Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012

Mens's Parcours - Women's Parcours - Favourites - TV Coverage

Men's parcours - click to enlarge
(image credit: Flanders Classics)

For many fans and riders, the professional cycling calendar revolves around the Classics - even the Grand Tours are secondary in the opinions of some. The Classics revolve around the five Monuments, which means that since the Flanders Classics are often considered the most important Classics, the Ronde van Vlaanderen is the Monument of the Flanders Classics it is, for some people, the most important race of the year.

It's not hard to see why. The Ronde has history, having begun right back in 1913 and continuing through the Second World War (the only Classic to have done so on Nazi-occupied soil - see our "24 Ronde van Vlaanderen Facts" for more) and the sheer difficulty of the race has only added to its legend. This year's edition, which will take place on Sunday the 1st of April, is no different - the 255km parcours takes in some of the toughest cobbles and climbs Belgium can offer, and with the creme-de-la-creme of international cycling taking part competition will be exceptionally high.

Men's Parcours
The initial part from Brugge is relatively straight forward with a small slimb just after 30km into Torhout, this year's Dorp de Ronde - a village or town along the route, chosen to be celebrated by the race, and in this case the birthplace of Karel Van Wijnendaele who first dreamed up the Ronde and directed it for many years (Podium Cafe has a very excellent article on that). Then, the terrain settles down again until 85km, ready for a nasty little climb at Kruishoutem followed by the 1.8km Huisepontweg cobbled section. Then, almost as soon as that's over, there's another 2km of cobbles at Doorn.

Paddestraat
(image credit: LimoWreck CC BY-SA 3.0)

The first of two feed stations comes round at 102.7km, where riders will want to load up on the energy gels because 6.6km away is the first of the big climbs: Taaienberg, which only reaches 57m above sea level and is only 0.8km long, but at its steepest part hits 18% - and it's cobbled for half a kilometre, just to prevent it being too easy. Eikenberg comes next, 6.4km up the road and just nudging 10% at the steepest part with cobbles for 1.1km. Three more sets of cobbles follow: Holleweg (117.1km), 1.5km; Ruiterstraat (18.6km), 0.8km; Kerkgate (121.9km), 1.5km. Climb 3 is the Molenberg (131.3km), a narrow cobbled lane that hits 14.2% at the toughest section. 4.7km away is Paddestraat, the longest cobbles at 2.2km and the site of a monument to the race and those who were fastest to complete the section. The name, which translates into English as Mushroom Street, suggests it can be damp; and it can be - if it's rained any time recently (which is usually has in Flanders) the stones become treacherously slippery.

9.7km from Paddestraat is Climb 4, Rekelberg (145.7km). There are no cobbles here and, reaching "only" 9%, it's a fairly easy section by the standards of this race. 3.3km away is Berendries, Climb 5 and as steep as 12.34%, partially sunken into the surrounding landscape and sometimes very slippery as a result. A much easier 7.8km leads to Climb 6, Valkenberg (156.8km), which hits 15%; then there are 20.5km in which to let the knees stop burning before arrival at Climb 7 - Oude Kwaremont which, though not too steep at 11% maximum, has 1.5km of cobbles. Paterberg, Climb 8 (183km) follows. With a maximum gradient of 20%, it's the second steepest section of the race and frequently the site of abandonments.

Just over 10km from Paterberg is the legendary, malevolent Koppenberg (Climb 9, 189.6km), one of the most feared climbs in professional cycling. Officially, the steepest part of Koppenberg is 22%, but as the riders pack themselves into the narrow 600m cobbled section between the banks either side some of them will have no choice but to take the inside line around the bend where it reaches 25%. Not all of them will make it up without having to get off and push and some won't ever make it to the top. The second feeding station at 192.2km will be a welcome sight, offering an opportunity to raise blood sugar levels and bring some relief to starved, agonised muscles.

