Best design of a grand Tour.

[BlackWhiteEagle]

Which grand Tour (specific edition, lets say last 30 years)) do you think had the best route design?

 

[Ulle97]

2012 Tour was great. It gave the time trialists a chance, and had a good mix of mountain and mid mountain stages.

 

[Red Rick]

2012 Tour was great. It gave the time trialists a chance, and had a good mix of mountain and mid mountain stages.

This vexes my noodle.

 

[Red Rick]

Can't say much for pre-2007, but I don't imagine they were great with the insane amount of flat stages and low quantity of mountain stages.

For me it most it's between the 2008, 2011 and 2015 Giro's.

 

[Netserk]

What is the perfect Grand Tour?

Since we spend the last 2-3 months just about each year on discussions related to this topic, I think it would be interesting with a more general thread on the topic. What do we excpect, and what would make us satisfied. I can start with some ideas on what it would take for me to rate a GT route...

forum.cyclingnews.com

 

[Red Rick]

Oh sheet I forgot the 2010 Giro

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Giro 2016.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Not the best design but the 2009 Giro is my favorite because of its chaotic neutral design that‘s different from all the other Giri.
Just look at these stages:

A Stage 21 on the first weekend:

This was supposed to be a different stage but because of issues it became a 250k+ mountain weirdness:

>90 minute TT

Queen stage on mountains the Giro rarely visits:

Sub 90 k mountain stage where the MTF was intended to be 5 k longer:

Final mountain stage near Napoli:

Just a very weird 100th anniversary gift to the Giro.

 

[Red Rick]

Not the best design but the 2009 Giro is my favorite because of its chaotic neutral design that‘s different from all the other Giri.
Just look at these stages:

A Stage 21 on the first weekend:

This was supposed to be a different stage but because of snow it became a 250k+ mountain weirdness:

>90 minute TT

Queen stage on mountains the Giro rarely visits:

Sub 90 k mountain stage where the MTF was intended to be 5 k longer:

Final mountain stage near Napoli:

Just a very weird 100th anniversary gift to the Giro.

Wait what was the Pinerolo stage originally supposed to be?

That TT is still goated. I wanna see it again, pretty sure they'd go 10 minutes faster nowadays.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

„Originally mirrored on the stage Fausto Coppi won by an incredible 11 minutes in the 1949 Giro, stage 10 was meant to include the Colle della Maddalena, Col de Vars and Col d'Izoard, although it won't travel up any of these due to a combination of natural hazards (landslides) and a clash between Italian and French radio frequencies.“
From: https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-ditalia-2009/stage-10/preview/

 

[Red Rick]

„Originally mirrored on the stage Fausto Coppi won by an incredible 11 minutes in the 1949 Giro, stage 10 was meant to include the Colle della Maddalena, Col de Vars and Col d'Izoard, although it won't travel up any of these due to a combination of natural hazards (landslides) and a clash between Italian and French radio frequencies.“
From: https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-ditalia-2009/stage-10/preview/

Wasn't this also suppposed to be mirrored by the 2020 neutered Sestriere stage over Agnello, Izoard and Montgenevre?