World Cycling Championships 2013: The route of the road race
Lucca
The ramparts of starting town Lucca are an attraction all by themselves. They are build between 1504 and 1645 and are still intact. With a length of four kilometers and a base of thirteen meters nowadays you’ll find bike paths and hiking trails on them. In times long gone the ramparts were build as a defense against attacks from Firenze. It’s funny that the two cities now are collaborating to make the World Cycling Championship 2013 a success.
The route
Following the start the men take a route that only they are riding. Shortly after the climb at San Baranto they join the road that the women previewed the day before.
Once the riders are in Firenze they follow a local circuit of 16,6 kilometer in length for ten times. It features the 4,6 kilometer long climb to Fiesole. The top is on 10 kilometers from every passage and, of course, in the end from the finish-line. After every descent the riders face a short fierce climb at Via Salviati – ‘just’ 600 meter in length but with an average gradient of 12% and a maximum of 20%. From this point it’s 4 kilometers till the end, yet there’s still on obstacle: Via Trento, with a average gradient of 10% and a length of 300 meters.
When the stage was announced last year people were talking about the hardest stage since 1980, when Bernard Hinault took the rainbow-jersey in Sallanches, France.
From the start in Lucca in the riders face four (mild) climbs till they are in Firenze. After 14 kilometer there is the first one in Montecarlo – 3,75 kilometer in length, average gradient of 3,5% and a maximum of 9%. After 9 kilometers they go through Collodi, the place of birth of the mother of Carlo Collodi, spiritual father of Pinocchio. That’s his artist name, derived from exactly the spot the riders pass. In Parco di Pinocchio there’s a bump of 126 meters above sea-level.
The route goes through Montecatini Terme, where the top of a moderate climb (221 meter) is reached after 38 kilometers. Again 30 kilometers later the highest point of the World Cycling Championship is reached in San Baronto, at 341 meter. The climb is 3,9 kilometer long, with an average gradient of 7,1% and a maximum of 11%.
Facing some minor bump in the country-side, riders pass through the sloping landscape of Tuscany before arriving at the circuit. There the laborious work really starts, with ten times the climb of Fiesole (295 meter) and Via Salviati (145 meter). No, there are no giant cols like Passo dello Stelvio in the stage, but if you have to ride all those tiny hills enough, for sure the pain kicks in – definitely after a long and hard day in the saddle.
Route map and profile for the road race for men
Click on the images to zoom
Hills in the World Championships road race
| Name | Avg. grade | Max. grade | Length | Height | Ver. gain | Count |
| Monte Carlo | 3.5 % | 9 % | 3.75 km | 149 m | 130 m | 1 time |
| San Baronto | 7.1 % | 11 % | 3.9 km | 341 m | 278 m | 1 time |
| Fiesole | 5.2 % | 9 % | 4.37 km | 295 m | 226 m | 10 times |
| Via Salviati | 10.2 % | 16 % | 600 m | 142 m | 61 m | 10 times |