2011 Tour in Review!

[jobiwan]

It's once again time to look back at another GT! A great one I'll say!

Some questions to consider:

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
Did the third week make up for the first two?
What was your favorite stage?
Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
What riders made the Tour special?
Who surprised you?
Who disappointed?

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
Who made the best stage preview??

And many more questions...

 

[Cobblestones]

I thought it was definitely one of the better editions.

No top marks because: (i) the early stages were tedious and (ii) the bunch sprints were too predictable (Cav and the HTC train were just too good).

 

[jobiwan]

I think I'll answer my own questions!

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
It puts the '09,'10 Tours to shame, probably close or equal to '07,'08. The Tour barely beat the Giro, IMO.

Did the third week make up for the first two?
The crashes made an unfortunate impact on the GC, but the third week was a good remedy!

What was your favorite stage?
Stage 18, For Obvious Reasons!!

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
I agree with Libertine's thoughts throughout July. The route was good, but the pacing was not.

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
I for one enjoyed the Green Jersey Competion, but the Polka was great too. I liked both of the changes.

What riders made the Tour special?
Andy, Frank, Cadel, Alberto, Philippe, Cav, Thor, EBH, Farrar, Tommy V, Tommy D, Hoogie, Roy...almost all of them!

Who surprised you?
Cadel, and it was a good surprise! Rolland, too!

Who disappointed?
Petacchi was a no-show, I don't know if he was injured??

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
Probably about 5!

Who made the best stage preview??
I honestly have to give Tuarts and Hitch a tie, Tuarts' Galibier thread and Hitch's Alpe thread were too close to call!!

 

[jens_attacks]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
one of the worst because of the crashes.worse than il giro

Did the third week make up for the first two?
2 absolute awesome stage,awesome andy,awesome alberto,voeckler and cadel but not.tour de france is about 3 weeks

What was your favorite stage?
andy's stage,contador stage with carnage 93 km to go and gap

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
it was a disgrace,worst route in history

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition?
points i guess.intermediate sprints are brilliant

What riders made the Tour special?
contador,andy,voeckler,rolland,phil.

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
we'll see next year.andy should prepare it a lot better to stand any chance

Who made the best stage preview??
there were all good.

 

[The Hitch]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?

I think it was about the same as the Giro. I enjoyed the Giro for different reasons, and the 3rd week of the Tour owns, but since i was supporting Samu i was ****ed off for the first week, stressed for the second and disappointed in the third


Did the third week make up for the first two?
No. Samu didnt recover from the first one hence no

What was your favorite stage?
14

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Much better than previous parcors

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
Battle for combativity prize. Voeckler vs Roy vs Hoogerland vs Contador

What riders made the Tour special?
ALBERTO CONTADOR

Thomas Voeckler, Samu Sanchez, Jelle Vanendert, Andy Schleck.

Who surprised you?
Andy attacked from 60k out. Cadel attacked (well kind of)
Contador attacking pretty much as the flag came down on stage 19.

Who disappointed?
ASO thieves.
Frank Schleck.

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by!
6.

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

It was really good as a one week race. For three weeks, not so much.

 

[ElChingon]

Less whining and less hugging would of moved it to a 9.

 

[Carols]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
Giro was much better!

Did the third week make up for the first two?
No it simply saved it from being a total loss.

What was your favorite stage?
16-a semi on form Contador finally made them ride!

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Yes

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
Sprints. Yes it livened each stage up much earlier.

What riders made the Tour special?
Tommy V, Contador, Andy, Evans, with a special mention for Thor winning the Aubisque

Who surprised you?
Evans, Tommy V and Rolland

Who disappointed?
Contador but I'll cut him some slack considering the Giro and his condition and bad luck in the first 2 weeks.

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
5+

Who made the best stage preview??
They were all great

 

[hfer07]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?

I think it was about the same as the Giro. I enjoyed the Giro for different reasons, and the 3rd week of the Tour owns, but since i was supporting Samu i was ****ed off for the first week, stressed for the second and disappointed in the third


Did the third week make up for the first two?
No. Samu didnt recover from the first one hence no

What was your favorite stage?
14

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Much better than previous parcors

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
Battle for combativity prize. Voeckler vs Roy vs Hoogerland vs Contador

What riders made the Tour special?
ALBERTO CONTADOR

Thomas Voeckler, Samu Sanchez, Jelle Vanendert, Andy Schleck.

