What do/did you think of this year's Tour?

Lichtblick

Since nothing much (other than something discombobulatingly extraordinary which is very unlikely) is going to happen tomorrow or Sunday, what's the verdict on this year's Tour?

If you tick no.9, please say more.

tailwindhome

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12931643&p=18430788&hilit=Rate+the+race#p18430788

Pross

Been a pretty good race. It's a shame Froome has been so dominant as it's nicely bunched behind and the green jersey battle never took off. KOM is going to the final climb. The sprint stages have been finely balanced, breakaways have taken a few stages, some good attacking on the MTFs with Froome riding the Tour like a proper champion. Then there was echelon stage and the second mountain stage that gave brief hope that Froome's dominance could be challenged.

Overall one of better recent Tours despite Froome being head and shoulders above the others. More of a spectacle than last year but I enjoyed last year more than most people.

Lichtblick

TailWindHome wrote:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12931643&p=18430788&hilit=Rate+the+race#p18430788

My poll is way more fun that that one. Marks out of ten? Cooo, never thought of that.

mr_poll

Pross wrote:

Been a pretty good race. It's a shame Froome has been so dominant as it's nicely bunched behind and the green jersey battle never took off. KOM is going to the final climb. The sprint stages have been finely balanced, breakaways have taken a few stages, some good attacking on the MTFs with Froome riding the Tour like a proper champion. Then there was echelon stage and the second mountain stage that gave brief hope that Froome's dominance could be challenged.

Overall one of better recent Tours despite Froome being head and shoulders above the others. More of a spectacle than last year but I enjoyed last year more than most people.

All of this ^

mr_poll

Pross wrote:

Been a pretty good race. It's a shame Froome has been so dominant as it's nicely bunched behind and the green jersey battle never took off. KOM is going to the final climb. The sprint stages have been finely balanced, breakaways have taken a few stages, some good attacking on the MTFs with Froome riding the Tour like a proper champion. Then there was echelon stage and the second mountain stage that gave brief hope that Froome's dominance could be challenged.

Overall one of better recent Tours despite Froome being head and shoulders above the others. More of a spectacle than last year but I enjoyed last year more than most people.

All of this ^

tailwindhome

Lichtblick wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12931643&p=18430788&hilit=Rate+the+race#p18430788

My poll is way more fun that that one. Marks out of ten? Cooo, never thought of that.

Fun?

FUN?

pah!

afx237vi

Not bad, not great. Froome wins it as easily as Wiggins did last year, but at least this year there have been times when Froome has looked vulnerable (even if he wasn't really). The attacks from Quintana and Contador, combined with Froome's shaky moments really ram home how mind-crushingly dull last year's race was.

The crosswind stage was a classic.

Yellow Peril

afx237vi wrote:

Not bad, not great. Froome wins it as easily as Wiggins did last year, but at least this year there have been times when Froome has looked vulnerable (even if he wasn't really). The attacks from Quintana and Contador, combined with Froome's shaky moments really ram home how mind-crushingly dull last year's race was.

The crosswind stage was a classic.

That was the stage of the race for me.

RonB

I know what you mean, but if Valverde hadn't lost ~10mins on that day, this week could have been much more nervy for Sky.

durhamwasp

Been great to watch IMO. I feared that sky & Froome would dominate it, win by 6mins and it would largely be boring. But, while Froome looks set to win comfortably, its been refreshing to see him attacking while in Yellow, sky haven't looked their usual selves, and there have been plenty of riders giving it a go!

Well done Chris Froome.

TommyB61

Better than last year & containing some thrilling moments. Respect to Froomedog.

joelsim

Yep, respect to Froome and some others:

Quintana
J-Rod this week, esp the TT
Rui Costa
Fuglsang
Kreuziger has been immense
Porte has been as good as a wingman can get
Voight as ever
Kittel
Sagan obv
G and Peraud for continuing
And not forgetting Riblon yesterday!