Men's altimetry - click to enlarge
(image credit: Flanders Classics)

The riders will just have had time to gulp down an energy gel (best way - the faster you eat them, the less you taste them) by the time they arrive at the 2km Mariaborrestraat cobbles and then Climb 10, Steenbeekdries at 194.9km with a maximum gradient of 12.8%. Another 08km of cobbles lies at Donderij, then Climb 11 at 210.1km - Kruisberg, long at 1.875km but mercifully 9%.

Having looped around, the parcours makes a second ascent of Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg for Climbs 12 and 13 (220km, 223.4km) before moving on to Hoogberg-Hotond (Climb 14, 230.4km), the highest point in the race at 110m reached after a little under 3km of climbing - the gradient is low, 8% at the steepest part. Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg are climbed for a third time in the final 17km (Climbs 15 and 16, 240.2km and 243.6km) before the last approach to Oudenaarde and the finish line. (Parcours details)

Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen

Women's Parcours - click to enlarge
(image credit: Flanders Classics)

The Ronde's organisers were among the first to realise that running a women's race alongside the men's would bring extra spectators and, since the infrastructure and TV crews were already in place, bring enormous benefits for women's cycling. Thus, the inaugural Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen took place in 2004 and has been held every year since, gradually becoming one of the premier events on the women's racing calendar and, as by far the most difficult of the one-day races, a much sought-after victory by the top riders.

The parcours starts and ends in Oudenaarde, following a less complex route of 127km in total. The flat initial section is shorter than the men's at 39km, then the riders arrive at Paddestraat, followed by Rekelberg (48.6km); Berendries (52.1km); Valkenberg (59.8km); Kaperij (72.1km, max. gradient 8%); Kanarieberg (79.4km, max. 14%); Kruisberg (91.2km); Oude Kwaaremont (101km); Paterberg (104.4km) and Hoogberg-Hotond (111.4km). (Parcours details)

Women's altimetry - click to enlarge
(image credit: Flanders Classics)

The Race-Losing Curse, a.k.a Cyclopunk's Top Tip

Tom Boonen
(image credit: Tete de la Course CC BY-SA 2.0)

Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) is on excellent form right now and has already proved he's got the legs for Flanders this year with second place at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and stunning wins at Gent-Wevelgem and the E3 Harelbeke, making him the favourite of many fans and riders alike. However, he's not going to be allowed to simply cruise up to the finish and take the trophy - this is hard race with a hard parcours, which can easily ruin anyone's chances even without 24 other teams sending their hardest men to try to keep him from victory.

Among them are Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen, undoubtedly one of the toughest 24-year-olds cycling has ever seen and a rider who has already proved himself in the Classics on several occasions; and Fabian Cancellara, the World Time Trial Champion-turned-Classics-specialist who has twice missed out on what seemed likely triumphs in recent weeks and will want this race both to prove his detractors wrong and for psychological value in the run-up to next Sunday's Paris-Roubaix. Then there's the entire BMC team: Gilbert, Ballan, Phinney, Hincapie, Hushovd, van Avermaet, Burghardt, Quinziato - any one of them could win this race. (Start list, subject to change)

Marianne Vos

The Race-Losing Curse only applies to men's races - in any race involving the incredible 24-year-old Dutch woman Marianne Vos, simply listing her as favourite and waiting for yet another near-inevitable victory will see you through at least 99% of the time. With a very strong Rabobank team behind her and with 11 races already won since New Year she was the immediate favourite this year, despite the race having slipped her grasp in the past - however, on Saturday morning it was announced that she's ill and won't be riding, so as to recover and avoid jeopardising the rest of the season. Get well soon, Marianne!

That leaves at least 20 riders with a very real chance of reaching the top step of the podium. Marianne's team mates Sarah Duster and Annemiek van Vleuten are obvious choices, but so are Evelyn Stevens, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg and Trixi Worrack(Specialized-Lululemon), Emma Pooley (AA Drink-Leontien.nl), Judith Arndt and Loes Gunnewijk (GreenEDGE), Emma Johansson (Hitec Products-Mistral Home), Nicole Cooke (Faren-Honda) and numerous others. Vos is a superstar and her absence will always detract from any race, but with less than 24 hours to go this announcement throws everything into a fascinating state of flux. (Start list subject to change)

TV coverage
In Britain, Eurosport are covering the race in two parts. The first begins at 11:45GMT, the second at 14:15, then there's highlights at 17:00 and 21:50. The broadcaster is likely to have coverage in other nations too, check local listings for details. There are likely to be numerous online streams of varying legality; as ever Sports-Livez is a good place to start with several channels, many of them non-georestricted.