Who surprised you?
Andy attacked from 60k out. Cadel attacked (well kind of)
Contador attacking pretty much as the flag came down on stage 19.

Who disappointed?
ASO thieves.
Frank Schleck.

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by!
6.

very good questionnaire to have its own thread

 

[jobiwan]

And does anyone have any favorite pictures from the Tour? I actually enjoy photos more than reports!

I've actually got 2 favorites, the first one should come as no surprise!

But this one is pure gold!

 

[hfer07]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?

Past Tours? going back to the late 80's-Giro? still behind

Did the third week make up for the first two?

It did-but in all fairness-the first one was exiting except for the crashes

What was your favorite stage?

18 & 19 without a doubt

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?

yes- but I still want two long ITT & one more MTF

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?

the White jersey was exciting & the changes seem to work better

What riders made the Tour special?

Contador, TVoeckler & Rolland

Who surprised you?

Rolland

Who disappointed?

the Schleck brothers & whoever was giving advice/tactics

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?

5 plus

Who made the best stage preview??

not you-at least

another suggested question:
who was the biggest whiner of this tour?

 

[jobiwan]

another suggested question:
who was the biggest whiner of this tour?

Hey, don't make me answer that one!

 

[jsem94]

Some questions to consider:

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
Beats the last two tours for sure. On par with this years Giro, it was rather uninteresting because Contador was too dominant.

Did the third week make up for the first two?
In a way. It was Giro 10 all over again, but it was extremely boring I remember up until the third week.

What was your favorite stage?
Galibier or Alpe.

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Not enough mountains in the first half, but what do you do - the riders make the race. It wasn't a terrible parcour - the alp stages were great in profile and riding.

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
Polka-dots was definitely an improvement. MTFs giving good amounts of points and reducing risk of Rasmussen/Virenque style attack-to-win-polkadots-rides.

What riders made the Tour special?
Hushovd. Gilbert. Voeckler. Vanendert. Rolland

Who surprised you?
Rolland, Voeckler, Vanendert

Who disappointed?
Petacchi, Katusha. Lots of riders who crashed, but not their fault.

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
2 minutes-ish to Evans.

Who made the best stage preview??
Gotta give it to Tuarts.

 

[Jeanne]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours?
Voted 8. The first week was lame and all those crashes, just nooo. The second week was not really better, just not so much crashes anymore. The third week was great!

What was your favorite stage?
My favorite stage was by far 18.

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
I'd say the parcours were ok for a GT, as far as I can judge that

What riders made the Tour special?
Cadel and Bertie because they were riding like true champs in my eyes, Andy because of his great solo-trip, Thor and Voeckler for defending the MJ best possible, again Voeckler for adding an unforseeable component, Hoogie for his bravery after the horror-crash, Tony Martin for his great ITT, and of course my favorite riders Jensi and Sylvain because I generally enjoy to see them race, working hard and give their best!

Who surprised you?
Voeckler & Cadel, Rolland winning on Alpe d'Huez.

 

[Walkman]

It's once again time to look back at another GT! A great one I'll say!

Some questions to consider:

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?

Hard to say. I didn't really enjoyed it fully since I was a bit nervous about Evans. Though I think it was probably the best since 2007. It could have been much better though, if they would have had som MTF:s earlier in the race and some of the hilly stages later. Definitely bettre than the Giro though, since that was a one mans show, and because of the CAS hearing and all that.

Did the third week make up for the first two?

Yes, almost. But I didn't thought that the first two weeks were that much of a snoozfest.

What was your favorite stage?
Stage 4, 16, 18, 19 and 20 were all great! But if I only can pick one it would be the 18 since Evans won le Tour there.

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?

Yes, I think! Throw in a 40-50 km flat ITT and put some of the mountain stages a bit earlier and put the hilly finishes in the second week and the parcours would be perfect. But this one was pretty good too!

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?

