2nd at Le Tour vs 1st at Il Giro.

[The Hitch]

Eddu says Ajndy should do the Giro, winning it would be better than 2nd at Tour.

I am obviously strongly in the camp that the Giro is way more prestigious than a Tour podium.

But what do you think?

Edit, could a mod change "the Giro" to "Il Giro".

Yeah I know its pedantic.

 

[Parrulo]

obviously winning the giro

is that even up to discussion?

 

[gustienordic]

obviously winning the giro

is that even up to discussion?

I know that riders race the Tour different then they do for the Giro or Vuelta, but I see all 3 as the same level of prestige, the difference is the type of rider that can win. It saddens me that the Vuelta is not more heavily raced as I think it could be a much more exciting race. The Giro is my favorite though; its a more fun race to watch than the Tour.

 

[roundabout]

A win is a win is a win.

Well as long as the Giro is up to recent standard.

10 years or so back I would have chosen a different option

 

[karlboss]

Today I would definitely say the win in the Giro, but In the Armstrong Ullrich days, I regarded Ullrich as the second best GT rider and I don't think I'd hear too much argument.
from 96 (ullrich 2nd place) Winners of the Giro, Rominger, Tonkov, Gotti, Pantani, Gotti, Garzelli, Simoni, Savodelli, Simoni, Cunego, Savodelli, Basso

Rominger and Pantani are standouts, but in general I'd have rated 2nd place in the tour as a better rider than the winners here.

 

[hfer07]

At last Eddy is making sense & We hope for the sake of Andy Schleck's future-he can somehow persuade the Younger Lux boy to try other races "& win them" nonetheless, so he can get a taste of victory & therefore can reboot his approach to cycling with a different vision.

PS. I dislike Andy Schleck's current riding style- It doesn't mean he can't change it-just ask Evans

 

[movingtarget]

I can't see Schleck making the podium next year at the TDF. Not with two individual TT's and the route involved. It makes perfect sense to ride the Giro which he would have a better chance of winning.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Amongst the die hard fans: il giro
Amongst the casual fans: 2nd at le tour.

 

[gregrowlerson]

I think that more often than not, the 2nd placed rider at the Tour is a better GT GC rider than the one that wins the Giro. Despite that, I believe that it would mean more to Andy to win the Giro - perhaps because he already has 3 seconds at the Tour (4 in all GT's with his other one in the Giro). I think that 2nd in the Tour is generally more conclusive proof of a riders abilities than a Giro win, however a victory in the Giro is probably better on the palmeres.

I rate Andy a little like Jan; for in 2010 I rate him higher than Basso, though some may disagree. And it would be interesting to hear views on who was better out of Menchov '09 Giro vs. Schleck '09 TDF? For me they would be similar.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I'm of the opinion that a vuelta win is bigger then a podium also, but that is just me.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Amongst the die hard fans: il giro
Amongst the casual fans: 2nd at le tour.

amongst italians giro is often a much bigger deal then tour anyway. They love thier own race. In a global sense tour is a big deal of course.

Funny, I remember this italian traveller i spoke to recently he told me that cycling basically sucks including tour, yet the giro is awesome. Go figure

 

[gregrowlerson]

I agree with you on this. For instance in tennis you wouldnt here people saying a runner-up in wimbledon is better than winning the french, US or australian open. The problem in cycling is it is too much geared and marketed to the tour which as a result is the only event your casual fan watches.

There is no comparison to be had here as the best tennis players can and do peak for all 4 grand slams, whilst many of the best GT riders can and do only peak for the TDF. Wimbledon is of course the most prestigious, but a Wimbledon champion is not necessarily better than a winner of any other slam. In fact in more recent times it is probably more difficult to win the French Open given that more players like and specialise on the clay surface than grass.

 

[Quixote]

For Andy, another second in le tour would be painful...but of course he's not thinking second going into it. I have another hypothetical: Would it be the worst case senario if Andy committed to il Giro and came in second?

 

[ElChingon]

If Andy gets enough 2nd's and 3rd's at le Tour and wins it one day (hypothetical win), he'll still be remembered for his misses than one win. Sure they'll say he finally won it but they will prefix that with the loses.

Yea, the hypothetical 2nd at il Giro would be a major face palm or double face palm.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

I am sometimes suprised that this is even a question but i know where its coming from so winning II Giro is more important.

 

[greenedge]

If he wins the TDF at least once and comes repeatedly 2nd i would say 2nd at the TDF. However he has not won at the Tour yet so I would for the moment say the Giro wold be more prestigious. That's why i voted for the 1st at the Giro. I do agree with@Greg/@Karlboss ( though Basso is unlucky to have not won a TDF and if only because of his talent i would consider him to be with Pantani and Romminger ) that most of the time the rider who finishes 2nd at the TDF is better than the rider who finished first at the Giro. Except for this year when Contador came 1st at the Giro and Shleck 2nd at TDF. I still rank Contador higher.

 

[karlboss]

For Andy, another second in le tour would be painful...but of course he's not thinking second going into it. I have another hypothetical: Would it be the worst case senario if Andy committed to il Giro and came in second?

He'd still have time to turn it around and come 2nd at the TDF as well.

 

[LaFlorecita]

For Andy, another second in le tour would be painful...but of course he's not thinking second going into it. I have another hypothetical: Would it be the worst case senario if Andy committed to il Giro and came in second?

Um...Yes. He might even get some sort of trauma.

 

[Quixote]

He'd still have time to turn it around and come 2nd at the TDF as well.

And after that, I'm guessing, a second in la vuelta would be poetic.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Andy bashing has started again

 

[airstream]

Winning in the Giro is more prestigious, but getting the 2nd in the Tour is harder. The TdF concentrates the contention in a crazy way because of what for me, Evans [even before his victory] or Andy always were stronger riders, than Heras or Simoni. It's interesting to see some rider, who proved himself in the Giro (Vuelta) before then, making his debut in the Tour. It is often accompanied with cracking at the first HC climb.

 

[bicycle_rack]

Second is the last loser.

 

[Eshnar]

Giro winner --> 1 win
Tour runner up --> 0 win

hence, Giro winner>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Tour runner-up

 

[Eshnar]

Funny, I remember this italian traveller i spoke to recently he told me that cycling basically sucks including tour, yet the giro is awesome. Go figure

Oh, it is absolutely true

 

[Mellow Velo]

Winning in the Giro is more prestigious, but getting the 2nd in the Tour is harder. The TdF concentrates the contention in a crazy way because of what for me, Evans [even before his victory] or Andy always were stronger riders, than Heras or Simoni. It's interesting to see some rider, who proved himself in the Giro (Vuelta) before then, making his debut in the Tour. It is often accompanied with cracking at the first HC climb.

As opposed to riders who sat out the Giro and concentrated their total effort towards the Tour.
That's why the double is so, so difficult in the modern era.
Look no further than Evans in 2010 and Contador, this season.
Potentially the two strongest GT riders in the world, who were not strong enough at these respective Tours.
This makes your evaluation an assumption.