Sneak Preview: Mendrisio 2009 Youtubery

The organizors for next year's World Championship road race have put up their website to get us all ready for the big race. The hilly course is made for the climbers. We're talking to you, Damiano.

Below the fold, a youtube ride-along from the Italian television station in Switzerland, with translation.

Translation:

The Mondial in Mendrisio begins here, between Sallanches and Duitama. It is expected to be one of the most difficult and selective of the postwar period. Come, discover the 13.8 km circuit.

Only two kilometers from the start comes the first climb, the most difficult part of the course. A climb that gains 500 meters with a 12 percent gradient appears immediately.

We are on the road that leads toward Monte Generoso, but the race only climbs for 1 kilometer and 200 meters. This is the first of two climbs on the circuit.

It is a climb lasting only 1200 meters, but to race the course lap after lap will make the legs hurt.

For those who lose even a few meters on the climb, 500 meters of false flat followed by a tortuous descent will make it very difficult to regain the bunch.

It is a very technical descent of 4 kilomters from the climb of l'Acqua Fresca to the Torrazza de Novazzano. The group will become very stretched out (elongissimo), and it will splinter lap after lap.

The favorites will have to stay at the front, and will not be able to hide as they have in the last few World Championships.

It is not possible to recover, because the descent between the two climbs ends only four kilometers from the finish. Then, immediately comes the Torrazza de Novazzano. The climb is very hard. This is site of the epic dual between Merckx and Gimondi in 1971, but this time the climb is closer to the finish.

The climb of Novazzano is 1700 meters in length and its summit comes less than 2500 meters from the finish. It provides a perfect springboard to attack (trampolino di lancio) for the finish.

Two difficult climbs every lap, with only four kilometers between them. For this reason, the Mondiali di Mendrisio will not only be very difficult, but also a different race from the others.

Summarizing here: They move on to previewing the crono. There is one climb, not more than 700 meters long, with a max gradient of 10 percent. It is mostly flat.

The road race at Mendrisio for 2009 because of its climbs concentrated into very few kilometers will be a special and unique championship. The crono, meanwhile, is a classic course made for the true specialists. It is relatively flat with few curves. The winner will be without doubt a true specialist. (Translation: Swiss rider with the Italian family name.)

Thanks to J. Frinking for the youtubery tip!