Giro better than the Tour?

13»

Comments

  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    DaveyL wrote:
    knedlicky wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    I was more about who was winning. There was an 11 Giro period from 1997-2007: Italians won all 11 of these races ... During this period, it wasn't far off being a race just for Italians.
    It wasn’t the Italians who prevented several ‘international’ names from taking part and trying to get on the podium in the Giro over this 11-year period, but those ‘international’ names chose to avoid it - which in a way was giving the Giro high tribute.
    It was? How does that work?
    Many top riders haven't been prepared to enter the Giro for fear of being burnt out by the time of the TdF, even though there’s almost 5 weeks between end of one and beginning of other. They perhaps see as evidence that few riders who do well in the Giro then do equally well in the Tour. So by skipping the Giro, those riders (who have ambitions in the Tour) thus recognise (i.e. give tribute to) how difficult the Giro is.
    This obviously applies to Armstrong, while Ulrich only ever entered one Giro the same year he intended to do the TdF. Contador is no better, though maybe that's unfortunate coincidence? Lots of other examples if you look at the podium placings.

    Their motives are, however, probably more complex. The great difference in prize money probably plays a role for the big names, while for the lesser names, the wishes of the team manager and of the sponsor rule. France has more boundaries to other lands and another couple of lands aren't far away, whereas Italy is a bit of a cul-de-sac.

    I suspect the reason why many riders successful in Italy don’t do so well in the Tour isn’t exhaustion but mentality – they’ve already done their main job for the year in Italy, the weather often doesn’t suit, there are too many long flat stages and the mountains are less steep but too long, a leader in the Giro may have to play second fiddle to some stranger in the same team at the Tour, the team control tactics are more pronounced in the Tour because of the geography, the sponsor isn’t so interested, and (for Italians) it’s simply not Italy.

    I highly admire not only those riders who did well in one year at both Tours but also those who did well in alternate years, showing they were up to both, even if never winning either, like Olano.

Categories