The 2014 Tour shall henceforth be known as the Tour de Zzzz

josame
josame Posts: 1,162
edited July 2014 in Pro race
True
'Do not compare your bike to others, for always there will be greater and lesser bikes'
«134

Comments

  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    edited July 2014
    It won't. First week saved it from that.

    First week was phenomenal, the rest has been dreadful bar yesterday with that lovely descent before the finish line and not 60km off it.. The stages with a mtf has been worse than the flat stages - imagine this scenario in the Vuelta with its 11 odd mtfs..
  • antsmithmk
    antsmithmk Posts: 717
    Have we had a drugs scandal yet?
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,104
    I was thinking it hadn't been bad. I mean no grand tour is going to be a classic when the favourites crash out early and one rider is pretty much unchallenged but that aside there's been enough interest in most of the stages the first week was excellent.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Think I've been watching a different race. Top spot has been disappointing in terms of a sporting contest but otherwise there has been some great racing.
    I hear this same thing every year. I genuinely don't know what people expect or why they watch. Or have I missed some ironic humour?
  • josame
    josame Posts: 1,162
    You're all fooling yourselves, ok the rainy cobbly stage was ok, hardly 2010 Giro St 7,
    but beyond that nope - bona fide yawnfest
    'Do not compare your bike to others, for always there will be greater and lesser bikes'
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    OK, challenge for you. Aside from '87 and '89, tell me which TdFs have been the best and explain how and why? Apart from those two, I really can't recall a genuinely close gc battle with a flip flopping lead. Most GC battles are pretty clear cut after the first mountains. I.e.by the first rest day.
    Frame of reference,'87 was the first Tour I followed.
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    The feeling before the Tour was that it was going to be a corker with a revitalised Contador and Froome. Losing those two has taken the gloss off it. Nibs has been unbeatable on every stage.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    Joelsim wrote:
    The feeling before the Tour was that it was going to be a corker with a revitalised Contador and Froome. Losing those two has taken the gloss off it. Nibs has been unbeatable on every stage.
    I think Cavendish has been a big loss to the general entertainment too. And I think Talansky would have done something without his crashes (podium).

    You can't knock His Nibs though. He's ridden the near perfect race.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • carbonclem
    carbonclem Posts: 1,784
    The jersey competitions have become neutered, but its still quite exciting to see the podium slots be battled for. Is it just me? :?
    2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    CarbonClem wrote:
    The jersey competitions have become neutered, but its still quite exciting to see the podium slots be battled for. Is it just me? :?
    The Green Jersey needs re-examination.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    RichN95 wrote:
    Joelsim wrote:
    The feeling before the Tour was that it was going to be a corker with a revitalised Contador and Froome. Losing those two has taken the gloss off it. Nibs has been unbeatable on every stage.
    I think Cavendish has been a big loss to the general entertainment too. And I think Talansky would have done something without his crashes (podium).

    You can't knock His Nibs though. He's ridden the near perfect race.

    But stuff like this always happens. Yes, the loss of the two biggest favourites is exceptional but what has been wrong with the racing in front of your eyes. Every year these complaints seem to appear. I don't get it on any plane other than people only remembering the exciting bits from previous tours.

    I recall watching many live mountain stages throughout the 90's and 00's where nothing has happened until about 3 or 4 K to go and thinking what a waste of a day. Not the case in this tour.

    Nostalgia's not all it's cracked up to be.
  • Coachb
    Coachb Posts: 68
    I have enjoyed it. Watching Valverde has been entertaining. He's trying everything /trick he can to get on the podium. Great fun watching Saxo ripping it up the last few days and the battle of the French. I would not be surprised to see Valverde attack at every chance he gets. Even Sunday.
    Not to bad considering.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Coachb wrote:
    I have enjoyed it. Watching Valverde has been entertaining. He's trying everything /trick he can to get on the podium. Great fun watching Saxo ripping it up the last few days and the battle of the French. I would not be surprised to see Valverde attack at every chance he gets. Even Sunday.
    Not to bad considering.
    Yeah, I don't like Valverde but cannot help but admire his canniness. Team are executing plans well and he is trying everything he possibly can to secure 2nd. I suspect it's paid off too.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    I rate it as memorable.
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    morstar wrote:
    But stuff like this always happens. Yes, the loss of the two biggest favourites is exceptional but what has been wrong with the racing in front of your eyes. Every year these complaints seem to appear. I don't get it on any plane other than people only remembering the exciting bits from previous tours.

