Ponferrada: Let’s Go Riding
The 2014 UCI Road World Championships is right now taking place in the historic city of Ponferrada in the Northwest of Spain. Stunning nature and great climbs all over the place. However, the Alto de Montearenas and Alto de Compostilla are no special climbs whatsoever, but since riders have to pass them 14 times they tend to get nasty. The circuit is 18.2 kilometres, which gives a total distance of 254,8 kilometres.
Meeting up with the Italian Team on Thursday, we managed to get a seat in the Italian Team car following the elite men’s team during their first recon together on the race course.
The road race is a criterium of 18.2 kilometres in length. The first 4 kilometres are flat, after which the start of the climb to Alto de Montearenas has an average gradient of 8%. After a few hundred meters the ascent flattens and the remaining 5.1 kilometres are 3.5% on average.
Next is a descent, the steepest part is after 11 kilometres – at this point the riders are going downhill with a 16% negative gradient. Alto de Compostilla is a short climb of 1.1 kilometre. The average gradient is 6.5 % and some of the steepest parts are 11%.
The remaining distance of 4.5 kilometres is almost completely going down, after which the finish is perfect for a bunch sprint. Only question being: will 14 times of those nasty climbs be perfect for a bunch sprint? Looks like a group of escapees will take their chances and are going to decide who will be the next World Champion.
Details of the route
Circuit length: 18, 2 km
Laps: 14
Total distance: 254, 8 km
Maximum altitude: 709 m
Minimum altitude: 509 m
Total ascent: 4.284 m
Maximum positive gradient: 11%
