GO 3V

Race strategy

Hold a steady pace and save energy for every section.

• 615m descent. Go easy, save your quads.
• Steep 30% wall. Control your pace and stay focused.
• Final 522m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the descents until 17.5km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 23.6km.
• Start · 0.0km–2.0km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
• Settle in · 2.0km–11.3km · Climb of 619m, descent of 326m averaging 16%, climb of 357m, high point 668m. Ease in: hold back more than feels necessary. The race is still ahead. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. This descent is hard on the legs: short steps, stay in control, poles if you have them. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Work · 11.3km–23.6km · Descent of 615m averaging 10%, climb of 562m. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace. This descent is hard on the legs: short steps, stay in control, poles if you have them. Hike the steepest pitches.
• Home · 23.6km–28.2km · Descent of 522m averaging 11%. Build to the finish: leave whatever you have left out on the course. Long descent: keep it even and let go only near the end.

Course

The course climbs 1700m+. With 61m/km of climbing, this is a true mountain course with sustained climbs and descents. By gradient, 36% of the distance is uphill, 42% downhill and 22% flat. The longest climb runs 6.9km at an average 9.0% grade (619m of vertical). The longest descent runs 6.2km at an average 9.9% grade (615m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 35.1% over 0.2km. The steepest descent drops at 29.3% over 0.6km. Surface: 59% trail, 24% road, 9% smooth, and 7% technical. Flat-equivalent effort: 45.0 FlatKM.

Summits

The highest summit on the course is Sveta gora (682m), 11.3km from the start. Other named summits along the route: Škabrijel (646m) and Frančiškov hrib (631m).

Poles

Trekking poles are worth taking: about 5.3km of the course favours them.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is moderate (index 23 of 100), with 45% of the load in the first half: 2 descents deserve a plan and a couple of downhill sessions before race day.

• Control your HR on the first mountain, save your quads on the descents until 17.5km, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 23.6km.
• #2 · 6.9–8.9 km · 326 m D−, -15.6% · 19.2 km ahead → control
• #1 · 11.3–17.5 km · 615 m D−, -9.9% · 10.7 km ahead → control
• 23.6–28.2 km · 522 m D−, -11.3% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 6°C to 14°C, with around 9°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 39%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 16% of days around this date.