Andorra Cycling Masters is an all-new invitational exhibition race. On Sunday 19th October four of the peloton’s standout riders – Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič and Isaac Del Toro – will face off against each other over two stages: a mountain time-trial and a criterium.
The idea is ‘to reveal the champion of champions’, as if that wasn’t already abundantly clear, and to promote Andorra as a cycling destination. Presumably also as a shopping destination, seeing as the crit bisects the main shopping area of the capital city of Andorra La Vella with its many luxury stores.
While the addition of another late season exhibition criterium to the calendar might be met with some eye-rolling and suggestions that there will be more play-acting than racing, the unique feature of Andorra Cycling Masters is the mountain TT up the fearsome Coll de la Gallina. Fans will expect to see real effort and real suffering.
It’s a little odd that the inevitably decisive TT comes first. It might make more sense to have a somewhat curated close finish to the crit and then let them have at it up the climb – that might be something to change for year two.
The race is not UCI sanctioned. That means we may see some special bikes for the climb, built below the 6.8kg weight limit. As it happens, Cervélo (Vingegaard) and Specialized (Roglič) have both just launched new ultra-light bikes, in the R5 and Aethos respectively.
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Coll de la Gallina time-trial
Climb stats
- Length: 8.3km
- Summit: 1910m
- Gain: 771m
- Max grade: 18%
- Av grade: 8.8%
- KOM: 27:12, Sepp Kuss (pro)
- QOM: 39:44, Shirin van Anrooij (pro)
The Coll de la Gallina is a brute, a pure climber’s test. With all four riders at their very best, you might even bet on Vingegaard over Pogačar for this.
The course starts from the hamlet of Bixessarri and immediately enters a series of 13 switchbacks, with many ramps of 16% and a maximum grade of 18%. The switchbacks themselves are steep, too, so a balance must be found between the shorter but steeper inside line and the longer but milder outside. Another 14 switchbacks follow, interspersed with a few brief flatter sections that skew the average gradient to a reasonable sounding 8.8%, but that number does no justice at all to the Gallina. It’s savagely hard.
Of course, when you’re giving all you’ve got, the pain is always the same; what changes is the impact of power-to-weight ratio and the chances of a pure climber eclipsing a GC rider. I rode the climb two weeks ahead of the event and, ideally equipped went full gas. The final three kilometres – heart rate maxed out, lungs flailing for air, legs melting like ice cream in the sun – felt like walking over hot Lego bricks while having a hundred steak knives driven into my thighs.
The Strava KOM is Sepp Kuss, who took just over 27 minutes from bottom to top, if these four are going full gas expect that time to be broken.
Andorra La Vella criterium
Circuit stats
- 2.14km lap
- 44m elevation per lap
- 15-lap race
The crit has a neutral roll out from the Plaça del Consell General, before hitting a 2.1km circuit in the city centre. The main thing that you, and especially the racers, need to know about this course is that – despite what you might expect of a downtown crit that’s juxtaposed against a brutal mountain time-trial – it is not flat. The southern side of the course features a 400m-long climb, most of which is 10%, and the finish line is at the top. That’s going to sting as the laps go by, especially after the TT.
A short, technical, fast descent leads into the downhill back straight, before another tight bend brings the riders back onto the side with the climb. Much of the course is very narrow, just one car width, and there’s lots of road furniture, so it’s probably a good job there will only be four riders.
Expect the riders to put on something of a show here; it wouldn’t be fun if they’re all spread out after two laps. Most likely they’ll ride fast and launch soft attacks to make it look good before sorting it out on the last time up the climb. And in the end Pogačar will win.
