Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Professional Cycling For the Fans
Reload this Page >

Visually stunning races to watch?

Notices
Professional Cycling For the Fans Follow the Tour de France,the Giro de Italia, the Spring Classics, or other professional cycling races? Here's your home...

Visually stunning races to watch?

Old 10-26-21, 05:34 PM
  #1  
Dan Flashes
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 16
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Liked 25 Times in 11 Posts
Visually stunning races to watch?

I have been cycling and mountain biking for about 20 years, but I never really liked watching pro races. But I’m starting to get into it now, and I’ve got the GCN app to catch up on races from this year. My question is, which courses do you think are the most visually stunning or unique to watch? I think it helps keep it interesting. So far the arctic tour of Norway was pretty fantastic. Which would you recommend?
Dan Flashes is offline  
Likes For Dan Flashes:
Old 10-26-21, 07:39 PM
  #2  
diphthong
Senior Member
 
diphthong's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: insane diego, california
Posts: 8,287

Bikes: 85 pinarello treviso steel, 88 nishiki olympic steel. 95 look kg 131 carbon, 11 trek madone 5.2 carbon

Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1619 Post(s)
Liked 3,087 Times in 1,670 Posts
usually a fan of the mountain stages in the grand tours...esp the dolomites stages in the giro (and the occasional volcano-like vesuvius) and the alps, vosges and massif central stages
in the tour de france. of all the classics, probably like milan-san remo the best for scenery.
diphthong is offline  
Old 10-26-21, 07:54 PM
  #3  
MinnMan
Senior Member
 
MinnMan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 5,735

Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease Carbon Deore 11, 2020 Salsa Warbird GRX 600, 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX disc 9.0 Di2, 2020 Catrike Eola, 2016 Masi cxgr, 2011, Felt F3 Ltd, 2010 Trek 2.1, 2009 KHS Flite 220

Mentioned: 19 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4266 Post(s)
Liked 2,938 Times in 1,812 Posts
The bigger races, especially the TdF, are more likely to have helicopter coverage, and therefore give more opportunity for scenery. I expect that there should be more drone footage these days, but if that's the case, I haven't really caught on.

Many people tune into the TdF in part because of the great scenery..

the just-concluded Cape Absa MTB stage race in S. Africa had some fantastic scenery.
MinnMan is online now  
Old 10-27-21, 05:39 AM
  #4  
slcbob
bored of "Senior Member"
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: MD / metro DC
Posts: 2,870

Bikes: Cross-Check/Nexus commuter. Several others for various forms of play.

Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 639 Post(s)
Liked 576 Times in 445 Posts
+1 on Milan San Remo.

+1 on the helicopter + production value of the Grand Tours. I think ASO has the best crew but Italy has the best epic scenery with mountains and/or ocean in a much higher percentage of the shots.

I'd add Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour of the Basque Country (Itzulia?) to the short list.

My recommendation for window shopping: go to steephill.tv, browse the races, look at the maps, watch the highlights, then dig deeper. While you're there, look at the on-bike cam highlights. There's one for just about every stage in recent years, at least at the grand tours. Some pretty epic "scenery" there, albeit from a completely different viewpoint.
slcbob is offline  
Old 10-27-21, 06:10 AM
  #5  
boozergut
Full Member
 
boozergut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 489

Bikes: Kona Dew, Gary Fisher Paragon, Salsa Campeon

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 113 Post(s)
Liked 123 Times in 77 Posts
This years Paris Roubaix, so many crashes, mud, rain, cobblestones, it was incredible.
boozergut is offline  
Likes For boozergut:
Old 10-28-21, 05:39 PM
  #6  
Dan Flashes
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 16
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Liked 25 Times in 11 Posts
Thanks for the recommendations, I will check all these out!

It makes sense that grand tours would have better coverage, and I can imagine that Alps and Italian races in general would have nice scenery. Alsomakes sense that the Basque country would be good too considering the history of biking there.

And yes I watched Paris Roubaix this year and it was a lot of fun. it was interesting to see Van Der Poel take a lot of those turns with ease. You could tell he was a cyclocross guy. But it seemed like he had the bad position in the velodrome. Too bad.
Dan Flashes is offline  
Old 10-28-21, 11:03 PM
  #7  
sincos
Full Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 245
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 98 Post(s)
Liked 127 Times in 74 Posts
Not sure you can see them but depending on coverage and specific route that year Lombardia (the lake), the Dauphine, and the shorter stage races like Paris-Nice can be spectacular.

