Half way through, what do you think of it so far.

[Anonymous]

And no, you cant give it ten out of ten on the basis that Lance got dropped. That was wonderful, but shouldnt be the basis for scoring.

 

[ericthesportsman6]

I gave it a 7. Too many people are comparing it to this year's Giro, and if you look at it like that, you'll think this race sucks. But I thought the level of aggression, especially on the Madeline stage, has been great. There's lots of young talent, crashes, drama, and we have a close race between two riders who aren't afraid of taking risks. The race for third will also be fun. Best tour (so far) in years.

 

[jaylew]

Are we rating it against other Tours?

 

[hughmoore]

Ive loved it, unfortunately crashes to Armstrong and Evans has reduced the drama.

Would be better to have them still in contention up until Tourmalet.

 

[the vagabond]

I like it a lot more this year than last! - I'd give it 8/10 for the first 12 stages. The big time bonuses of several years ago (20-12-8-ish) were too much but I would still like to see 6-4-2 on mountaintops at least if not all stages - would make for more aggressive riding in the last 5 km. The team time trial isn't really very fair and having that gone generally makes the tour better - if they want to throw it in every five years with 2 years' notice, OK. Would like to see long 4-6 man TTT in the Oympics (as in olden days) or even in the World's, with country vs. country.

One long transfer (at the end) and a few short transfers makes a lot more sense than a bunch of medium transfers - there is a more pronounced geographical bunching this year that I like.

Quality of riders is higher, tactics are better, stages are better - definitely an excellent Tour so far.

 

[erader]

Are we rating it against other Tours?

rated againt previous TDF's i give it an 8.5 - 9. it's been an excellent and exciting race so far.

ed rader

 

[Ferminal]

8.

Good race so far, but could still go down.

 

[Bennyl]

I would give an 8 so far, but I would like to add that it has the potential to drop to a 5 or 6 by the end. Forgetting my disappointment of seeing Cadel injured again, the Cobbles stage was excellent viewing, the two mountains stages were also fantastic, with the Andy and AC battle actually looking legitimate for once.

I am comparing this to previous Tours, not the Giro as it does not compare.

The pros so far - even though I haven't been able to stand him up till now, watching Vino ride and wondering 'is he riding for himself' or 'wow, is he actually supporting a teammate?' has been facinating.

The performance of the French. I remember a few years ago having very few french winners at the tour. good to see them riding well.

the Schleck and AC battle. I hope Andy has time over AC at the time trial so we can have some interest there.

The cobbles - an out and out brilliant stage. Andy's objection to this stage is quite annoying. it was brilliant, your brother is not with you, get over it.

The cons - the race seemingly now between just 2 riders so early. I thought we had more contenders, but they have been eliminated too soon.

- although we have a few sprinters in contention, the actual sprint finishes have been fairly boring, with the winner fairly obvious too far from the line. some close sprint finishes would be good.

- Radioshack. The fact that Levi as their leader is boring in itself. Lance should not have given up after his third supposable 'crash'. The team lacks creativity and spark.

- Cadel crashing out. i believe fully fit, he is the rest of the best and would have kept up with at least the Levi group going up Madeliene (and he would have helped to drive it unlike levi).

 

[hughmoore]

- Cadel crashing out. i believe fully fit, he is the rest of the best and would have kept up with at least the Levi group going up Madeliene (and he would have helped to drive it unlike levi).

It would interesting as whether AC and Shrek would have attacked if Cadel was not injured. It seems that his difficulty was the spark for the attack.

Obviously we will never know, but food for thought.


Hugh

 

[Bennyl]

It would interesting as whether AC and Shrek would have attacked if Cadel was not injured. It seems that his difficulty was the spark for the attack.

Obviously we will never know, but food for thought.


Hugh

not sure whether Andy is that ugly.. but yes, i totally agree. he dropped to the back, and then they decided to shred the peleton. i think they would have held off until the last 10kms after the section where Madeliene flattened out a bit. only speculation though.

 

[SpartacusRox]

Ive loved it, unfortunately crashes to Armstrong and Evans has reduced the drama.

Would be better to have them still in contention up until Tourmalet.

Agree, though I don't think the Evans crash had much, if anything to do with him cracking.

