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2021 PTHC Race Calendar Revealed
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 24-08-2021 17:47
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Classics Specialist
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2021 PTHC Calendar unveiled
With the 2021 season preperations already in the works, starting with the renewals and the reveal of the routes of the three Grand Tour races, it's time to unveil the races which will have the PTHC label for the new season. Like the previous season the top PT division will duke it out with the PCT division in 6 separate bands with each consisting of 14 race days in total. To ensure a guaranteed number of teams in each race (24 teams to be precise), each team will race in 3 of the 6 bands, or 48 RD in total to be exact. Details on how to pick the PTHC bands will be in a separate thread later.
And so, without further ado here are the PCT races of 2021.
  Scandinavia Open Race | Sweden/Norway | 3 |  Volta a Portugal | Portugal | 9 |  Riga - Jurmala GP | Latvia | 2 |
Band 1 contains not only has the least amount of races with 3, but is also the only band to have all races in one continent - Europe. We have the hilly Scandinavia Open which features the signature for the race hilly prolouge (great for punchuers with good TT skills). Volta a Portual, which is the longest race of all PTHC races with 9 stages, makes another appearance in the PTHC calendar though the TT stage was moved before the final stage unlike last year. In this band the two races will be joined by the 1-day sprint race in Latvia in the Riga - Jurmala GP
| Tour of Norway | Norway | 5 |  Cheshire Cycling Tour | United Kingdom | 5 |  Japan Cup | Japan | 2 |  Tour of the Battenkill | United States | 2 |
Band 2 consists of two 5-day races in the Tour of Norway, where climbing and TT skills are important for the win, and the Cheshire Cycling Tour - famous for its hilly cobbled terrain. They will be joined by two one-day races which will test the riders on hills - Japan Cup and the hilly cobbled classic Tour of the Battenkill
 SAA Tour d'Afrique | South Africa | 4 |  Chrono d'Arenberg | France | 2 |  Vuelta a Colombia | Colombia | 6 |  Pro Hallstatt Classic | Austria | 2 |
The SAA Tour d'Afrique makes another appearance in the calendar after being upgraded from HC last season. Chrono d'Arenberg - the grueling TT race, where cobble skills are paramount, also returns to offer a totally different challenge to the riders and they will race on the course twice. Vuelta a Colombia also makes its second straight appearance in PTHC and this time the three races will be joined in Band 3 by the Pro Hallstatt Classic - the mountainous classic around the Austrian Alps makes its 4th consecutive appearance in PTHC
       Balkans International | Balkan Region | 8 |  Rheden GP | Netherlands | 2 |  Tour of East Java | Indonesia | 2 |  GP Wallonie | Belgium | 2 |
The only race that takes a trip into more than two countries - the Balkans International, is again part of the PTHC calendar for a 4th year in a row and will again offer an opportunity for the best puncheurs in the peloton. Rheden GP - the cobbled circout classic, the 2-day sprinter + climber race in East Java and the hilly classic GP Wallonie complete this band
| Philadelphia International Championship | United States | 2 | | Tour of Slovenie | Slovenia | 5 |  Deutschland Tour | Germany | 5 |  Franceville Classique | Gabon | 2 |
Band 5 features one of the two new races in the calendar compared to last year - the Philadelphia International Championship. This sprinter's race was C2HC last season and it's elevation to PTHC will surely raise its profile to include the best sprinters. Tour of Slovenie returns with its prolouge and penultimate TT. Deutschland Tour will also return for another year and the peoloton will take another trip to Gabon for the cobbled Franceville Classique
 Tour du Maroc | Morocco | 8 | | Paris Tours | France | 2 |  Macskako Kerekparverseny | Hungary | 2 |  Clasica San Sebastian | Spain | 2 |
And last, but not least - Band 6. This band is headlined by the 8-stage race Tour du Maroc with stages favourable to both sprinters and climbers and without time trails this is the perfect race for riders who either suck or are mediocre in TT. Another familiar race returns in the sprinter classic Paris - Tours. Macskako Kerekparverseny - last season in C1, will be a PTHC race this year. Completing the band is the climbing classic in the Basque Country - the Clasica San Sebastian.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 24-08-2021 18:02
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Grand Tour Specialist
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The "prologue" actually is a TTT, if I'm not mistaken - the only one in the entire PTHC calendar as far as I see.
Will be a tough choice of which band to exclude, way too many cobbles and TTs there overall 
Thanks for the presentation nonetheless!
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| quadsas |
Posted on 24-08-2021 19:27
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2518
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3 bands = nice
other 3 = trash
as it's meant to be, easy choices to be made here
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 25-08-2021 02:18
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Directeur Sportif
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In addition to the sequence change noted by Ivan, Portugal is mostly a new route this year, only the MT stage is the same, Stages mostly come form Tamijo's 2018 Portugal route.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 25-08-2021 04:47
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16429
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Will this be another year of following the cobbles in band selection, or have I finally come up with something better?
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 00:44
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| ember |
Posted on 25-08-2021 05:43
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Team Leader
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This looks nice! Also happy to see a couple of Norwegian races still in the calendar for PT teams (and PCT teams).
Thank you for the presentation, ivan! |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 25-08-2021 08:20
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Directeur Sportif
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quadsas wrote:
3 bands = nice
other 3 = trash
as it's meant to be, easy choices to be made here
I wish my life decisions were always this simple 
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 25-08-2021 12:01
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3367
Joined: 20-04-2020
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Didn't expect this so soon 
I have no clue where I'll go so far, but going to Colombia might be a must with my regional focus. Thanks for the work to everyone who is making this possible once again!
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| tastasol |
Posted on 25-08-2021 20:06
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Classics Specialist
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Really loving one band and liking some others. On the other hand some of the bands are really not suited for our team, so hopefully we'll get a place in those who suits us.
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 25-08-2021 23:38
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3634
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An interesting set of bands, we are going to need to figure out who we want to target to decide which bands to aim for.
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| Bikex |
Posted on 28-08-2021 11:58
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Team Leader
Posts: 7255
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Thanks for the writeup ivan!
I'd say there are two bands I like to take quite certainly and the last one I still have to see |
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