There was also the Loures stage. And the fact that the main GC differences before gap were a stage 1 crash and a TTT.
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The biggest issue earlier was that the fact we were waiting so long for something to sort the contenders from the pretenders (there was no TT, no real mountains until stage 12, and the weather didn't play ball in the stages it could have changed things) meant that everybody still had something to protect, and it was very nervous up front as a result. Like, almost everything I remember about the first two weeks of that race are crashes. Even what was probably the best stage of the first two weeks of it, stage 5, was like a demolition derby.
Perhaps if they'd had the longer run-in to Super-Besse like the 2008 stage rather than cutting the corner off and making it a short punchy finish on wide roads it might have worked better, but most of the contenders were either still on their TTT times or on hospital beds by the time we finally got to the Pyrenees...
And then they had a flat stage on the penultimate weekend just to spite me further
The 2011 Tour is far from the worst GT of the last 10 years. It's one I thought ASO had planned to make a one-week race and despite the péloton's best intentions, ASO succeeded in making it a one-week race. Thankfully, it was a very good one week race.
Completely agree, it's not the great gt some claim but it's status as overrated has led to more people picking it as their hurt option than it deservesThe biggest issue earlier was that the fact we were waiting so long for something to sort the contenders from the pretenders (there was no TT, no real mountains until stage 12, and the weather didn't play ball in the stages it could have changed things) meant that everybody still had something to protect, and it was very nervous up front as a result. Like, almost everything I remember about the first two weeks of that race are crashes. Even what was probably the best stage of the first two weeks of it, stage 5, was like a demolition derby.
Perhaps if they'd had the longer run-in to Super-Besse like the 2008 stage rather than cutting the corner off and making it a short punchy finish on wide roads it might have worked better, but most of the contenders were either still on their TTT times or on hospital beds by the time we finally got to the Pyrenees...
And then they had a flat stage on the penultimate weekend just to spite me further
The 2011 Tour is far from the worst GT of the last 10 years. It's one I thought ASO had planned to make a one-week race and despite the péloton's best intentions, ASO succeeded in making it a one-week race. Thankfully, it was a very good one week race.
Sure, but no one's heal and hurt happen in a vacuum. It makes sense to focus on countering the votes you disagree with. I mean, I get it that the 2014 Tour wasn't the very best, but worse than the 2014 Giro? The current score is absurd.
Exactly yeah. I thinkt here's a few Vuelta's that were just okay but nothing special that escape a lot of scrutiny because of it, and because they never got super hyped in the first place. Same is true for the 2019 Giro as well.
There was nothing good about the 2014 Tour apart from the cobbled stage. Which in turn was the best GT stage of the decade. So it's tricky. The route was quite good, but for a non-Nibali fan, the GC racing was incredibly dull and for a Sagan fan the race was just one long parade of frustrations.
The fact that most Vueltas aren't exactly bad but just very forgettable does indeed seem to help them in this ranking.
I think many people like it for the fact that, despite being dominated by one rider, it was the last Tour to this day where the mountain stages were raced completely uncontrolled. On every mtf Nibali would just take off whenever he felt like it and behind him Pinot/Peraud/Valverde/Bardet/TJVG would battle it out for the remaining podium places and whoever was strongest gained time that day. No trains, no tacitcal shenanigans, just climber vs climber, mano a mano.
2014 Vuelta was the clash of the titans. Froome and Contador both after crashing out of the TdF. It was the one time we really saw them both hit their peak and battle and neither fatigued from the Tour. You had Nairo not understanding how hos
The surprise of Contador’s resurgence after his crash at the TdF. Froome hitting full-alien mode in the 3rd week but without his team. Valverde and Purito’s battle for the 3rd spot on the podium. It didn’t feature Los Machucos or the Angliru, bit it had some tough muritos.
There is a fair bit of pro Giro anti Tour sentiment on the forum. Also, as far as 2014 goes, people are forever wondering what might have been (about both races, but more so the Tour).
Tbh, it's just me being biased towards Ecuador and Carapaz. It has been kind of a feel good Giro for me, altough I know that apart from this it was just Nibali and Roglic marking each other.
I just like it for the last 50km+ ITT in the Tour tbh. Nah but it had a pretty simple but just solid route.
To be honest I don't think most Vuelta's have been forgettable. I think there's 2018 and maybe 2019, but that's it. 2019 was really good in the 3rd week too with easy mountain stages getting attacks from 2 climbs out and some crazy echelon action as well. Yeah the GC wasn't close but that's the only thing against it really.
Also, the Vuelta basically got really lucky the biggest would-be snorefest of all had Contador retiring and thus taking the piss with agression every single day.
Lol yeah. I wasn't expecting it to be out first but I was also expecting to never get healed.
Overall no Vuelta has been terribly bad, most have been really close and open till very late. What I mean with forgettable is that we don't usually remember most individual stages.
I think with the Tour and the Giro I could give you a list of all big mountain stages of the last decade with a short summary of what happened offthe top of my head. With the Vuelta, I can't. Like, 2011 had the Angliru and Pena Cabarga late in the race. One is where Cobo surprisingly took the lead, the other was the one where Froome almost took it from him again. Aside from that though? Like, I know there were tons of mtf's before that and there are some glimpses I can remember, but overall, no idea what happened. And that's not just a 2011 thing. That's an issue I have with most Vueltas.
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