As Hitch stated:

Battle for combativity prize. Voeckler vs Roy vs Hoogerland vs Contador


What riders made the Tour special?

Evans, Gilbert, Hushovd, Roy, Schleck, Contador (even thought I don't like him) , Rolland and Voeckler.

Who surprised you?

Pierre Rolland, what a ride! And Voeckler too!

Who disappointed?

Gesink, though he had some bad luck with crashes. But it would have fun to see what he could have done!

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?

Don't know, don't care.

Who made the best stage preview??

Hitch is always really great in that department but this time he got some stiff competition from Tuarts so I have to say it's a tie between them. Keep up the good work boys!

 

[phanatic]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
43rd. <.

Did the third week make up for the first two?
Definitely, it worked very well for the 2008 rematch of Cadel v Schlecks

What was your favorite stage?
4. PG lost, Evans wins, Contador sprints(!) and loses. (no hate)

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Sure, see first question.

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
stage wins. n/a Did you see Rolland crack the great one: oh snap!

What riders made the Tour special?
Evans especially, because two legs are better than four.

Who surprised you?
Voeckler. I thought he might try for top ten, but wow.

Who disappointed?
Luck. (C'est la vie- amirite?) The absence of so many top ten contenders made the ranking much less meaningful this year and the racing really seems to have been worse for it. The top 8 were never threatened.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
Best in years. Better than this year's Giro.

Did the third week make up for the first two?
I enjoyed the first 2 also.

What was your favorite stage?
Andy's stage and Cav's win on Stage 5.

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Yes, of course.

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
Green. A great battle, all the way to Paris.

What riders made the Tour special?
Voeckler, Hoogerland, Cav, Roy, Gilbert.

Who surprised you?
Voeckler, Hushovd, Rolland, Griepel

Who disappointed?
Andy


How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
As many as he wanted to win by.

Who made the best stage preview??
The Hitch's are pretty epic, in fairness.

 

[El Pistolero]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
Only 2007 was better of the recent Tours. Better than all Giro's I've ever seen.

Did the third week make up for the first two?
Yes

What was your favorite stage?
Stage 19. I was soo surprised Contador attacked so soon, but at the same time I predicted he would try something crazy.

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Yes, one of the better ones. Only an extra time trial and early mountain stage was needed.

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
Philippe Gilbert. No, they were horrible except for the KoM.

What riders made the Tour special?
Alberto Contador and Gilbert

Who surprised you?
Jelle Vanendert and Andy Schleck

Who disappointed?
Andy Schleck

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
14 minutes if he tried for real. Too slow up the mountains this Tour, bit of a joke.

Who made the best stage preview??
Never read those things

 

[The Hitch]

Who made the best stage preview??
Gotta give it to Tuarts.

On to my ignore list.

Who made the best stage preview??
The Hitch's are pretty epic, in fairness.

On to my friends list.

Who made the best stage preview??
Never read those things

It shows in your posts.

 

[icefire]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
I didn't follow the Tour closely between 1994 and 2008. This one has been better than 2009 and 2010.
Did the third week make up for the first two?
No. This encourages ASO to follow the same pattern for future editions.
What was your favorite stage?
16, 18 and 19
Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
We had 11 days where nothing relevant to GC happened, other than crashes. I find hard to say that's suitable to a GT.
What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
I just care about GC and stage wins
What riders made the Tour special?
Anyone who attacked without looking behind. Trek must be thinking about adding rearview mirrors to their 2012 models.
Who surprised you?
Voeckler, Rolland
Who disappointed?
Basso

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
No more than 2
Who made the best stage preview??
All were good but we should not make a contest of it. I could start with the Vuelta stage previews right now to get the price

 

[King Of The Wolds]

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition?
Philippe Gilbert.

The Phillipe Gilbert jersey. Won by Phil himself, presumably.

 

[karlboss]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
Much better than the last 3 at least, Giro 2010 was better. How far back do we go? Doubt it will go down as one of the great tours (unless you're australian), one great week does not make a great tour.

Did the third week make up for the first two?
Week 1 stages 1-7 the finishes were exciting, but the stages were not. Week 2 stages 8-14 Stages 8, 9 and 13 were interesting, but after waiting so long for a GC shake up 12 and 14 were super disappointing. Week 3 stages 15-21 Enough has been said.