Official Site
Sarah Connolly on the Women's Race
Jens (Podium Cafe) on the exclusion of the Muur
Graham Watson on Cancellara's chances

GVA Trofee: Oostmalle

Click to enlarge
(image credit:  WSC Oostmalle)

Bad news - Sunday the 19th of February brings the last big cyclo cross meet of the season. However, the upset is slightly lessened by the fact that it's the GVA Trofee at Oostmalle; one of the most twisty, turny, technical tracks to have ever felt the rough touch of a pair of Rhinos. There are some similarities between this parcours and the legendary Koksijde with some sections on runway and some on sand; but the terrain that characterises this race is woodland. The highest points just reach 29m, but with the lowest at 17m on a parcours 3km in length there are some steep ramps with a maximum gradient of around 6.7% in places.

From the start line (51°16'36.78"N 4°45'35.66"E) the riders have a 390m blast along the runway to start off,  then it ends abruptly with a sharp left onto sand, potentially shattering the lead of any rider who was fastest from the line and passing over the reins to those riders who can handle the technical sections. After 200m (look here for an old oak tree which, with its roots half exposed, looks as though it's trying to crawl away), the parcours again turns left and follows a track for a few metres , then turns left to travel past the "Publiekstent" (which is probably where you need to go if you want beer), through a tight V-shaped bend and onward to the pits. After turning right, riders dip briefly into woodland and negotiate a couple of tight left-hand turns, then emerge back onto the sand and follow the edge of the woods back past the runway.

Having followed the perimeter of the woods for 110mm, the riders duck back into the trees for a relatively uncomplicated and straight 100m back through to the sand on the other side and then turn left before the path leads into the woods again 20m later. The following section, just under half a kilometre in length, is entirely in the woods and features some tight bends, sharp corners and all the usual puncture risks that lurk within a forest environment. It comes out back onto sand, then after 23m it's left and back into the woods again. This section has fewer bends than the last, but climbs fairly steeply and then descends fast just before it spits the riders back out onto the sand and into some hairpins. Once through, they make a second pass of the pits and remain on sand as they follow the path around the north-western banks of the lake to a track.

After just a few metres on the track, the parcours leads back onto the sand in the opposite direction it came for around 45m, then turns sharply right into the woods once more. This final 475m is entirely forested and features several technical sections, including sharp corners hairpins and the always-amusing beams over which most riders will shoulder their bikes but those with the skills (or desire to show off) will bunnyhop (51°16'37.51"N 4°45'46.09"E). It emerges at the runway next to the VIP tent near the start line, where another lap begins. On the final lap, riders will sprint along the runway to the finish line located just before the first corner (51°16'28.03"N 4°45'47.98"E).

Altimetry (click for enlargement)

Programme: 10:00 Novices, 11:00 Juniors, 12:00 Under-23, 13:45 Elite Women, 15:00 Elite Men (CET)
Streams: Cycling Fans

Start Lists:
Elite Men

Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet)
Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus)
Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor)
Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step)
Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor)
Bart Aernouts (Rabobank)
Philipp Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus)
Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea)
Gerben De Knegt (Rabobank)
Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea)
Dieter Vanthourenhout (BKCP-Powerplus)
Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea)
Mariusz Gil (Baboco)
Jonathan Page (Planet Bike)
Joeri Adams (Telenet-Fidea)
Vincent Baestaens (Landbouwkrediet)
Martin Zlamalik (Sunweb-Revor_
Thijs Van Amerongen (AA Drink)
Radomir Simunek (BKCP-Powerplus)
Eddy Van Ijzendoorn AA drink
Enrico Franzoi (Selle Italia-Guerciotti)
Jim Aernouts (Sunweb-Revor)
Marco Bianco (Arcobaleno)
Sven Vanthourenhout (Landbouwkrediet)
Kenneth Van Compernolle (Style & Concept)
Jan Denuwelaere (Style & Concept)
Tom Van den Bosch (AA Drink)
Kevin Cant (Van Goethem)
Stijn Huys (Orange Babies Cycling Team)
Jimmy Tielens (DW Bikes)
Patrick Gaudy (Barracuda)

