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Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

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emmea90
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Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by emmea90 »

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Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

In this topic you can vote for the Balkans Tour, according to the following rules.

PLEASE READ ALL THE POST BEFORE VOTING

How to vote

1 - You have to judge the track according to the requirements: post31559.html#p31559

2 - You have to write in a post your best FIVE routes, from worse to best, providing a brief motivation for each choice
FIFTH PLACE
(Motivation)

FOURTH PLACE
(Motivation)

THIRD PLACE
(Motivation)

SECOND PLACE
(Motivation)

FIRST PLACE
(Motivation)
How does it work?
- First choice got 6 points, second 4, third 3, fourth 2 and fifth 1 point.
- Presentation bonus grant you 3 points (we will add later with penalties who took the bonus)
- Ranking will be made according to points obtained
- In case of equality I will decide the winner
- YOU CAN'T VOTE FOR YOURSELF
- You can also comment other people's reviews regarding your or other one's routes
- YOU CAN'T CHANGE YOUR VOTE ONCE SUBMITTED

Who can vote?
- Every user that submitted a contest (full points vote)
- Every user in the La Flamme Rouge Staff (Emmea90, Pigna, Sagan99, Matthorse, Nasdon33, Linkinito, Bose12)
- Every user that has registered BEFORE today and has at least 10 tracks in the editor. In this case, his votes counts half of the points scale

Penalties
- Every user that submitted a contest and doesn't submit a valid vote (with 5 choices and motivations) will get a 10 points penalty for all his routes.
- It's FORBBIDDEN to ask for votes. Who will be caught public or privately asking for a vote to some users will get a 50 points penalty in first instance, then the exclusion from all the contests of the year
- Vote penalties for unpracticable routes will be assigned by staff during this phase

Requisites for the +3 bonus
- Providing link of the tour in the post
- Providing viewable image of each stage with a description in the post

Deadline for vote phase is august 22, h 23.59

Routes
Mauro: maps/tours/view/13975 +3 presentation
Luigi.russo: maps/tours/view/15596 +3 presentation
Davandluz: maps/tours/view/15592 +3 presentation
Kanon16: maps/tours/view/15618 +3 presentation
Pierrick.weather: maps/tours/view/15642
Jajoejoe: maps/tours/view/15640 +3 presentation
Player: maps/tours/view/15643
Ellvey: maps/tours/view/15600 +3 presentation
Micek_52: maps/tours/view/15631 +3 presentation
Giorgio.ponticelli: maps/tours/view/15702 +3 presentation
Pincoletto: maps/tours/view/15756 +3 presentation
Antoinvds: maps/tours/view/15745
AjachiChakrabarti: maps/tours/view/15613 +3 presentation
Taaramae_Crack: maps/tours/view/15711 +3 presentation
IamCeeKae: maps/tours/view/15605
JibValverde: maps/tours/view/15811
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giorgio.ponticelli
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by giorgio.ponticelli »

5th place IamCeeKae
A succession of beautiful stages, some of those are between the best of the whole contest, but in complex there are a little bit too climbs for just one ITT and not many chances for sprinters. Another problem could be represented by lenght of some transfers.

4th place pierrick.weather
In general a balnced race with the interesting idea of the ITT climb of second stage, but as for IamCeeKae race there is just one stage for pure sprinters. Looking to satellite images I've some doubts on praticability of white road to Mount Olympus. A high mountain stage is missing in last three stages.

3rd place davandluz
One of the tour with the best balance between slopes and ITT, well designed and with a perfect pacing since stage 8: I would have prefered an inversion between ITT at stage 8 and meduium mountain stage last day.

2nd place pincoletto
Every single stage in this tour is interesting, well designed and put at the right place of the race; the only imperfection i can see is the total number of climbs (a little elevated for a 10 days race considering also the ones classficated as generic sprints).

