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2025 PTHC Calendar Revealed
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 19-07-2025 13:43
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Classics Specialist

Posts: 3124
Joined: 09-05-2011
PCM$: 300.00
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As the 2025 season comes closer, it is time to unveil the races which will be part of the PTHC calendar. 24 races in total, divided by 6 bands, each with 4 races consisting of 14 RD. These are the races where both PT and PCT teams can fight for ranking points. Several races have been replaced for 2025 while some bands have been re-arranged. But let's see the composition of the 6 bands:
 | Tour de Suisse | 7 |  | Tour of Ukraine | 3 |  | Chrono d'Arenberg | 2 |  | Rheden GP | 2 |
Band 1 remains unchanged from last year with Tour de Suisse being the headline event of the four. The profile for this year has been changed with a single TT stage on the penultimate stage of the race with the decider being on a climbing stage with the finish being at Lai da Nalps.
Tour of Ukraine will once again will be for puncheurs with strong TT skills. There's even bigger TT challenge in the form of Chrono d'Arenberg, where cobbled skills are also recommended. And speaking of the cobbles, there's also the Rheden GP
 | Criterium du Dauphine Libere | 7 |  | Ras Tailteann | 3 |  | Philadelphia International Championship | 2 |  | Roma Maxima | 2 |
The sister race of Tour de Suisse - Criterium du Dauphine Libere, is once again the headline race for Band 2. And much like the Swiss race, Dauphine also gets new route - this time will feature 2 TT stage. The first is 6 km prologue in Valence, while the second TT stage will be the penultimate stage where riders need to tackle a small climb in Grenoble. The decider will most likely be at the Le Collet d'Allevard climb in the final stage.
Ras Tailteann and Philadelphia International Championship remain unchanged. But the biggest change in this band is the swap between Roma Maxima and Tour of the Battenkill, with Battenkill now being moved to Band 5 (more on it later)
 | Vuelta a Colombia | 6 |  | Tour of East Java | 4 |  | Veenendaal - Veenendaal | 2 |  | Cheshire Cycling Tour | 2 |
Vuelta a Colombia and Tour of East Java once again form part of the Band 3 calendar. And their routes remain unchanged for 2025 meaning that teams that are already familiar with those stages may have an advantage. Neither race features a TT stage, meaning that a climber with low TT skill will have a fighting chance for the win and will be on equal footing with others for a change. East Java also clashes with Tour de Suisse meaning that managers will need to plan carefully.
Veenendaal - Veenendaal replaces Riga - Jurmala GP as the sprint classic this time in Band 3 (don't worry - we'll talk about Riga - Jurmala GP in a few moments), while the Cheshire Cycling Tour completes once again the quartet of races in this band
 | Balkans International | 6 |  | Tour of Lithuania | 4 |  | Grand Prix Cycliste | 2 |  | Riga - Jurmala GP | 2 |
Riga - Jurmala GP has been moved to Band 4 this time, taking the place of the Great Ocean Road Classic which sadly has been dropped from the PTHC calendar this year. Otherwise, the other 3 races in this band last year remain part of this band and in 2025. The headliner here is the 6-stage Balkans International, which has been following the same route every time. The 4-stage Tour of Lithuania also remains in the band, but with the final 2 stages swaped (meanining that the Vilnius TTT stage will be the climax) as well as the Canadian classice - the Grand Prix Cycliste
 | Deutschland Tour | 5 |  | Tour of Slovenia | 5 |  | Hanko Classic | 2 |  | Tour of the Battenkill | 2 |
While Deutschland Tour and Tour of Slovenia remain unchainged from last year, the major changes in Band 5 are with the 1-day races. We've already mentioned that Roma Maxima went to Band 2, while Tour of the Battenkill went in the other direction. The other change is that the Great Ocean Road Classic has been replaced in the overall list of races with the Hanko Classic. This race has been part of the C1 calendar and as such most PCT teams know what's lie ahead. But for most PT teams it will be an unknown territory.
 | Volta a Portugal | 8 |  | Franceville Classique | 2 |  | Clasica San Sebastian | 2 |  | Japan Cup | 2 |
Capping off the PTHC calendar is Band 6 - the second unchanged band from 2024. Here we have the longest stage race of the entire list - Volta a Portugal, which retains its route from 2024. The remaining races are 1-day affairs with the cobbled Franceville Classic in Gabon (a chance for the cobblers), the Clasica San Sebastian (a puncheur stable) and one of the final races of the season in Japan Cup (another chance for the punchy riders)
That's it for today - the information on when the PTHC band choices would begin will be announced later.
Edited by ivaneurope on 19-07-2025 20:41
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 19-07-2025 13:48
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Tour de France Champion

Posts: 16552
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 13638.70
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Obviously not a fan of tying both Battenkill and Rheden to TT heavy bands given my team's focuses, but we'll make do. Would suck to miss both ends of a favorable clash, so we'll have some decisions to make.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
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| quadsas |
Posted on 19-07-2025 14:08
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Small Tour Specialist

Posts: 2727
Joined: 18-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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some easy choices for me, happy to see that
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 19-07-2025 16:44
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Directeur Sportif

Posts: 3914
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Thanks Ivan. A couple of notes, Franceville is still a 2-day stage race still. Also, Lithuania S1 has been changed slightly to make it hilly rated, and I think the TTT is a little shorter.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 19-07-2025 20:31
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Classics Specialist

Posts: 3219
Joined: 07-08-2011
PCM$: 300.00
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Need full clash confirmations etc., but I second bbl's initial thoughts, but I think there will be some more opportunities for cobblers in PCT to make up for it regardless.
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| knockout |
Posted on 19-07-2025 22:16
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Grand Tour Champion

Posts: 8235
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 500.00
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I like the Lithuania change! Outside of that, i had hoped that some of the flat/cobbled classics would have been swapped out of the nice stage race bands.
Anyway, thanks for the writeup, with more and more information coming out, we can finally start making some more plans
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters!
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| jph27 |
Posted on 20-07-2025 16:00
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Team Leader

Posts: 7374
Joined: 20-03-2010
PCM$: 900.00
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Outside of Battenkill I don't see any races here I'd particularly want to race if given free choice, which is a worrying statement on the qualities of my team. Suspect we'll be using PTHC mainly for xp, so choices may be made based on which races look to be the most breakaway friendly. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 15:12
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| redordead |
Posted on 21-07-2025 06:46
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Team Leader

Posts: 5511
Joined: 18-10-2017
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Picking the 3rd priority band is usually the difficult one for me.
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 21-07-2025 07:04
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Classics Specialist

Posts: 3124
Joined: 09-05-2011
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To be honest, I'm really curious how the PT team that hadn't raced the Hanko Classic in years will strategize this race.
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| knockout |
Posted on 21-07-2025 07:28
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Grand Tour Champion

Posts: 8235
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 500.00
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ivaneurope wrote:
To be honest, I'm really curious how the PT team that hadn't raced the Hanko Classic in years will strategize this race.
Am i missing sth there or is that not just the most straightforward sprinter classic there is?
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters!
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