Originally Posted by jppe
Berts-describe the course for us.
The start/finish is at Nitzanim a Kibbutz near Ashdod on the coastal plain. It was a 9.3 mile circuit (x3) mostly flat with two 30-50 ft rises, one about 1 km after the start/finish line and one leading to the finish with a slight downhill into the finish. The course started east away from the sea and goes clockwise with the finish on a 1 km east stretch. It is a difficult course to breakaway because after the rise where the peleton splits up the course turns into the wind and it's difficult to get a close knit strong group to collaborate on a break in the first race of the season. There were a total of 300 racers in all categories, elite men raced about 60 miles, we 50-59ners rode only 28 miles (good enough for me). good luck to you in your races.