1st place luigi.russo
Perfect design of the race from transfers point of view, good pacing of stages and good balance between high mountain, medium mountain and flat stages; perhaps the tour in its complex misses a little bit more ITT kilometers. Special mention for Veria stage, but I probably wouldn't have put it as final stage.
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by jibvalverde »

5th place : Player

I like your mountain stage and especially these between Tetobo and Mali i Krujes. But i think your Tour is too hard, two plaine stages only is not enough, and, more of that, not a fan of two ITT on a 10-days race.

4th place : IamCeeKae

I like your stages individually but, taken together, it’s way too hard. Only one stage not for climbers, it’s a little insane. Too bad because all your mountain stages are beautiful.

3rd place : giorgio.ponticelli

A very well balanced race with a lot of good stages like the 9th or the 3th. I think you have too much ITT but it won’t be an issue for your race. Well done !

2st place : Pincoletto

I love it. Every stage is well traced, even if i regret a little that you put only two sprint stage. But the rest is excellent.

1st place : Luigi.russo

A perfect race. Your mountain stages are excellent, you place an early but long enough ITT and, more important, you think about sprinters with three plaine stage. Absolutely perfect !
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by ellvey »

5th place - Jajajoe

I really liked some things in your race, such as the tricky stage finish in Tesanj, both sprinters and puncheurs and even GC riders can have a go to fight for the stage, it should be very interesting to watch. Without a doubt, your Meteora stage is my favourite of all of the stages i've seen, both because of the profile and because the finish is in the freakingly stunning Meteora.
The Tour is not without cons though. As great as the Meteora stage is, I can't help but feel that having the Parnassos stage, your queen stage, on the next day, really doesn't work out in favour of encouraging the riders to give us great aggressive racing around Meteora. Another issue is that I think you have 2 similar stages, that should have similar outcomes. I'm talking about stages 4 and 6. I think one of then could have been designed a bit differently, you could have replaced one of they with another mountain stage.

4th place - Luigi Russo

At a first look, your Tour is quite good, individually good stages, good balance and a decent structure, with one big misktake (in my honest opinion), like the fact that stages 7 and 8 don't really work well together. Your race caught my eye for a possible top spot, but on a second look, i left with more questions than answers. Looking in the google maps, the final kms of the Bjelasnica climb aren't paved, and after some research, it seems that's only praticable in a mountain bike. Also, on your last stage, the last climb looks to be on a gravel road, and i have no clue if it's viable for road racing, or if they have recently paved it. It's a shame, because on paper you have a nice route.

My top 3 routes were very close to each other, even if they don't have many similarites, but all of the really well designed. It was really though to decide. Alas, any could have been in the 1st spot, but i had to choose xD Decisions, decisions...

3rd Place - giorgio ponticelli

Your race is well balanced, with several stages for sprinters, nice medium mountain stages and 2 really tough mountain stages, tappone style. The structure is also good, but i don't like the fact that you decided to finish with a flat stage. i'd very much prefer if you placed a rollercoaster type of stage designed to encourage long range attacks; alternatively you could finish with a ITT. There's enough terrain around Thessaloniki to do both, i think.

2nd Place - kanon16

You designed a different Tour than most, choosing to design an "easier" but more open race, with less demanding mountains and more of the less intimidating but pesky medium mountain, and i personally loved it.
The riders will have to race agressively particularly in the last 2 stages if they want to win the race. Also, very good balancing. I also liked the Fortica finish in Mostar, and the Herceg Novi stages, very creative MTF. Most of the structure is fine, but if i had to change anything i'd switch the TT from the stage 6 to another spot. I don't like a TT after a mountain stage unless it's in the last stage, but that's just my personal opinion.

1st Place - taaramae_crack

I really liked your Tour, with very interesting and creative stages, particularly the last 2, which are superb. The last stage should be very interesting, it's not too hard, but it's perfect for long range attacks and tactical plays. The rest of the proposal is fine, with some tricky stages, such as Sarande and Podgorica and a monster MTF to Sveti Jure. I just think you could use 1 extra stage for sprinters, replacing a mountain stage, because they also need to prepare the Tour lol xD
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by luigi.russo »

1st place
jajoejoe
No too demanding route, but balanced tour with nice stages.

