The road race course for the UWCT final is 112km long (except for men 65+ and women 45+ who do 58km). It starts in the Piazza Duomo (town centre) of Trento and heads north on the main highway for the first 9km.
We then turn right and head up the first of three climbs. This one, in theory, is the easiest as it is only Category 2. It is only 6km long with an average gradient of 4.7%. However, this climb is potentially the most important for position in the road race. When we start in Trento, we start in order of slowest to fastest - I.e. women oldest to youngest then men oldest to youngest. So as we go up this climb, the faster groups will be coming up from behind and passing us. And after the climb, we have 40km of flat as wet head south back to Trento and beyond for the second climb. So it will be critical to stay with the main peloton over the top of the first climb and as they speed along the flat.
Then, 60km into the race, we hit the bottom of the second climb. This is a Category 1 climb. It is 12km long with an average gradient of 6.5%. The descent from this climb will be very fast, as the bends are sweeping rather than hairpins. It will also be cold, as it is through a forest.
We then have another flat section of approximately 10km as we head north again to Trento for the final climb. Up until this point of the course, my recon has been by car and looking at the course profile only.
The final climb is Mount Badone. It starts right on the edge of the city of Trento. It is an "Outside Category" climb. It is 20km long, with an average gradient of 7.4%. This is the only part of the course I have ridden, and it is the first mountain that I feel I have conquered, rather than the mountain conquering me! Were shall see how I feel after the end of the road race.
It is a mountaintop finish on Mount Badone. At this stage my race plan goes only as far as the bottom of the second climb: try to stay with the peloton. Depending on how that goes, how I feel and how everyone else is riding, we shall see what happens from there.
The photos are from the climb and the top of Mount Badone.
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