Best GT of 2013?

[Afrank]

The GT's are over, so now time to reflect on them (and yes the Vuelta's not over, but I doubt a sprint stage is going to make or break anyone's opinion of it, and if it does, just wait to vote).

So which was the best GT this year?


I look at what I liked best in each GT.

Giro: Had some great racing and I liked the winner immensely. But unfortunately it loses points for the parcours being damaged do to bad weather.

Tour: Some great racing here as well, exciting to watch Quintana attacking and getting white, KOM, and 2nd. But the Tour loses points for being far too predictable and the fight for the top step being essentially finished by Ax-3.

Vuelta: Sure, the Vuelta's excess MTF's, zero downhills, and all that stuff can get tiring. But got to admit, having so many MTF's does make for some good racing. Got action on pretty much every stage, even the sprinter stages with the sub-par sprinters field. And best of all had a continuous GC battle all the way to the end, finally concluding with an epic day of exciting racing up the slopes of Angliru.

For me, the Vuelta takes the title of best GT this year.

 

[nepetalactone]

This Vuelta was epic. Giro could have been, but the weather was just too gnarly. At the tour, Froome never kept us guessing, unfortuantely.

 

[darwin553]

Giro because at least Cadel was competitive.

 

[Jux1893]

La Vuelta. The only one not decided within the first week.

 

[JRanton]

Vuelta
Tour
Giro

 

[SafeBet]

Giro had the potential to be great and it was meh.
Tour had the potential to be meh and it was crap.
Vuelta had the potential to be good and it was good.

 

[rainman]

The Vuelta started a bit tame and got better and better as it went on. However too many riders were past their peak for the season and were very tired before Spain even began. Froome, Wiggins, Bertie, Quintana, Sagan didn't ride or any of the top sprinters. TDF still the main one for me.

 

[Red Rick]

La Vuelta for me, mainly because the overall outcome wasn't decided within the first week.

The Giro was the only one of which I did like that outcome though

 

[SKSemtex]

Vuelta. I loved it. GC fight, stage design, one ITT, bonifications, that OFQS, Lotto, Argos and they "chasing tactics" are not a factor here, prove that Skyborgs are not borgs afterall

only minus: not seeing Basso in Angliru

It looks like this pool proves that it does not metter what is the stage design, weather , which top names take part, as long we have the competitive GCs (but it hard to blame Froome for his dominance)

 

[jens_attacks]

1. VUELTA ...by very far....my favourite at the start won the race. nibali fought like a demon...it was awesome from start to finish. also the tv production was immensely improved, we've also seen amazing landscapes....

2.tour de france

3. giro d'italia

 

[EnacheV]

TdF by miles. Between a boring Barca - Bayern game and a spectacular Braga - Stuttgart game i would always pick the 1st

 

[LaFlorecita]

TdF by miles. Between a boring Barca - Bayern game and a spectacular Braga - Stuttgart game i would always pick the 1st

Really? Weird..

 

[Pricey_sky]

The Vuelta has been stunning. A great GC battle and even some of the flatter stages were interesting with T.Martin's great stage and Gilbert's attacking. I liked the Tour too as Quintana lit up the mountain stages along with Froome's crazyness on Ventoux/Ax-3. Unfortunately the weather ruined the Giro but even witht the cancelled stages it would have need to be epic to match the Vuelta.

1. Vuelta
2. Tour
3. Giro

 

[Anderis]

Vuelta, because it was the only one out of three which wasn't dominated by one rider in terms of GC.

Tour wasn't bad but it lacked a closer fight for the overall win and Giro was quite frustrating with all those cancelled and shortened stages and there was no threat for Nibali.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Vuelta, by far.

The other two were snoozefests. The Tour was garbage.

The Vuelta was decided by a legendary climb where the top 2 guys went in separated by 3 seconds. They were still together with only what, 3k left? Superb.

 

[Miburo]

TdF by miles. Between a boring Barca - Bayern game and a spectacular Braga - Stuttgart game i would always pick the 1st

Tour was boring as ****. Just like the giro.

Vuelta wins it again this year, it wasn't a superb GT but way better than the other 2 fails.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Giro: epic weather, too epic, which caused half the mountain stages being beheaded, and on top of that the battle for pink was boring because Nibali was so much stronger than the rest

TDF: Pretty epic racing in the mountains, but one could quickly see Froome was too powerful and again the race for the leaders jersey died out pretty soon. Battle for podium was still cool but in the end it makes the race end up 2nd in my 'best gt' list

Vuelta: simply the best gt this year, enjoyable mountain stages, great fight between 1-2 and also 3-4. Suprising winners, suprising flat stages, it was the most fun.

 

[jens_attacks]

i think in 2012 and 2010 it was pretty obvious what the great cyclingnews forum voted .

but what about 2011, can anyone find the poll?

 

[pmcg76]

Vuelta for me as well, just the fact that there were very few sprint stages would have swung it for me, but all the other highlights that people have mentioned already clearly rank it miles ahead of the Tour.

TBH, I wasn't that enthused about the Vuelta beforehand.

 

[LaFlorecita]

i think in 2012 and 2010 it was pretty obvious what the great cyclingnews forum voted .

but what about 2011, can anyone find the poll?

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=15265

Tour was most popular in 2011

 

[BigMac]

Giro was the best because of -sentence teleported to the clininc-

 

[hrotha]

I don't think it's fair to have this poll right after the Vuelta ended. People aren't going to be objective.

 

[jaylew]

Vuelta once again.

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Just for the descending skills of sir Wiggums I voted the Giro. That was just too funny, even more fun than this whole Vuelta a Espagna. Tour de Farce was done and dusted at the Bonascre stage, boring as usual.

 

[Ruby United]

I didn't find any as very exciting unlike the Vuelta or Giro last year for examples. I think the giro and tour was dominated too much yet not toooooooooooooooooo much (like Merckx, which is actually exciting) and the Vuelta should be taken to the clinic... A brilliant guy but 41??? I vote for Tour just because I'm British, but not great grand tours this year. )Vuelta was alright but see above...