Walter White

Its been quality.

Bakelants win was a highlight for me as was Cav winning the crosswind stage, also watching Froome tear Bertie a new one has been great viewing.

Just hope J-rod can top it off by getting on the podium and winning me a few quid.

philwint

Some seriously hard men in the race made it gripping for me:

Tony Martin coming back from that mega crash to win the ITT was just awe inspiring

And G too, riding with his cracked pelvis.

And oh my god!! the poor french guy who rode the mountain TT with a cracked collar bone, and then came down on it again. Just respect.

The racing has been great too, maybe not the GC, but some fascinating and ballsy stage wins for a whole load of guys.

Turfle

It's been fantastic.

Personal highlight was Little Pete leading over the top of Col de Paliheres, killing it on the descent, and handing over to Porte/Froome after a few k of Ax 3 Domaines. And then everyone exploding one by one.

RichN95.

Good
The battle of the sprinters - four titans going head to head
Some classy breakaways - Costa twice, Riblon, Bakelants, Martin
A close fight for the podium
Eye-catching debutants - Nairo, Polish Mike, Kennaugh
The crowds - Armstrong didn't hurt the popularity of the sport
Corsica

Bad
The Yellow jersey was settled early
The Green Jersey was settled early
A media belatedly jumping on the post Armstrong anti-doping bandwagon
No gung-ho, do or dare attacks like Schleck did in 2011
One stage short in the Pyrenees

(not a complete list)

Turfle

Unfair of me to be a bit disappointed in Sagan?

RichN95.

Turfle wrote:

Unfair of me to be a bit disappointed in Sagan?

Not really. He set the bar really high last year. He's done what he can with the course.
In the all rounder stakes it's all about Polish Mike now though.

Turfle

Going into the Tour most would probably have scoffed at the idea of him only winning one stage, and at the thought of him getting outsprinted by Gerrans. Personally I hoped we'd see him have a go on a mountain stage or two, especially once the green jersey was all but won.

Probably a bit harsh, and a Champs-Elysees win would put a very different shine on it.

CoutinhoRed

Much better than last year. Stage 13 was dramatic with 110km remaining and it was a flat stage. Since when do you see flat stages as exciting or even remotely near as that one? Seeing the cross wins cause mayhem was in itself a spectacle.

Quintana has arrived on scene and nobody knew a thing about him. The kid has given us cycling fans hope for the future as he looks a real star in the making. He has really mixed it up well. J-Rod and Contador have also contended in this years tour making competition at least for 2nd position exciting.

The competition in general has significantly increased for the GC and podium, as it has for KOM (yet to be decided) and sprint stage wins as Kittle and Greipal have steppes up to the plate to contend with Mark Cavendish. More hills, more mountains, more drama, more competition so I have no complaints. Hugely better than last years snore fest!?

alihisgreat

I need an "equally good" option.

Last year was good because of the experience of watching the first British rider win the Tour, and Wiggins is much more likeable than Froome so from a Wiggo/Froome/Sky fan perspective I enjoyed watching Wiggo win more. Plus I'll never forget this image!




This year is good for different reasons - and I'd call this year a good race, as opposed to describing last year as a good experience. Even the sprinter stages have provided ample excitement and Stage 13 with the echelons has to be a highlight. The media focusing on doping rather than the exciting racing has detracted from my enjoyment a bit though - but I guess it comes in the territory.

We will seen what Froome comes up with in the next few days.. but this is image I'm taking with me from the tour so far

mfin

It's been good to see Quintana this year, bad to see Contador, and a shame there's not been too much of a Green Jersey competition (purely as in the winning of it), but obviously really great to see Kittel, Greipel, Cav, Sagan all in the mix.