2nd place
giorgio.ponticelli
Very good stages, maybe a too long ITT for a short stage race but balanced by mountain stages.

3rd place
taaramae_crack
I think this tour has the very best stages, but some transfers are really too long.

4th place
ellvey
Another good tour, very balanced with nice flat and hilly stage, but minus are some too long transfers.

5th place
Pincoletto
Good tour but I don't like that the last two stages are too much more important than others. Plus, I don't like ITT in last stage.
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by davandluz »

5th ellvey Nice entry, with different stages that make for an interesting tour, also for tv broadcasters. Stage 9, however, is an exaggeration, way harder than necessary: you want riders prepared, not tired (right Critérium du Dauphiné?). Also, I find there is a mistake in the Cozani finish line placement.

4th pincoletto Good tracking, there are two things I would've done differently though: I would've finished stage 2 in Vlorë rather than Orikum, to add uncertainty, and most importantly I would've skipped the side tour to Sveti Areh in stage 9, I am not convinced by the narrow road after the climb. Also - but this is more a general thing - I preferred routes with a prologue as I think that 9 mass start stages are too many, a day with only a few Km of route should help riders to save the leg a bit more for the Grand Boucle, which is in any case the main target for the riders.

3rd jajoejoe It's a nicely balanced tour, but I think you could've picked harder mountains, and twice you propose the same type of stage (all flat, with a fairly long but not very hard climb, descent and arrival): at least one of those you could've turned it into a MTF. On the other hand, I think you nailed stage lenght and profiles, so good job.

2nd kanon16 I liked the tour balancing, the path you chose and the mountains you picked, as always solid work. Beautiful the final day, correct the stage lenghts, too. I have however some notes: the transfer from Herceg Novi to to Shkodër is a bit too long, and stage 8 isn't really my favorite, it seems more like a transfer stage (a pity for the third to last one). In any case, it was a close call for first place: with a short prologue instead of stage 8 you would've surely been a strong contender for the top spot.

1st taraamae_crack Really good stage profiles, and nice locations selected, too (the Kotor ITT seems gorgeous). Just two remarks: in the Podgorica stage, you should've added a dirt road section in the Cakor Pass climb, close to the border, as it does not seem paved all the way to the top from the Kosovo side; also, I would've picked a fewer number of first category climbs, but again, seeing the 2020 Dauphiné I guess it's passable.
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by IamCeeKae »

Fifth place - Pincoletto
This stage race has some great profiles, although it is sorely lacking in what classifications the climbs have. That said, the chosen climbs in their respective stages play a nice role in determining the winner of the stage, and perhaps even the entire tour, as most climbs seem to perform key roles in the final parts of each stage. There's a very decent balance between mountain top finishes and flat finishes. It shows that this stage race was made with an eye on punchers and climbers, leaving sprinters out of the picture slightly. That's not to say that I'm against it though. The stages themselves are well-balanced in their distance as well, the tour in total being not to short, not too long.

Fourth place - luigi.russo
A nice stage race with good balance between stages. The final phases of most stages would be intriguing to watch. The profiles also show how this tour seems to increase in difficulty as time goes on, starting with mostly flat or hilly stages, and finishing with three high mountain stages in the last four days. The race could've used a few more uphill finishes though, either in medium mountain or high mountain stages.

Third place - davandluz
A great balance between stages that shows that this tour doesn't even require all that many high mountain stages in the ten days available. Two individual time trials may have skewed some part of the tour in favour of time-trial climbers, but their distances summed up is not that much greater than the amount of kilometers of time trial used by people who've only created one ITT stage. One thing of not is that some stages are classified as medium mountain, despite the fact that most climbs only appear in the first half of the race. Early climbs such as those could be almost nullified by whatever happens in the last half of the race, although it might serve as intriguing if it turns into a chase race. The stage to the Baros Pass positively stands out, and the Velestovo stage almost seems like a copy, only made a little less difficult by their shorter climbs. These stages in particular would be very nice to watch, methinks.

