. Lampre +1'04"
18. Katusha +1'04"
19. Movistar +1'09"
20. Vacansoleil +1'15"
21. Cofidis +1'20"
22. Euskaltel +1'22".


General Classification


1. Thor Hushovd (Norway) 5h06'25"
2. David Millar (UK) same time
3. Cadel Evans (Australia) +01"
4. Geraint Thomas (UK) +04"
5. Linus Gerdemann (Germany) 0:04.
6. Frank Schleck (Luxembourg)
7. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
8. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway)
9. Manuel Quinziato (Italy)
10. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg) 4-10 received same time