Elite Women

Hanka Kupfernagel (Stevens)
Sanne Van Paassen (Brainwash)
Sanne Cant (BKCP Powerplus)
Helen Wyman (Kona)
Daphny Van Den Brandt (AA Drink-Leontien.nl)
Pavla Havlikova (Telenet-Fidea)
Sophie De Boer (Telenet-Fidea)
Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea)
Linda Van Rijen (WV Eemland)
Gabriella Day (The Chainstay)
Amy Dombroski (Crank Brothers)
Martina Zwick (Abus Nutrixxion)
Reza Hormes Ravenstijn (Orange Babies Cycling Team)
Joyce Vanderbeken (Terheyde Cycling Team)
Nicolle De Bie-Leijten (Telenet-Fidea)
Christine Vardaros (Baboco)

Under-23

Lars Van der Haar (Rabo Offroad)
Wietse Bosmans (BKCP-Powerplus)
Tijmen Eising (Sunweb-Revor)
Mike Teunissen (Rabobank)
Vinnie Braet (Sunweb-Revor)
Kenneth Hansen (Haderslev Starup)
Micki Van Empel (Telenet-Fidea)
David Van der Poel (BKCP-Powerplus)
Stef Boden (Sunweb-Revor)
Arnaud Jouffroy (Telenet-Fidea)
Floris De Tier (Baboco)
Corne Van Kessel (Telenet-Fidea)
Angelo De Clercq (Sunweb-Revor)
Gianni Vermeersch (BKCP-Powerplus)

Koksijde CX World Championships Preview

Mud, rain, sand, possibly even snow:
Koksijde is unique in CX
(image credit: Alex Robbins CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

"@FieldyCX Ian Field
Bigger crowd watching practice today than at any event in the UK. It's going to be huge!"

There's nowhere quite like Koksijde. It's got the mixture of tarmac, grass and woodland that are epected of any cyclo cross course, but it has one unique feature - sand dunes.

If you've ever tried to ride a bike in sand, you'll know difficult it is. Shift your weight too much over the front wheel and it digs in, then you fall of. Too much weight over the rear wheel and digs in, sucking the strength right out of legs as you pedal harder to overcome the sucking effect, then more often than not you fall off. Get the balance just right and the sand still sucks the strength out of your legs. Try to go round a corner and everything's fine - just kidding! You fall off. Well, that's what happens in dry sand, at any rate; it's much worse when it's wet. Which it usually is on the very westernmost tip of Belgium.

Since cycling is unique among sports in that fans aren't really happy unless they get to see their heroes suffer, this make Koksijde one of the most popular courses in cyclo cross; and that's why it's been chosen as the location of the 2012 UCI World Cyclo Cross Championships, to be held this weekend.  More good news for spectators is that it's been raining heavily for much of the week and though Friday is expected to be dry, more rain on Saturday should mean a nice, soggy parcours - and, best of all, there's a chance of snow on Sunday.

If Vos doesn't like sand, she
might only be 75% as good
as she usually is. That may
still prove too strong for
the rest.

Likely winners? As ever, it's very difficult to see any of the women getting the better of Marianne Vos. The 24-year-old Dutch champion quite literally dominated the final round of the World Cup last weekend, powering away from the start line and never looking back. However, it's the opinion of your beloved author that while Vos is a phenomenally talented rider on all terrain (including road and track), sand is not the one she likes best - she lost by 13" to Daphny van den Brand here in Round 3 of the World Cup. Whether she dislikes it enough for it to make the slightest bit of difference is as of yet unknown. Van den Brand, who won the World Cup, will undoubtedly want to do well - she's planning this season to be her last, and retiring a both World Champion and Cup holder would be a glorious end to a glorious career. Katie Compton will be worth keeping an eye on, too - she won here in 2010 and has been having a decent season.