Second place - giorgio.ponticelli
A great stage race with excellent balance; its most difficult stages being in the final week of the tour. It doesn't need as many time trial kilometers as it has right now, but no further complaints, given the great high final few stages. Two high mountain stages, each with a different finishing style, and a time trial and a great medium mountain stage in between. Lastly, a final stage for the surviving sprinters to finish the tour off.

First place - kanon16
The profiles of some of the stages would be really nice if put into practice. Although a few of them may require a reclassification of one difficulty category into another, when these categories are out of the picture, the stage race shows to have a bit of everything. Even in the flat stages, a good example being the stage to Vlorë, a small bump on the road can be cause for the race to make a complete turnaround, all of a sudden being in favor for punchers instead of sprinters. When it comes to the climbs, stage 9 in particular positively stands out as an incredibly intriguing final battle for climbers. It could've been used for the final stage just as easily, so to speak.
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by antoninvds »

Hi ! Here is my vote :

5th : davandluz
Nice route, maybe too easy but the balancing is good between different stages. I like the idea of finishing in the North and your 8th stage.

4th : IamCeeKae
Well drawn route with a fine final stage and a difficult TT. Playing with distances could have giving more power to your route !

3rd : Pincoletto
I think you draw a good route, well balanced with a gorgeous 9th stage : finishing in the North is a good idea, and Slovenia is a nice choice. Well done !

2nd : Jibvalverde
Really a great route and what a 8th stage ! This one remembered me the swiss circuit Furka-Susten-Grimsel. GC contenders will be happy. Only the beginning with 2 flat stages annoys me. A top finish is missing to me.

1st : taaramae_crack
Everytime there is a contest, I find your routes really well done, and this one is another example. Indeed, I love your two last stages, playing with distances and topography. A mountain stage to finish is what I did too and I find yours nicely drawn : it is a Dauphiné-like stage ! Maybe a second high mountain top finish could have been a good idea !

Good job everyone !

Antonin :beer:
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by taaramae_crack »

Fifth place: AjachiChakrabarti - You had some really nice ideas, such as the stage in Corfu (I started there too), the TT in Zagreb or the finish in Mangart, but you have to polish some things, for example, you just include one flat stages and too many uphill finishes for my taste, and I think this is something general I saw in your routes of some other contests.

Fourth place: kanon16 - Good general design of the race, visiting some nice places and with not too long transfers. Even though, it's a bit soft for me and has too much stages in which the only decisive part is a last short and punchy climb (something like the muritos of the Vuelta, but not so exaggerated :sad: )

Third place: giorgio.ponticelli - Your stages are quite solid and you did some interesting mountain stages (Rozaje one, in particular), but one thing I didn't liked is that in your presentation some profiles were different to the rest and I don't know if there's a reason for it.

Second place: luigi.russo - Very good tour, really nice and varied stages, and quite equilibrated with the correct amount of TT, mountain and flat stages. Well done.

First place: Ellvey - Another really interesting tour, maybe I chose yours instead of luigi's one because I especially liked some of your stages. Lovcen finish is a really scenic climb that the world need to see, and just with it is enough to see a really good stage (the same that happens with Sveti Jure). I also loved the design of the Metsovo one, with terrain for seeing some long range attacks and a good show.
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by kanon16 »

FIFTH PLACE - Jajoejoe
Good tour, in particularly for the last 3 stages.
I don’t like too much 3 MTF in a row (7,8 and 9) and maybe the first 7 stages are a bit easy, you could have better distribute the difficulties.

FOURTH PLACE - Davandluz
Good job, like always. I like very much some stages, the pity is that maybe some of them are not in the perfect position (in particularly the hardest and beautiful stage with Baros Pass as third day). I also don’t like too much the last stage, long but maybe a bit too easy in the 100 Km before the last ascent to make selection. Beautiful the stages in Greek (I also use the Mount Lykavittos and the Sterna Gkotsi climb!)

THIRD PLACE - Ellvey
Great Tour, very good balance and some stages really nice (Capodistria, Mostar and the last two stages).
Maybe the Metsovo stage is too hard in a race like this, but after the Dauphine 2020 I can’t say anything!..

