Rund um d'Kirch Criterium: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The circuit uses four streets of the town centre: from the start on Hauptstraße via Tettnanger Straße into Marienstraße and back to Hauptstraße along Schulstraße, a closed square around the church. There is practically no height difference, a lap takes little more than a minute, and every lap brings the same changes of direction at the street corners. Depending on the class it is 35, 50 or 80 laps; the Elite-Amateure and Amateure race over 80 laps is the day's highlight.

RSV Seerose Friedrichshafen has run the criterium since 1999, on the same day as Meckenbeuren's autumn market and its Sunday shopping, so spectators stand close to the course in the middle of the market. It is raced in early October on tarmac through closed town streets; the organiser describes the 2025 edition with rain, wind, wet roads and cool temperatures. Riders score points in several intermediate sprints, eight in the main race, alongside the finishing result.

Pacing Strategy

On a flat circuit this short the deciding factor is not average power but the sum of the accelerations: every corner costs speed, and riders further back in the bunch must accelerate harder afterwards than those at the front. Holding position in the front third is therefore the single biggest energy saver, especially in the first half of the race.

The race is decided in the sprint classifications. If you want points, know the scoring laps and move up in time, rather than chasing every move. Between the sprints there is time to recover in the draft.

The classic trap is overspending early: whoever answers every attack in the opening laps has nothing left for the final phase of an 80-lap race. In the wet a second trap appears, taking too much risk in the corners or losing too much time in them. If you are unsure on wet tarmac, ride near the front where the line is clear.

Training plan for Rund um d'Kirch Criterium: 12-week build

The 67 km main race takes a little over an hour and a half depending on speed, the shorter classes over 29 and 42 km correspondingly 45 to 70 minutes. The effort is highly variable: short, hard accelerations after every corner roughly once a minute, brief recovery in the draft in between, and maximal efforts of 10 to 20 seconds in the sprint classifications.

The repeated accelerations and the sprints decide the race. Train sets of short 10 to 30 second accelerations with short recoveries, for example out of a tight corner, and build them into longer rides so the ability to repeat them is still there after an hour. Sprints out of the draft belong in there too.

Bike handling matters here as much as power. Practise tight corners in a group with a clean line, braking late and smoothly, and getting back up to speed out of the saddle. Group rides or training races on circuits are the best preparation for riding shoulder to shoulder.

Early October near Lake Constance can bring cold and wet weather, as in 2025. Practise cornering on wet roads too, check tyre pressure and grip for rain, and plan a thorough warm-up, because the race starts without any easing-in phase.