Personally I think this tour potentially bodes well for the next one. (hopefully we won't get some 'joke form' from Contador in 2014 as we've been spared it this year really and that's a good thing).

crescent

Definitely better than last year. I've not really been a fan of Sky but that is more to do with despising the brand rather than the team or its members, but I have warmed to them this year as they have seemed a lttle less machine-like. Froome has dominated and thoroughly deserves to win, especially taking a handful of stages into the bargain. It does take a bit of the excitement out of it though in terms of killing it as a competition. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was gutted after the first Pyrennean stage thinking that it was all over. As it turned out it wasn't quite a done deal, but give or take a couple of days there has been little to trouble him since then. I was a bit disappointed with stage 18 & 19. Yes, they were of epic proportions, and impressive individual victories but not really that dramatic in terms of GC, perhaps they were just built up too much.
For me, 2011 will take some beating.

argyllflyer

This has been a really good Tour. The jersey competitions have been interesting enough but the racing itself, in the main has been cracking. The day Sky fell apart was really good, the echelons flat stage was better and then we had the double Alpe d'Huez day which was also a corker.

The green jersey competition was probably the most predictable beforehand, though Sagan hasn't been as dominant as last year as he hasn't been getting the same volume of stage wins. Despite Carlton Kirby insisting, he doesn't see himself as a sprinter, so it's a bit unrealistic to think he's going to regularly kick Cav, Greipel and Kittel's backside in a straight flat sprint. There has been a lack of punchy stages to play into Sagan's hands but he's had the consistency to finish high enough on the sprint days and hang in long enough on the tougher stages to pick up more points. Kittel's recognition as being a top level sprinter is overdue; many of his results had been dismissed as being of no consequence prior to the Tour, despite beating decent opposition.

White wasn't settled until recently until Kwiatkowski had a bad day in the Alps. TJVG's poor form early on was unpredictable. Quintana being in a position to claim white is also unpredictable as Valverde wasn't expected to drop out of contention so quickly and he might not have been so high on GC otherwise.

Polkadot is a really difficult competition to predict because it often ends up in the hands of a breakaway specialist or someone who can climb that's not consistent and ends up low on GC, but Froome's 2 summit finish victories have skewed that. If he wins today, it's his. There are 21 points available for the break before that though, so I'd expect Riblon, Nieve and Rolland to try and get in the break - if they have the energy left.

Then yellow. Ok, Froome has delivered when he's had to. He's only lost time to a GC rival on two stages iirc: echelon day (Contador) and on Alpe d'Huez (Quintana). Maybe fearing a form slump in week 3, he was wise to make hay while the sun shone and take time while at his best. Ax 3 Domaines, Ventoux and the 2 time trials have won the tour for him as it stands. However, today has massive potential for a collapse, as he's looking weary. On the other hand, the four guys close to him might also be feeling it. Purito and Quintana seem freshest. If they all throw caution to the wind and collectively attack Sky from the start, they could turn the race on its head.

Will they do that? Or will their respective DS's be wary of lost podium spots? How will Sky respond to seeing big names racing off towards Annecy-Semnoz? Would they get any help in bringing them back? Maybe from the teams that want a break to succeed for KOM points - Euskaltel, AG2R, Europcar... I think today will be a cracker.

morstar

I've loved it. I genuinely don't understand why you couldn't have enjoyed it unless you don't ever enjoy the Tour.

Some of the jerseys have been pretty safe from pretty early on admittedly but despite this there has been plenty of good racing, plenty of attacks and plenty of sub-plots in most stages. We are at the final stage of actual racing and the spoiler thread is still full of if's, but's and maybes.

If this Tour has disappointed you, which ones haven't? There's very few where the result isn't pretty obvious quite early on!

The Giro being better argument is a valid opinion but my view of that is because you don't have the pinnacle of the sport on display. Racing is more open because you don't have everybody bringing their A game. I can see why the variances are appealing but the Tour represents the best of the best. Having said that, it's a pity Nibs and Wiggo aren't here.

argyllflyer

morstar wrote:

The Giro being better argument is a valid opinion but my view of that is because you don't have the pinnacle of the sport on display. Racing is more open because you don't have everybody bringing their A game. I can see why the variances are appealing but the Tour represents the best of the best. Having said that, it's a pity Nibs and Wiggo aren't here.