    I recall watching many live mountain stages throughout the 90's and 00's where nothing has happened until about 3 or 4 K to go and thinking what a waste of a day. Not the case in this tour.

    Nostalgia's not all it's cracked up to be.
    But this year we have had one rider pretty much having it his own way before we even reached the Alps. Even without the two and a half minute advantage from the cobbles there wasn't anyone good enough to challenge him. It has been the Tour of what could have been rather than what has been.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • ocdupalais
    ocdupalais Posts: 4,317
    There's no such thing as a boring Tour... Or Giro... Or Vuelta: if you love cycling, that is. If you're a general sports fan - then maybe...
    The GTs are a cultural, geographical, meteorological, social and, ultimately, historical phenomenon that no other sporting event can compare with.

    Test cricket gets derided on the grounds that you can have a competition go on for days but end in a draw - as though that's an invalid outcome for a contest. Some of the greatest games of chess have ended in stalemate...
    If you want sport to be represented by a simple outcome then watch two people playing Paper Scissors Stone - Best of 3.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    RichN95 wrote:
    morstar wrote:
    But stuff like this always happens. Yes, the loss of the two biggest favourites is exceptional but what has been wrong with the racing in front of your eyes. Every year these complaints seem to appear. I don't get it on any plane other than people only remembering the exciting bits from previous tours.

    I recall watching many live mountain stages throughout the 90's and 00's where nothing has happened until about 3 or 4 K to go and thinking what a waste of a day. Not the case in this tour.

    Nostalgia's not all it's cracked up to be.
    But this year we have had one rider pretty much having it his own way before we even reached the Alps. Even without the two and a half minute advantage from the cobbles there wasn't anyone good enough to challenge him. It has been the Tour of what could have been rather than what has been.

    I accept that, but as I said earlier, the top spot is usually pretty evident by the first rest day and I am pretty confident the stats would prove that. Compared to what might have been, yes, maybe it's been disappointing for top spot but I argue it's very similar to most tours. The battle for 2nd spot however, has been top drawer.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,104
    I think what's been good about this race is that we haven't had a USPostal style train effectively neutralising the racing until the last few kms of every mountain finish.

    More recently Sky have done the same, OK not always with such success but this Tour the racing does seem to have been more between the GC men themselves than their domestiques on their behalf. Nibali has looked majestic, a class apart, but at least it's been Nibali putting the oppostion to the sword not Fuglsang (sp?), Scarponi or whoever.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • ocdupalais
    ocdupalais Posts: 4,317
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    More recently Sky have done the same, OK not always with such success but this Tour the racing does seem to have been more between the GC men themselves than their domestiques on their behalf. Nibali has looked majestic, a class apart, but at least it's been Nibali putting the oppostion to the sword not Fuglsang (sp?), Scarponi or whoever.

    Fuglsang did a fair amount of damage in some of the earlier stages. But fundamentally, the Sky number 1 and 2 domestiques have generally been seen as GT winners down the line (e.g. Froome, Porte and Kennaugh). I doubt that Movistar believe Jon Izaguirre or John Gadret are potential GT winners: or that Astana reckon Fuglsang or Scarponi have got what it takes to be anything other than great team men...
  • bikes`n`guns
    bikes`n`guns Posts: 959
    josame wrote:
    True


    get a mountain bike
    Trek,,,, too cool for school ,, apparently
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    If you just focus on the negatives you'll never enjoy anything.

    I've enjoyed it - so what if the top spot wasn't a contest, there's been a lot of movement further down the GC which has been interesting. I've enjoyed Majka's rides (particularly the panto villain winking and moto pull) and Pinot, for example.
  • oscarbudgie
    oscarbudgie Posts: 850
    You have to be objective and accept that the loss of Froome, Contador and Cavendish has stripped this Tour of a lot of its drama. Alright to say 'its great to see the podium fight' etc (which it is) but lets face it we all know its not what it coulda shoulda been. But its still a Grand Tour and better watching than anything else in the World.
    Cannondale Supersix / CAAD9 / Boardman 9.0 / Benotto 3000
  • ContrelaMontre
    ContrelaMontre Posts: 3,027
    morstar wrote:
    OK, challenge for you. Aside from '87 and '89, tell me which TdFs have been the best and explain how and why? Apart from those two, I really can't recall a genuinely close gc battle with a flip flopping lead. Most GC battles are pretty clear cut after the first mountains. I.e.by the first rest day.
    Frame of reference,'87 was the first Tour I followed.