Among the men? Sven Nys. He's won here multiple times in the past, the last time being the November World Cup round; but he also won all the World Cup rounds here from 2005 to 2007 - and took his first victory among the dunes right back in 1999. He missed out on the World Cup and could only manage sixth at the last round on a parcours that looked suited to him - finally taking the Worlds title would be more than sufficient consolation for that; but is it evidence, perhaps, that he's due to be the next victim of the virus?

Sven Nys
(image credit: DarkSideX
CC BY-SA 3.0)

Zdenek Stybar and Niels Albert look set to be his greatest challenge - Stybar won here in 2009, Albert last year. Kevin Pauwels finished just a second behind Nys on this very course in November but stormed his way through much of the rest of the World Cup. Still a relative newcomer to the upper echelons of the sport in comparison to Nys and Albert, there could be no better way of confirming himself as the new king of cyclo cross than taking both the Cup and the Championship.

Britain's best hopes
Helen Wyman and Ian Field are the best chances Britain has of a World Champion. Helen is by far our best chance: she came 6th here during the World Cup race back in November, has been British Champion for the last seven consecutive years and says that she has been working towards improving her starts - the long, straight sprint away from the start line is likely to give her an advantage in the early part of the race. Nikki Harris was seventh in November and is likely to also do well in this race. Gabby Day was tenth, but is still recovering from the respiratory virus that many cyclo cross riders have suffered this season and will not be racing. This isn't the ideal parcours for Ian - he was 22nd here in November - but he's far more experienced on this unique track that either Jody Crawforth or Paul Oldham.

The Parcours
The start line is situated on the runway just south of the hangars at 51° 5'54.20"N 2°38'38.78"E and leads into a 280m slightly downhill straight section to ensure a fast start before the first turning, to the right and onto grass. Around 150m later, riders cross a narrow track and enter the woods for the first time and, beginning to climb, turn left and right into a paved track. After 90m, they will leave the track and enter a technical forest section which, in the wet, will be very slippery.

Once out of the trees, the parcours follows the boundary of the forest for 100m before turning sharply left and arriving at the pits. Two preserved aircraft - a Hawker Hunter and a Sikorsky helicopter, both bearing Belgian insignia, can be seen from this section. A right turn then leads into a 165m sand dune section (51° 6'9.41"N 2°38'32.56"E) and onto a bridge.  Having crossed the grass on the other side, riders turn left and head over Robert Vandammestraat and into a 218m section characterised by scrubby trees and shrubs - the sort of terrain also known as puncture country - then come to a paved track and follow it as it bends to the left for around 85m. They then turn right onto short grass, cross three tracks and arrive at a smaller sandy section.

Once through the sand and over another track, they arrive back at the bridge and cross into the same 165m sandy section as earlier. They follow a similar path through it, exit where they previously entered and turn left for a second visit to the pits. After turning right to follow the edge of the forest, they turn right again past houses and come to a road where they turn right again to sprint for 90m, then left off the road and into a 100m sandy section and, having ridden through a short wooded section, arrive at another road where they can sprint for 130m before reaching more grass. They cross a ditch and, after 130m on grass, head downhill arrive back at the starting point. The entire parcours is 2.89km in length.

Please note: More than 32,000 tickets have been sold, meaning there will be none available to buy at the event. Please don't waste money by showing up if you don't already have tickets!

Races start: Juniors Saturday 11:00, Under-23 Saturday 15:00, Elite Women Sunday 11:00, Elite Men Sunday 15:00 (all times CET, GMT is -1)

Streams: Sports-Livez are providing live stream of all races, including Juniors and Under-23.