I didn't think a huge amount of this year's Giro. It was destroyed by the weather. Stages cut, stages not televised, no GC battle at all (well, in so far as Nibbles looked much more concrete than Froome does even right now, I can easily see CF cracking today if they do all attack), a very one-sided series of sprints... there were a few high points too but the Tour has delivered far more than it did, for a number of reasons.

Tom Butcher

For me it's been ok, about average as Tours go. Saxo have saved it by refusing to accept what looked inevitable - they could easily have ridden for second and third and that really would have killed the race as a contest. They also played a big part in the echelon stage so credit there.

Weighting the race so much towards the back end meant the first two weeks at times seemed like waiting for the main event to start but at least meant we could believe there might be a shake up right up until yesterday - so swings and roundabouts there.

Don't want to sound too negative - I've enjoyed it - but you always hope for a classic edition and by definition they only come along occasionally.

Agree it is looking promising for next year - the Froome-Contador rivalry is more established, Quintana should be a sole team leader and who knows maybe Nibali will be there too - that would be four genuine contenders and chances are one or two of the younger GC men may be in form or even a Wiggins, JRod, Heyesdal etc return to the kind of form that might see them challenging. We need some years where the big riders aren't serving doping suspensions to build up those rivalries over a number of races - it just adds to it if there is a bit more of a back story.

mike6

Loved every minute, as I do all TDF races. Worthy winner. Second win in a row for the new British team, doing it there own way and without drugs. Whats not to like.
I think that the tiredness of the riders in the last few days gives real hope that the powers are getting on top of the doping issues. The days of riders taking 5 and 6 minutes out of the rest on a single climb, or jumping attacks day after day are gone. For good I hope, we know it is not possible to recover that quickly. Its ok people complaining about the lack of attacking by the main contenders but fatigue is limiting factor. If you don't have the legs, you don't.

Roll on the Grand Depart in Yorkshire.

davidof

for my part ive watched every tour since the late 70s; some great tours with delgado, phil andersen, sean kelly, roche, lemond, hinault and many others.

I think they should get rid of race radios, put in some more giro like stages with unsurfaced climbs etc but have loved it. Im not a Froome fan but hes a good winner, or co winner with porte and kennaugh. Sky have not dominated so more unpredictable than with Wiggo. Ive enjoyed seeing some younger French riders come thru, hoping to see more of Romain Bardet. Riblon was a star and Rolland kept having a go. Great to see the Columbians back as well as the Dutch. The Spanish look pretty dominant in the top 10. Spanish win for the Veulta?

mididoctors

A good race. not as GCtastic as 2011 but froome was a lot closer to losing it than the 5mins would have you believe. so room for years of argument there over stage 9 and whether froome could have lost the jersey.

some good stages and good attitude. all obvious performances people have pointed out but in general the riders rose to the challenge and gave it a good go. a lot of teams underperformed or failed to show but plenty tried. BMC punched below their weight but tried a lot. nice to see the sprints shared about.

europacar were moronic at times and made poor use of what they had. feel sorry for thibout and fdj. just fell apart. Astana were poor. birdsong was just left to it on his own.

+marks for saxo and garmin really making a race of it at times along with quickstep/belkin. shame for them that the dutch challenge faded in the alpes.

the suffering on the alpe looking very convincing all round. the sharp end of that day took years off riders.
Young men at bottom where middle aged at the top

the structure of the race was good...tweak it here and there. shout out for the second technical hilly tt which was very successful at producing a close stage and decent spectacle.


the whole day on the alpe was pretty memorable as stages go. ...

overall not 1987 or 89 but a hell of a lot better than 2008, 2012, 2004, 2005 and a host of others

ok better or worse than 2011?... I would say better because it was more engaging the whole way through where as 2011 didn't come alive until the 3rd.