Since he was dead when the sport of bicycle racing began, Charles Darwin could hardly have anticipated what a fine lens the sport of bicycle racing would provide into his theory of natural selection. (He died in 1882. It is believed that the first chain-driven bicycle was developed around 1885.)
Yet, those of us who race know there is nothing like a challenging race course to test the character and fitness of every racer.
For many years the US Professional Road Racing Championships were held in Philadelphia. The most selective feature of that course was an intense pitch known to just about all American professionals: the Manayunk Wall, which they tackled ten times in a 156 mile race. In the early days of the race, Manayunk was indeed selective. Very often the race would end with a solo rider throwing his arms up in the air.
In recent years, however, the level of the entire US peleton has risen, much as it has on an international level in Milan-San Remo. In the old days the Cipressa and the Poggio would break up the field in that race, but now everyone is so strong that the odds each year are in favor of a field sprint victory.
Since he was dead when the sport of bicycle racing began, Charles Darwin could hardly have anticipated what a fine lens the sport of bicycle racing would provide into his theory of natural selection. (He died in 1882. It is believed that the first chain-driven bicycle was developed around 1885.)
Yet, those of us who race know there is nothing like a challenging race course to test the character and fitness of every racer.
For many years the US Professional Road Racing Championships were held in Philadelphia. The most selective feature of that course was an intense pitch known to just about all American professionals: the Manayunk Wall, which they tackled ten times in a 156 mile race. In the early days of the race, Manayunk was indeed selective. Very often the race would end with a solo rider throwing his arms up in the air.
In recent years, however, the level of the entire US peleton has risen, much as it has on an international level in Milan-San Remo. In the old days the Cipressa and the Poggio would break up the field in that race, but now everyone is so strong that the odds each year are in favor of a field sprint victory.
The same progression had taken place in Philly. As many as 70 riders were coming to the line together every year. Field sprinters were winning the US Professional Road Racing championship.
That does not mean that such races are not interesting. I love the sprint stages at the Tour! I love the Classics when they come down to a sprint. There is a place for all kinds of finishes in the sport.
The riders like selective races, however. Sprinters don’t like very selective races unless they know it is precisely selective enough for them to survive the selection where all of their fellow sprinters are dropped.
Choosing Greenville to host the US Pro Championships was intended to expose the US Pro peleton to a much more selective competition. As climbs go, Paris Mountain cannot compare to Brasstown Bald or even to other climbs in the Greenville area. At a little less than 4.5 km., the climb rises appx. 300 meters. That isn’t terribly hard, but it can be at the speeds the race leaders raced the climb last year.
Levi Leipheimer said before the race that it would ‘only’ involve 45-50 minutes of climbing. So those minutes needed to be very intense. Well, he made it so!
George Hincapie knows the Mountain as well as anyone, since for two years he lived at the top of it. He finished almost every ride he did with a climb of that mountain. Now that he no longer makes his home there, he still does a lot of his quality training on the mountain.
He told me after last year’s race that a 9:00 minute climb was pretty much a maximal effort for him in a normal workout.
But here are the times they rode during last years’ race:
8:53
8:37
9:08
10:13
8:58 (Hincapie himself crossed the top solo in that time, with a 100 miles and five mountain ascents in his legs!)
The fourth ascent is a bit misleading, because the clock started when the first rider began the climb. On that lap, Mike Creed and Will Frischkorn (then of TIAA-Cref) hit the base of the mountain with about a 60 second lead on the field. If that gap is accurate, the field climbed the mountain in under 9:15, which would still make it the slowest ascent of the day.
During planning for the 2007 race it was decided to shorten the race by one mountain loop, while adding three beginning 6 km circuits downtown. That is the same circuit that was ridden at the end of the race last year.
Last year, instead of race fans being exposed to the US Pro peleton fighting it out on those circuits, they saw only a shattered field. The Paris Mountain course – as ridden by Mssrs. Hincapie and Leipheimer and Bajadali – was so selective that there were only 31 official finishers (from a field of 102). And 22 of the riders were more than 6 km. behind the leaders when the finishing circuits were entered, so they were pulled from the race and received extrapolated times. Precisely nine riders finished the entire race distance of 121 miles.
In 2007 riders will ride three beginning circuits, four mountain loops, and then three finishing circuits. What effect will that have on the competition?
The first and most pronounced effect will be that the race will not offer the same opportunities for selection as the 2006 race did. Leipheimer’s 45-50 minutes of climbing will be chopped to less than 36. The race will be 11 miles shorter, as well. Moreover, the beginning circuits are not selective, so no one will be dropped before the mountain circuits begin. The riders will do approximately 30 km. before the climbing laps begin. Last year they rode 11 km. before reaching the base of the mountain. Will that 30 km. allow opportunistic riders time and distance to mount an early breakaway? That alone could create a very different race from last year.
It is difficult to imagine that the field can climb the mountain much faster than the 8:37 climb they did on Lap Two last year. But will the Pro Tour riders try to make the climbs more intense than they already were, to make up for the 5th climb and the extra 11 miles?
I was not a fan of shortening the course, and I like the idea of reducing the number of climbs even less. As the US Pro field adapted to Manayunk, so would they adapt to Paris Mountain. The great advantage of having so many Pro Tour riders in the US is the opportunity it provides to raise the level of domestic competition.
Every rider who competed in Greenville knows what he had to do to be competitive in 2007. They know where Greenville is, they know where Paris Mountain is, they know the times they’ll have to ride to be competitive. They have had all year to train for this race. Making the race course less selective undermines that potential advantage, just at the time when American racing fans are hoping to see another US team advance to the Pro Tour level.
Of course, ultimately it is the racers who decide how selective a course will be. In 1998-9 Greenville hosted the US Collegiate National Championships. In 1998 the college teams complained the course was not selective enough. In 1999 a very difficult course was selected which included the infamous Camp Old Indian climb in northern Greenville County. Instead of taking advantage of the very selective course, racers rode the flattest section of the course at slow speed in the small chainring. A race course is only selective if the riders make it so.
Only time will tell how selective the race will be on Sunday in Greenville, SC.