What was your favorite stage?
19 certainly kept me interested longer than the others. GC riders attacking almost 100km from home honourable mention goes to 13, non climber attacks on an uphill so he can defend and win downhill, just brilliant.

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Would have been nice to see a long time trial in week 1. To remind the Schlecks they can't time trial and need to attack in the Mountains.

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
KOM as Sanchez won. I thought they were largely irrelevant, I don't think they really changed how the race was raced. For example it was nice to see a real climber win, but there was no encouragement to actually target the jersey.


What riders made the Tour special?
Same guys as all others Evans, Schleck, Contador, Sanchez, Rolland, Voekler

Who surprised you?
Rolland, rider of the tour for me. Faithful domestique and when given the chance, took it.

Who disappointed?
Some guy driving a TV car, just ridiculous.

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
Less than he won the Giro. Tour mountains are less steep and the TT was longer.


Who made the best stage preview??
Hitch Galibier.

 

[LastDamnation]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
Ranked pretty well among recent ones, although I didn't really have anyone to root against (at least not at the end ). Better than the Giro which was dominated too much by Contador (enjoyed rujano and anton wins though).

Did the third week make up for the first two?
Yes.

What was your favorite stage?
19, can't remember the last stage which was edge of seat stuff for so long.

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Yes, like everyone else I'd have changed a few things but happy with the route.


What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these
competitions work?
I liked the green jersey competition, even though it became clear cav would win.


What riders made the Tour special?
Voeckler


Who surprised you?
Evans, Vanendert

Who disappointed?
French TV, Phil Liggett, Bruyneel

How many minutes would a fresh Contador have won by?
1.30

Who made the best stage preview??
Who cares, they all paled in comparison to Hitch's crostis preview

 

[mortand]

Where does this Tour rank among past Tours? Compared to the Giro?
It ranks high, probably the best since 2007. I enjoyed it more than the Giro, which faded fairly early in my mind - almost too grandiose for its own good.

Did the third week make up for the first two?
The third week was fabulous, no doubt about it. But I enjoyed the first two weeks too. Well, at least quite a few moments of the first two weeks.

What was your favorite stage?
Obviously stages 18 and 19. Feisty! Favorite 'joker' stage was stage 10 to Carmaux. I loved how the six-man Lotto used a simple category 4 climb to split the peloton. The final 25-30 minutes of that stage was tremendous fun!

Were the parcours suitable to a GT?
Since the race went on for three weeks I'll assume it was suitable. 11 'intermediate' stages before the GC action were probably too many, but it somehow kept my interest anyway. I would have loved an echelon stage or two, but you can't really blame the parcours for the inopportune wind (directions). The bumpy, rolling terrain made the sprints more varied and challenging, fortunately.

What was your favorite Non-GC Competition? Did the changes in these competitions work?
I liked the idea of putting more emphasis on the intermediate sprints. Coupled with aforementioned challenging sprint finishes it kept the point competition fairly interesting for at least a couple of weeks. I liked the white jersey competition too. Good fun to see the jersey switch rider so often.

What riders made the Tour special?
Thor Hushovd was magnificent. The 2011 version of Thomas Voeckler was a joy to watch. As a person who's got a strange sympathy for French cycling, it was a pleasure to follow the 'comeback' of the French GC rider.

Who surprised you?
See above. And Damiano Cunego. Sure, he was quite anonymous, but I wasn't really expecting a top 10 finish. I was just happy he wasn't spat out the back even in the medium mountains. Obviously I didn't see Jelle Vanendert break through as a high mountain conqueror. Hills, sure, but not HC climbs. Good for him, though, and great for Belgian cycling after JVDB's unfortunate exit. And Cadel of course! I'm so happy for him - I thought his GT GC podium days were over.

Who disappointed?
I don't know to be honest. There wasn't any major failure, if you ignore injuries, crashes, wear and tear, etc.

 

[mr. tibbs]

And does anyone have any favorite pictures from the Tour? I actually enjoy photos more than reports!

*snip*

Now you're singing my song.