SECOND PLACE - Pincoletto
Great Tour with perfectly balanced! (Cetinje, Mostar, Banja Lukaand Rogla Ski Resort are my favorite stages).
Also the final ITT in Ljubljana is a good idea.

FIRST PLACE - Taaramae_crack
The best Tour in my opinion. Perfect mountain stages, different in type and length (in particularly the last two stages without MTF).
Also the TT are beautiful..maybe just a bit too long the second.
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by Micek_52 »

So, first of all, if a race had two time trials, I didn't even look the details of it. I think two TT's is too much for 10 stages. Same goes for more than two flat stages. This is meant as a preparation race for GT-contenders, not sprinters. Unfortunately, this only left me with 4 tours, so I had to choose one with 3 flat stages :oops:

5.Place: Mauro:
Overall, a nice tour with some interesting backstory (about the planned extension to AIR race), but 3 flat stages just kill it.

4.Place: Pincoletto:
The main issue with this tour was, that it has only two high mountain stages. But all in all it is still good, and I like the TT finish.

3.Place: IamCeeKae:
A nice tour with plenty of mountain stages. The only issue I see comparing to the 2nd place is the weird placement of the time trial on stage 7.

2.Place: antoninvds:
Similarly to IamCeeKae, a well-designed tour. It has an opening time trial and ends with two High mountain stages, which is good.

1.Place: AjachiChakrabarti:
This tour has the best final three stages of them all. The stage 8 timetrial with C2 climb and two cobbled sections works well before the final two high mountain Stages. The final stage is very nice. Short, but tough...
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by AjachiChakrabarti »

FIFTH PLACE: jibvalverde
The finish isn't difficult enough for my liking, but I liked the early part of your race.

FOURTH PLACE: taaramae_crack
Really good route, but Stage 9 is a little too long, and I would have preferred the final two stages not to have the final climb 20 km from the end.

THIRD PLACE: IAmCeeKae
Well balanced route with a great first weekend. Not a fan of the final stage, but Stages 8 and 9 make up for it.

SECOND PLACE: kanon16
I wish you hadn't included a stage finish in Italy, because it takes away a little from the Balkan nature of the tour, but it's a really good stage. Overall a great tour.

FIRST PLACE: Pincoletto
There's something for everyone in this tour, which I think hits the balance we've all been trying for the best.
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by jajoejoe »

5th: Iamceekae
Great stages, but just way too hard. Could’ve done with 1 or 2 flat stages

4th: Pincoletti
Goood, but it’s just a little off. It’s all at the end for the gc riders and the last flat stage is already the 3rd stage. Could’ve been balanced better.

3rd: Giorgio.Ponticello
All excellently balanced, every type of rider can perform, one thing I dislike is the flat stage at the end. It’s fine in a grand tour as a parade, but not in a 10 stages long race.

2nd: Taaramae_Crack
Great tour, it shows that you don’t need hard stages on paper to make a great tour. Could’ve done with an easier medium mountain stage instead of a mountain stage.

1st: Kanon16
You did something different than most other people and I really like it. The Mutikas Peak/Ghenesse Theotokou combo is lethal and amazing and the whole last stage is great.
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by emmea90 »

Voting is closed.
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by emmea90 »

Final Classification
Taaramae_Crack 36
Pincoletto 27
Luigi.russo 25
Kanon16 24
Giorgio.Ponticelli 21
Ellvey 15
Jajoejoe 14
Davandluz 12
IamCeeKae 12
JibValverde 5
Antoinvds 4
Micek_52 3
AjachiChakrabarti 0
Mauro -6
Pierrick.weather -8
Player -9
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Re: Contest #6 - Balkans Tour - Voting

Post by emmea90 »

Amended Results
Taaramae_Crack 36
Kanon16 29
Luigi.russo 23
Giorgio.Ponticelli 23
Pincoletto 22
Ellvey 15
Jajoejoe 14
Davandluz 12
IamCeeKae 12
JibValverde 5
Antoinvds 4
Micek_52 3
AjachiChakrabarti 0
Mauro -6
Pierrick.weather -8
Player -9
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