If by stunning you mean thrilling like this year's Paris Roubaix, you might like Flanders in 1985, won by Eric Vanderaerden in a downpour. The cobbled stretches aren't as long, as frequent, or as rough as Paris Roubaix but unlike in the French race they're wicked steep. Or Paris-Roubaix 1981, another wet and slimy race won not so much in anger but in absolute fury by a guy who hated the race, doing everything wrong just to show who was the boss, seeing off an elite group including Roger "Mr Paris Roubaix" de Vlaeminck and Francesco Moser. Or Liege 1980, won by nearly 10 minutes after an 80 km solo break in a snowstorm. 174 riders entered that race, 153 abandoned, most of them within the first hour.
sincos is offline  
Old 10-29-21, 01:25 AM
  #8  
Darth Lefty 
Disco Infiltrator
 
Darth Lefty's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Folsom CA
Posts: 13,775

Bikes: Stormchaser, Paramount, Tilt, Samba tandem

Mentioned: 72 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3126 Post(s)
Liked 2,102 Times in 1,366 Posts
Audi Nines for sheer trickery

Cerro Abajo is an urban downhill race in Valparaiso, Chile

Megavalanche is an annual race with a bonkers mass start on the glacier of the Alpe D’Huez, and the first five minutes or so are above the snow line and then another 15 min down to the tree line. It’s a very long race for downhill, like 40 min.

Any EWS race for scenery, they are all in the mountains.
Darth Lefty is offline  
Old 10-29-21, 11:20 AM
  #9  
MinnMan
Senior Member
 
MinnMan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 5,735

Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease Carbon Deore 11, 2020 Salsa Warbird GRX 600, 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX disc 9.0 Di2, 2020 Catrike Eola, 2016 Masi cxgr, 2011, Felt F3 Ltd, 2010 Trek 2.1, 2009 KHS Flite 220

Mentioned: 19 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4266 Post(s)
Liked 2,938 Times in 1,812 Posts
Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
Audi Nines for sheer trickery

Cerro Abajo is an urban downhill race in Valparaiso, Chile

Megavalanche is an annual race with a bonkers mass start on the glacier of the Alpe D’Huez, and the first five minutes or so are above the snow line and then another 15 min down to the tree line. It’s a very long race for downhill, like 40 min.

Any EWS race for scenery, they are all in the mountains.
I've watched tons of Megavalanche GoPro videos. They are insane. Usually I lose interest once they descend below treeline, but the first 5 minutes are both spectacular scenery and wholly bada$$ riding.


Last edited by MinnMan; 10-29-21 at 12:41 PM.
MinnMan is online now  
Likes For MinnMan:
Old 10-30-21, 09:42 AM
  #10  
slcbob
bored of "Senior Member"
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: MD / metro DC
Posts: 2,870

Bikes: Cross-Check/Nexus commuter. Several others for various forms of play.

Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 639 Post(s)
Liked 576 Times in 445 Posts
Jeez, that was extraordinary. There must be tons of carnage all over the Alpe after that day. I was getting a little motion sick towards the bottom, particularly when he was walking near the end. I imagine the main field going through the single track has got to be ugly.
slcbob is offline  
Old 10-30-21, 08:11 PM
  #11  
Dan Flashes
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 16
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Liked 25 Times in 11 Posts
Thanks I’ll check all those out and try to find the old races mentioned. And, yes I watched Lombardia this year. That area is beautiful. I watched a stage from the tour de suisse today while riding the training, very scenic.
Dan Flashes is offline  
Old 11-05-21, 01:07 PM
  #12  
imakecircles
Junior Member
 
imakecircles's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 121

Bikes: 1982 Bianchi Nuovo Racing, 2012 Cervelo RS Rival, 20xx Redline Conquest (Commuter/Rain Bike)

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 37 Post(s)
Liked 49 Times in 30 Posts
Wow, you're opening up a real pandora's box, as cycling has such a rich history of place. I can think of no better place to start than the inrring's blog series of "Roads to Ride" linked here https://inrng.com/roads/
imakecircles is offline  
Old 11-06-21, 05:37 PM
  #13  
Dan Flashes
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 16
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Liked 25 Times in 11 Posts
Thanks again for all the suggestions. I’m going to have a couple beers tonight and try to track down some of these races. Also I watch Milan San Remo this week, and I see what everyone means. The last 60 K along the coast is stunning.
Dan Flashes is offline  
Old 11-06-21, 05:39 PM
  #14  
Dan Flashes
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 16
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Liked 25 Times in 11 Posts
Starting with Megavalanche now
Dan Flashes is offline  
Old 11-06-21, 05:56 PM
  #15  
Dan Flashes
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 16
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Liked 25 Times in 11 Posts
This is hilarious. These guys are ******g nuts. I love it.
Dan Flashes is offline  
Likes For Dan Flashes:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.