    2003 was a good one.

    This year was better than last year.
    Rule No.10 // It never gets easier, you just go faster
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    oscarbudgie wrote:
    You have to be objective and accept that the loss of Froome, Contador and Cavendish has stripped this Tour of a lot of its drama. Alright to say 'its great to see the podium fight' etc (which it is) but lets face it we all know its not what it coulda shoulda been. But its still a Grand Tour and better watching than anything else in the World.

    Well yeah I would have preferred to see all the big names in it, but the fact is they aren't and I enjoyed it anyway.

    Some people seem to be unable to get past that and can't enjoy the racing that has gone on elsewhere.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    Being italian maybe I am a bit biased, but can we recall a yellow jersey attacking at the bottom of a HC climb?

    I think it has been a cracking tour... mostly due to ASO who finally listened and placed top finishes instead of a 200 km stage with Peyresourde-Aspin-Tourmalet and a bunch sprint in Pau. They also ditched the 100 Km of TT, which again was a good idea, given how easy minutes are gained and lost in time trials.
    left the forum March 2023
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,647
    It's been a pretty good tour. Lots of rough and tumble... yes Nibs has been clear out front, but by racing hard and cleverly. And there has plenty of other action to entertain. Sagan's inability to win despite locking up the green jersey. The KOM battle over the last few days has been decent. And the battle to get onto the the podium behind Nibs remains red hot...
  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,718
    I am on the side of those saying its been a good Tour.

    There are too many weeks of the year when bike racing isn't on to get grumpy when it is :)
    http://fendrieneu.home.blog
    My blog and pod...
    Beers of Belgium Cycling Club UK
  • Crozza
    Crozza Posts: 991
    ContrelaMontre wrote:
    morstar wrote:
    OK, challenge for you. Aside from '87 and '89, tell me which TdFs have been the best and explain how and why? Apart from those two, I really can't recall a genuinely close gc battle with a flip flopping lead. Most GC battles are pretty clear cut after the first mountains. I.e.by the first rest day.
    Frame of reference,'87 was the first Tour I followed.

    2003 was a good one.

    This year was better than last year.

    I recall 2011 being pretty exciting in the battle for top spot (even though we always kinda knew that Schleck was going to get humped in the TT)
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    I agree with most of the posters on here - I think it's been a good race with plenty of action. Yes, the winner was decided a long time ago, but he's still ridden brilliantly with a performance of real panache: 4 stage wins FFS!

    The battle for the podium has been great, the battle for the KoM has been good, you've had Gallopin's stage win, Martin's stage win, Bauer's nearly win, the cobbles and that's without thinking about the Depart in Yorkshire.

    All in all, I think that's a good 3 weeks entertainment.
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    ContrelaMontre wrote:
    morstar wrote:
    OK, challenge for you. Aside from '87 and '89, tell me which TdFs have been the best and explain how and why? Apart from those two, I really can't recall a genuinely close gc battle with a flip flopping lead. Most GC battles are pretty clear cut after the first mountains. I.e.by the first rest day.
    Frame of reference,'87 was the first Tour I followed.

    2003 was a good one.

    This year was better than last year.

    2003 - that would be Armstrong/Ullrich etc. When they were gone and it was Evans and Sastre, there were complaints it was dull. Contador vs Schlecks was 5 secs of rapid pedaling then Andy/Frank turning around to see where their sibling was or Andy complaining about riding a bike or dropping his chain. If Nibali had come off and only Froome or Contador had remained would it still be 'boring'. Nibs has ridden a perfect race/had fantastic luck. No mechanicals/punctures/crashes, he has ridden each stage at the front and it's up to the others to attack him. Cycling does have some long dull bits - that's how it is over 200km
    M.Rushton

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