STARTERS

Elite Women

  1    GRIMBERG, Arenda NL
  2    BOER, Sophie De NL
  3    STULTIENS, Sabrina NL
  4    BRAND, Daphny Van Den NL
  5    PAASSEN, Sanne Van NL
  6    RIJEN, Linda Van NL
  7    VOS, Marianne NL
  8    BRUCHMANN, Gesa GER
  9    SCHWEIZER, Sabrina GER
  10    CHAINEL-LEFEVRE, Lucie FRA
  11    MANI, Caroline FRA
  12    HAVLIKOVA, Pavla CZE
  13    MIKULASKOVA, Martina CZE
  14    NASH, Katerina CZE
  15    DAY, Gabriella GBR
  16    HARRIS, Nikki GBR
  17    LAST, Annie GBR
  18    WYMAN, Helen GBR
  19    ANTONNEAU, Kaitlin USA
  20    COMPTON, Katherine USA
  21    DOMBROSKI, Amy USA
  22    DUKE, Nicole USA
  23    MILLER, Meredith USA
  24    GAMONAL, Rocio ESP
  25    ACHERMANN, Jasmin SWI
  26    HENZELIN, Lise-marie SWI
  27    MAURER, Sabrina SWI
  28    CANT, Sanne BEL
  29    QUINTENS, Hilde BEL
  30    VANDERBEKEN, Joyce BEL
  31    ARZUFFI, Alice Maria ITA
  32    INNERHOFER, Julia ITA
  33    LECHNER, Eva ITA
  34    ROSSI, Vania ITA
  35    SCANDOLARA, Valentina ITA
  36    ERLANDSSON, Asa Maria SVE
  37    SNIHS, Kajsa SVE
  38    MAJERUS, Christine LUX
  39    WASIUK, Olga POL
  40    WHITSON, Genevieve NZ
  41    ARDAVE, Lelde LAT
  42    FURMANE, Madara LAT
  43    HANSEN, Nikoline DEN
  44    MIYAUCHI, Sakiko JAP
  45    TOYOOKA, Ayako JAP


Elite Men

  1    DLASK, Petr CZE
  2    KYZIVAT, Vladimir CZE 
  3    POLNICKY, Jiri CZE
  4    SIMUNEK, Radomir CZE
  5    STYBAR, Zdenek CZE
  6    ZLAMALIK, Martin CZE
  7    AERNOUTS, Bart BEL
  8    ALBERT, Niels BEL
  9    MEEUSEN, Tom BEL
  10    NYS, Sven BEL
  11    PAUWELS, Kevin BEL
  12    PEETERS, Rob BEL
  13    VANTORNOUT, Klaas BEL
  14    BOULO, Matthieu FRA
  15    BOURGOIN, Clement FRA
  16    CHAINEL, Steve FRA
  17    DUVAL, Aurelien FRA
  18    GADRET, John FRA
  19    MOUREY, Francis FRA
  20    MEISEN, Marcel GER
  21    PFINGSTEN, Christoph GER
  22    WALSLEBEN, Philipp GER
  23    WEBER, Sascha GER
  24    DRISCOLL, James USA
  25    JOHNSON, Tim USA
  26    JONES, Chris USA
  27    PAGE, Jonathan USA
  28    POWERS, Jeremy USA
  29    TREBON, Ryan USA
  30    RAMOS, Jose VEN
  31    HERNANDEZ GUTIERREZ, Aitor ESP
  32    MURGOITIO, Egoitz ESP
  33    RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ, Javier ESP
  34    SUAREZ, Isaac ESP
  35    KNEGT, Gerben De NL
  36    HUENDERS, Mitchell NL
  37    AMERONGEN, Thijs Van NL
  38    BRAND, Twan Van Den NL
  39    WUBBEN, Niels NL
  40    DARVELL, Magnus SVE
  41    CRAWFORTH, Jody GBR
  42    FIELD, Ian GBR
  43    OLDHAM, Paul GBR
  44    BARENYI, Milan SLO
  45    GAVENDA, Robert SLO
  46    HARING, Martin SLO
  47    METLICKA, Vaclav SLO
  48    HEULE, Christian SUI
  49    TARAMARCAZ, Julien SUI
  50    WILDHABER, Marcel SUI
  51    ZAHNER, Simon SUI
  52    BIANCO, Marco ITA
  53    COMINELLI, Christian ITA
  54    DAMIANI, Luca ITA
  55    FRANZOI, Enrico ITA
  56    TABACCHI, Mirko ITA
  57    GIL, Mariusz POL
  58    RICHEY, Craig CAN
  59    TAKENOUCHI, Yu JAP
  60    TSUJIURA, Keichi JAP
  61    BAUSCH, Gusty LUX
  62    HELMIG, Christian LUX
  63    GEHBAUER, Robert OST
  64    GEISMAYR, Daniel OST
  65    GOLLINGER, Karl Heinz OST
  66    LEWIS, Rattray NZ
  67    QUIST, David Andrew NOR
  68    SOROKINS, Dimitriy LAT
  69    YILDIRIM, Hakan TUR