There is always the chance of a main contender going down and having to pull out. From a fans perspective it is always better to see all of them in there and fighting it out. Personally I'm a bit grotted that Lance went out through a crash but I think the double AA battery boys are a cut above everyone else in the race and he would have only been looking at a top 5 at best. But the drama has been good.

Chavanel has been the rider of the race for me so far.

 

[Bennyl]

Agree, though I don't think the Evans crash had much, if anything to do with him cracking.

There is always the chance of a main contender going down and having to pull out. From a fans perspective it is always better to see all of them in there and fighting it out. Personally I'm a bit grotted that Lance went out through a crash but I think the double AA battery boys are a cut above everyone else in the race and he would have only been looking at a top 5 at best. But the drama has been good.

Chavanel has been the rider of the race for me so far.

So Cadel's fractured arm/elbow (which one is it?) wasn't the reason for his time loss - so he just didn't have it in him to follow when he dropped off? ok then... i think that is utter rubbish.

Apart from that one thing I have struggled with so far.

PS & PL have mentioned numerous times that its a shame Lance crashed. Lance himself said that he gave up after coming off for the 3rd time and just rode home.

If his falls caused great injuries, then how did he climb the next day on the Madeliene with the Basso group looking comfortable. Has he mentioned anything about his injuries?

 

[SpartacusRox]

You don't crack like Cadel did because you have a sore elbow. At the time he was dropped the bunch was riding on their seats tempo riding. When you are climbing like this any good coach will tell you that you should have very little weight on the bars. Iff he had dropped off because he had to get of the seat and pull up on the bars to respond to attacks, then the elbow may have been a factor, but that wasn't the case.

Personally I think his cracking had more to do with him not being fully recovered from the Giro. he made a really interesting comment the day before when he was asked if he was looking forward to the rest day and he replied; "probably more than most actually". Reviewing the footage of that race he was suffering big time at the end.

With regard to Lance, his race was over when he blew on the climb following his crash at the roundabout. like he said, he had to chase hard and was pegged when he made contact. He wasn't able to recover due to the high pace being set by Sky and he blew, simple as that. From then on he was history. That last crash just added insult to injury.

 

[Bennyl]

I do remember reading those comments prior to that stage. regarding the mechanics of the injury, i will have to bow to your knowledge there, and remember Cadel saying the downhill was what caused the pain.

 

[JFDavis]

As a long long time fan of all things tubular and TdF et al I am finding this years adventure interesting. This years four ring Circus has much to offer. I liked that they had the guts to involve the cobbles, knowing they would get criticized for doing so. All smooth pave is neato for the kids, but the better bike handlers are revealed. Also like that Lance didn't gripe about it, and just rode it out as a challenge, which is the better attitude to succeed, than grumbling.

To me the cobbles should feature as often as practicable as it further defines 'Best Rider' and requires any TdF aspirant to develop the skill and deal with it, And it adds a older days flavor/history that I personally find interesting and part of what Europe has going for it.

 

[leftover pie]

i've given it an 8, i think the andy v contador showdown is going to be an absolute feast

the last hour of the cobbles stage was damn exciting to watch

chavanel taking yellow was great to see

the odd breakaway has succeeded

and i'm glad they haven't had the TTT, i think last year either the course they chose and various team's ill preparedness (their fault i know) really killed off the chances of quite a few riders which was a shame, i know it's a team sport, but i think to some extent the TTT can really make things lopsided in a bad way.


having said all that, I was gutted to see cadel crash and ruin his elbow and his chances in the process.

 

[Notso Swift]

You don't crack like Cadel did because you have a sore elbow. At the time he was dropped the bunch was riding on their seats tempo riding. When you are climbing like this any good coach will tell you that you should have very little weight on the bars. Iff he had dropped off because he had to get of the seat and pull up on the bars to respond to attacks, then the elbow may have been a factor, but that wasn't the case.

??
Have you looked at his climbing style? you Rarely, if ever see him pull up on the bars, more likely on the drops with a lot of weight forward. But importantly he couldn't get out of the saddle, which he does a lot (on all climbs). He is as ugly as sin on the bike but not may people are going to tell him to change something that works for him (and I bet it has been tried)

I don't think Evans was going to win, by any means, but Giro or not he would not have been dropped on that climb by more than a minute, and he would have caught back up on the decent.

Back on topic, if not for Fab's bull**** on Stage 2 it would have been an 8, but 7 as aresult