After a faliure that was called espana stages, I decided to try and create some routes on La Flamme Rouge.
I always make fantasy variants, I don't really like tracking real routes. I try to keep them as realistic as possbile, tho, that doesn't always work perfectly.
To get things started, I decided to make a variant of my favourite stage race in WT calendar, Tour de Suisse. I've thought about this race a lot in the past and now I think I found just the right mixture of spiciness and the classic Tour de Suisse.
Link to the Tour de Suisse: https://www.la-fl...view/17270
Spoiler
The route:
It goes from from an ITT in Langenthal over a couple of flat stages to roll in the mountains around St. Moritz. Passage of the mighty Italian Stelvio included. After a mountain top finnish on Lai da Nalps, a time trial with a finnish on top of Breil/Brigels comes. To finnish it off, there is a nice 8-shaped loop around the lakes near Interlaken
Stages:
Langenthal - Langenthal ITT
Willisau - Winterthur
Winterthur - Bad Ragaz
Lanquart - Zernez
Zernez - St. Moritz
Andeer - Lai da Nalps
Laax - Breil/Brigels ITT
Interlaken - Interlaken
Finished Volta a Catalunya variant. Like usually in last years, start in Calella and finish in Barcelona
Link to Volta a Catalunya: https://www.la-fl...view/17328
Spoiler
The route:
Start in Calella with 3 laps and 220km already for the 1st stage. Follows a time trial, which should shuffle a GC before a flat stage to Lleida. Race will primarely be decided in mountains, with a stage finish in Andorra and a classic one on La Molina. Transitional stage 6 will be last oportunity for sprinters, before the final showdown and 8 passages of Alt de Montjuic
Stages:
Calella - Calella
Roses - Figueres ITT
Torelló - Lleida
Cardona - Cortals d'Encamp
Vilada - La Molina
Sant Llorenç de Morunys - Tarragona
Barcelona - Barcelona
Beginning in The Netherlands with two pancake flat stages. In 3rd stage, we say goodbye to Dutch soil and move into Belgium. 4th day of racing includes hills around Houffalize, which could provoke punchers into attacks. 5th stage starts in Blankenberge and ends in Ardooie, two classic cities in last couple of years. After a short time trial in Nieuwpoort, we will see 4 laps going over Denderoordberg, Muur van Geraardsbergen & Bosberg on the final day, which will surely decide the GC.
After 40 days of making I present my first Grand Tour variant: La Vuelta!
It took a lot of consideration of many different options, so I'm really happy with how this turned out. The race is 100% Spanish, and has 6 mountain top finishes, including the mighty El Teide twice!
Link to La Vuelta: https://www.la-fl...view/17278
Spoiler
The route:
Finnaly a start on Canary Islands, with a TTT, hilly stage and the hardest stage of whole Vuelta, that crosses the mithycal El Teide not once, but twice! After we move to Spanish mainand, we have a series of flat & hilly stages that lead riders north, towards Galicia. After the second rest day, an ITT in VilagarcÃa de Arousa takes place. In the other stages of the 2nd week, riders move across north of Spain, 3 stages are mountanious and have a mountain top finnish. In 3rd week, riders will move alongside the Pyrenees with two stages ending on high mountain peaks. Final stage from Colmenar Viejo to Madrid will, like usually, be a sprinters' showdown.
I present to you my 2nd variant for the Tour de Suisse. I belive that this one is more realistic than the first one, as I took 2019 & 2020 routes as an example of how this one should look. This time we take off very close to where 2015 - 2017 TdS started, near the lakes around Lucerne and finnish in the high Alps, where 2019 - 2020 TdS finished.
Link to 2nd Tour de Suisse: https://www.la-fl...view/17627
Spoiler
The route:
We start with a fast time-trial in Emmen. After two mid-length stages that could finnish in a mass or reduced sprint, first mountain top finnish comes atop of Grosse Scheidegg. Last oportunity for sprinters comes on stage 5, as stage 6 finishes on top of San Gottardo with a legendary section of Tremola. Stage 7 gives a very difficult, hilly time-trial. Stage 8 takes us over Grimselpass, Furkapass & Sustenpass, that became sort of standard in the last few years.
The stages:
Emmen - Emmen ITT
Walchwil - Reinach
Reinach - Bern
Worb - Grindelwald
Lauterbrunnen - Aigle
Aigle - San Gottardo
Sarnen - Meiringen ITT
Meiringen - Meiringen