Under-23

  1    GODRIE, Stan NL
  2    TEUNISSEN, Mike NL
  3    HAAR, Lars Van Der NL
  4    HEIJDEN, Michiel Van Der NL
  5    POEL, David Van Der NL
  6    EMPEL, Micki Van NL
  7    BOSMANS, Wietse BEL
  8    BRAET, Vinnie BEL
  9    SWEECK, Laurens BEL
  10    VANTHOURENHOUT, Michael
  11    VERMEERSCH, Gianni BEL
  12    ALAPHILIPPE, Julian FRA
  13    BOUVARD, Kevin FRA
  14    JOUFFROY, Arnaud FRA
  15    MENUT, David FRA
  16    VENTURINI, Clément FRA
  17    HNIK, Karel CZE
  18    NESVADBA, Jan CZE
  19    VOJTECH, Nipl CZE
  20    PAPRSTKA, Tomas CZE
  21    POLNICKY, Radek CZE
  22    FORSTER, Lars SUI
  23    GRAND, Arnaud SUI
  24    LIENHARD, Fabian SUI
  25    WILDHABER, Michael SUI
  26    ECKMANN, Yannick GER
  27    MAYER, Yannick GER
  28    SCHWEIZER, Michael GER
  29    WALSLEBEN, Max GER
  30    KAISER, Cody USA
  31    MCDONALD, Zach USA
  32    BRAIDOT, Daniele ITA
  33    BRAIDOT, Luca ITA
  34    FALASCHI, Bryan ITA
  35    SILVESTRI, Elia ITA
  36    SMARZARO, Igor ITA
  37    KONWA, Marek POL
  38    KOSTECKI, Patryk POL
  39    MALEC, Wojciech POL
  40    PILIS, Bartosz POL
  41    GÓMEZ, Iñigo ESP
  42    GOMEZ, Jon ESP
  43    LASTRA, Jonathan ESP
  44    RODRIGUEZ GUEDE, Pablo ESP
  45    CLARKSON, Jack GBR
  46    GALLAGHER, Kenta GBR
  47    GRAY, Luke GBR
  48    JAMES, Steven GBR
  49    SANTOS, Vincent Dias Dos LUX
  50    REICHLING, Lex LUX
  51    HANSEN, Kenneth DEN
  52    OLSEN, Emil Arvid DEN
  53    GEHBAUER, Alexander OST
  54    SÖDERQVIST, Ludwig SVE
  55    CÔTE-BOUVETTE, Félix CAN
  56    CHALAS, Jaroslav SLO
  57    MANIKAS, Domas LIT
  58    PREMANIS, Matiss LAT

