Greatest year in the last decade.

[Netserk]

I've heard that before, but for me, 1980 was not the last year of the 1970's.

Think about it this way, which 10 years were included in the first decade?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Which stage do you think was the best? There were so many good stages in that Giro.

Aprica.

So you're saying that Mont des Allouettes, Mur de Bretange, Cap Frehel and to a lesser extent Super Besse and Lisieux weren't good finishes? Or at least that it is impossible for some one to like them?
Compared to the bloody borefest that is normally the first week of the tour it was a pretty good week to me

Super Besse was a very mediocre finish. Nice win for Rui, but no action behind. Cap Frehel didn't do it for me. Mont des Alouettes was only made exciting by crashes. It isn't impossible for someone to like them, but I think calling it a "really good first week" is quite egregious over-praise for a race where the sum total of GC action not caused by crashes in nearly two weeks was a TTT, 3 seconds gained by Evans on Mont des Alouettes and 15" or so separating contenders on Mûr-de-Brétagne. Awfully paced race, and the second week would be the biggest snoozefest in GT history if not for the second week of the 2009 Tour. And then, with one week remaining and almost all worthwhile great stages, what do they put on at the weekend? A sprint! Dreadful pacing. The 2011 Tour de France was a very good one week race. But that is all it was.

Aprica 06 too

Gardeccia '11...

 

[Eshnar]

Gardeccia '11...

Lol didn't even consider the chance that it might NOT be in the list. I didn't look for it and assumed it was.

 

[Roderick]

Aprica.

Super Besse was a very mediocre finish. Nice win for Rui, but no action behind. Cap Frehel didn't do it for me. Mont des Alouettes was only made exciting by crashes. It isn't impossible for someone to like them, but I think calling it a "really good first week" is quite egregious over-praise for a race where the sum total of GC action not caused by crashes in nearly two weeks was a TTT, 3 seconds gained by Evans on Mont des Alouettes and 15" or so separating contenders on Mûr-de-Brétagne.

There is more in GT's than only GC-racing. For me a stage isn't automatically better if there is a lot of GC-action. I really enjoyed the Cap Frehel finish. Cav beating Gilbert on a tough finish is far more entertaining than Cav winning his 145th flat stage by a mile. And of course the first week there were almost no gaps or battles between the GC-contenders, but that doesn't change the fact there were some good battles for the stages

 

[The Hitch]

Lol didn't even consider the chance that it might NOT be in the list. I didn't look for it and assumed it was.

I did say

I'd have Sestrieres 05, Pajares 05, Morzine 06, Aprica 10 and Fuente de all above it - all stages where the gc was decided.

Of course, Aprica 06 Gardeccia 2011, Saint-Amand-Montrond 2013 are also in the running, but I was just listing the gc showdown ones.

Think about it this way, which 10 years were included in the first decade?

There was no first decade. The year 1 was later imposed on what we now call year 1. Since we only joined the world 20 centuries later, it makes far more sense to go by the numbers and that's what most people do

The 1980s was a decade that began on January 1, 1980, and ended on December 31, 1989.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980's

 

[The Hitch]

There is more in GT's than only GC-racing. For me a stage isn't automatically better if there is a lot of GC-action. I really enjoyed the Cap Frehel finish. Cav beating Gilbert on a tough finish is far more entertaining than Cav winning his 145th flat stage by a mile. And of course the first week there were almost no gaps or battles between the GC-contenders, but that doesn't change the fact there were some good battles for the stages

There were 1 or 2 good battles but all consigned to the final minute or 2 as I recall. There was nothing particularly special about that first week as far as gts go. 2010 First week was better as it had the cobbles stage.

 

[Roderick]

There were 1 or 2 good battles but all consigned to the final minute or 2 as I recall. There was nothing particularly special about that first week as far as gts go. 2010 First week was better as it had the cobbles stage.

2010 was only the cobbles stage+ the semi-neutralised stage in the Ardennes. The other were pretty straight forward bunch sprints if I recall correctly. First week of '11 every stage was rather unpredictable. Ofcourse there was mostly only real racing the last 5k but at least there was a bit of suspense which you normally don't have in the first, bunchsprint-fested, week of the Tour

 

[Netserk]

There was no first decade. The year 1 was later imposed on what we now call year 1. Since we only joined the world 20 centuries later, it makes far more sense to go by the numbers and that's what most people do

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980's

If you think wiki is a good source, why not post from the relevant page?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decade

Distinctions

Although any period of 10 years is a decade,[1][2] a convenient and frequently referenced interval is based on the tens digit of a calendar year, as in using "1960s" to represent the decade from 1960 to 1969.[3][4] Often, for brevity, only the tens part is mentioned (60s or sixties), although this may leave it uncertain which century is meant. These references are frequently used to encapsulate popular culture or other widespread phenomena that dominated such a decade, as in The Great Depression of the 1930s.

Because the common calendar starts with year 1, its first full decade is the years 1 to 10, the second decade from 11 to 20, and so on.[5] So while the "2000s" comprises the years 2000 to 2009, the "201st decade" spans 2001 to 2010.

A decade may also refer to an arbitrary span of 10 years. For example, the statement "during his last decade, Mozart explored chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time", merely refers to the last 10 years of Mozart's life without regard to which calendar years are encompassed.

For decades of the 20th century, the term 'decade' often conjures not just a set of ten years but a distinct era roughly approximating those ten years - for example, the sixties often refer to events that took place between c. 1964 and 1972 and conjure memories of the counterculture, flower power and other things going on at the time.

 

[Ferminal]

Sella's Giro was phenomenally ridiculous entertainment. That said, I kind of favour 2010. The Tour was the weakest GT not by being the most boring, but by being the least exciting; the Vuelta had Eze's final hurrah, the Giro was the best GT in years and hasn't even come close to being beaten since, and David Arroyo nearly won it; Lombardia was won in horrific conditions, Freire won Sanremo, the last truly great win of my favourite sprinter (honourable mention to Djamolidine of course), Liège was a really good race; although Horner won it País Vasco was a brilliant race with double Aia (although it took me three years to get over Txurruka's crash on the descent that took away a first career win), Purito's emergence, Paris-Nice was a really strong race with Valverde, LuLu and Rodríguez challenging Contador, Sagan's emergence from obscurity but not yet having made himself thoroughly unlikable, Tondó's amazing solo win on the Col de Vence, Spilak's emergence in Romandie with the final stage over Ovronnaz with Valverde, Antón and Menchov (!) animating things; the downfall of Armstrong as a competitive racer, Igor Antón looking like the next superclimber, Fränk Schleck won a stage race GC in the ITT (!!!!!!), Carlos Sastre somehow podiumed a one-day race (and raced his last as a relevance), Samu podiumed (albeit in retrospect) the Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico was won and lost on bonus seconds on the final ceremonial flat stage, and the Worlds were way better than they had any right to be.

Was trying to remember more about 2010 and why it was rated so highly but this is true, and looks better with every passing year of Ardennes tripe we are served up.

 

[Arredondo]

Aprica.

I can live with that. Asolo was also nice. But Aprica because Basso took over the power for good that Giro.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I can live with that. Asolo was also nice. But Aprica because Basso took over the power for good that Giro.

It was also a heartbreaking stage because Arroyo was possessed by the ghost of the not-yet-dead Paolo Savoldelli, but unlike 2005 the story didn't get a happy ending.

But that descent was amazing and will define his career long after he's done.

 

[The Hitch]

A great 2010 -2011 era video (Eurosports official cycling advert for a year)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eytiRcBjO-E

Get chills as the encore hits with Samu punching the air