Juniors

  1    JAUREGUI, Quentin FRA

  2    KORETZKY, Victor FRA

  3    KOWALSKI, Dylan FRA

  4    SEIGLE, Romain FRA

  5    TURGIS, Anthony FRA

  6    HERMANS, Quinten BEL

  7    HOEYBERGHS, Daan BEL

  8    SOETE, Daan BEL

  9    AERT, Wout Van BEL

  10    TICHELT, Yorbin Van BEL

  11    FRISCHKNECHT, Andri SUI

  12    GRAB, Dominic SUI

  13    ZUMSTEIN, Dominic SUI

  14    BREZNA, Jan CZE

  15    POKORNY, Karel CZE

  16    VASTL, Jan CZE

  17    DRUMM, Felix GER

  18    HERKLOTZ, Silvio GER

  19    KÖNIG, Marco GER

  20    MÜLLER, Steffen GER

  21    SIEMERMANN, Johannes GER

  22    ARIESEN, Tim NL

  23    BUDDING, Martijn NL

  24    BEEK, Pjotr Van NL

  25    POEL, Mathieu Van Der NL

  26    WEIJERS, Koen NL

  27    WIJKEL, Stan NL

  28    MOSES, Joseph GBR

  29    ROBINSON, Hugo GBR

  30    WELBURN, Alex GBR

  31    BERTOLINI, Gioele ITA

  32    COLLEDANI, Nadir ITA

  33    NICOLA, Luca De ITA

  34    PEDANTE, Francesco ITA

  35    REDAELLI, Riccardo ITA

  36    DILLMAN, Andrew GBR

  37    GORRY, Richard USA

  38    ORTENBLAD, Tobin USA

  39    OWEN, Logan USA

  40    WHITE, Curtis USA

  41    BEAUDOIN, Samuel CAN

  42    PATRY, Yohan CAN

  43    GRABIS, Mateusz POL

  44    KONWA, Piotr POL

  45    LIS, Tobiasz POL

  46    PALUTA, Michal POL

  47    PATRYK, Stosz POL

  48    FRITSCH, Sven POL

  49    CAMPO, Jaime ESP

  50    RIBERA, Jose Manuel ESP

  51    SUAREZ FERNANDEZ, Kevin ESP

  52    GLAZJA, Ondrej SLO

  53    VOZAR, Simon SLO

  54    NAKAI, Michimasa JAP

  55    SAWADA, Toki JAP

  56    YOKOYAMA, Kota JAP

  57    LINDE, Emil SVE

  58    WAHLQVIST, Dennis SVE

  59    BAIKSTYS, Zigymantas LIT

Vuelta heads for the hills

Los Ancares is just one of the aspects of the 2012 Vuelta
that make it very much a race for the climbers
(image credit: FCPB CC BY-SA 3.0)

The 2012 Tour de France bowed out of the mountains arms race that has seen the three Grand Tours adding longer, steeper and ever more challenging climbs as the battled to lay claim to the toughest Queen Stage over the last few years, finally deciding that enough is enough and organising an event that a non-grimpeur might have a chance of winning rather than searching out some topography to outdo the Mortirolo, Zoncolan and Angliru; but the Vuelta a Espana has apparently reminded itself that a far a many fans are concerned, the mountains maketh the tour and gone in the other direction entirely, introducing more and tougher climbs for this year.

Last year's race, which ventured into the Basque Country for the first time in a generation, proved that there are some beautiful mountain roads in the north of Spain and this year the race has a very northern flavour - there are no stages south of Madrid, seemingly a strange choice since the sport ha a large fan base in the lower latitudes of the country. Coll de la Gallina, Los Ancares, Bola del Mundo, Valdezcaray, Lagos de Covadonga, Cuitu Negro, the Coll de la Gallina and Arrate will all test the peloton to the limit - last year, Mark Cavendish abandoned the race; explaining that he's a sprinter and the race had no sprints left. This year, the sprinters have their chances reduced to Stages 10, 12, 13, 17, 19, and 21, with 2 and 18 not out of reach for those who suffer less than others on the climbs. That's six sprint stages of which 13, 19 and 21 will by no means be easy wins - so who knows how many will even bother showing up?

It's not going to be a race for the time trial specialists either, with organisers reducing the individual TT to a mere 40km, so expect teams to send their finest climbers to compete on some stunning and very hard stages.

Stages 1-21 altimetry (click to enlarge):