How will the Tour respond to the Giro?

[Anonymous]

by being clean and dope free

this was an advertisement on behalf of the aso

 

[titan_90]

By racing the entire TdF in Italy except the final stage into Paris

 

[Zen Master]

By racing the entire TdF in Italy except the final stage into Paris

And Zomegnan must be a race director

 

[issoisso]

By racing the entire TdF in Italy except the final stage into Paris

You mean Pariggi

 

[Mellow Velo]

The best tour rider will win the tour. Not the luckiest guy still standing.

Oscar Pereiro will be glad to hear that.

 

[issoisso]

Oscar Pereiro will be glad to hear that.

So will the guy who won the year after because a better competitor was pulled out.

 

[Magnus]

the ventoux is on the outskirts of the alps,so it would be 4 pyrenees stages,3 alps stages,the ventoux,and maybe a vogues or chartreuses stage.

Ventoux isn't part of the alps, but with the alp pass you mentioned you'lld need 5 stages.

Galibier and Alpe d'Huez in one.

Bonnette and Isola 2000 in one.

Prato Nevoso in one.

Colombiere in one.

Sestriere in one.

Ok. If you use Sarenne as you sugest in another post (have you seen the roads there?) you could make a stage with Galibier-Alpe d'Huez-Sarenne-Lautaret-Montgenevre-Sestriere. But it'll never happen that they use Sarenne.

 

[benpounder]

Better yet...

TTT up le Alpe d'Huez. Now that's a time trial.

You want a TTT that matters, and doesnt penalize either the climbing or TT teams? Do Vallorie to Briancon! Everyone would suffer.

18km up Galibier, 9km of screaming downhill to Lautaret, then 30km of really good road TTTing (gradual downhill - 53x11 at least). Oh, and that really nice 1km uphill sprint in old town Briancon.

 

[benpounder]

I think the Giro is growing. It has much better international participation now than it did five years ago. Most real fans prefer it to the Tour hands down. I think that--eventually--putting on a better show than the Tour will pay off.

I believe that in order to compete with the Tour, the Giro has to change dates. Either push it just in front of the Tour, or just after. Force the riders/teams to decide which race to focus on. One problem with the Giro's placement is it doesn't work well for real route scouting/preparation - something that whether good or not, has become indispensable for a successful Tour bid.

 

[benpounder]

Personally I don't think any one is better than the others - they all have their charms, their innovations, their history, their myths, their epic stages.
[...]
So why don't we just enjoy what each of the GTs has to offer instead of playing 'I'm a more proper fan than what you are'?

Second That!

 

[Jamsque]

Personally I don't think any one is better than the others - they all have their charms, their innovations, their history, their myths, their epic stages.
[...]
So why don't we just enjoy what each of the GTs has to offer instead of playing 'I'm a more proper fan than what you are'?

Here here. I love how exciting the Giro has been this year, and I love the special romance and drama it has, but I also love the Tour.

 

[Ferminal]

Guys, from the ASO's perspective THAT stage was extremely successful!

There were over a million fans along the roadside and in the finishing town.
It was truly a spectacle.

The number of fans along the road in the run in to the finish was incredible.
The finishing town was JAM PACKED plus.

Agree that watching it race-wise on TV/InterWebs was not as cool.
You really had to be there to understand the reasoning for the Route.

Polish, this is the profile for Stage 16 in this year's race, not last year's

 

[Cervelo77]

Puy de Dome ITT?

+1 this. I've hiked down and up this and it's a steep little affair. Plus, fans have been known to punch riders there.

Other suggestions for spicing up Le Tour :

1. Bring back Beloki and make sure he's leading the descent into Gap.
2. Race against the tide over the passage de gois.
3. TTT time penalty if you shake your fist at your own team.
4. Freeze time gaps at the top of a CAT 1 or HC climb that is within 25 kms of the finish line, and make the finish sprint only for the points and stage win.
5. Mystery stage day, where the stage details are given out just before the stage start.
6. Free for all day, where a whole region's roads are closed and sprint bonuses are scattered throughout. No GC time, but make it to the finish line before the cutoff or lose your time bonuses from the sprints.
7. Last stage ITT to Paris. (Kathy LeMond waiting at finish line). If leading the race must ride without aero bars and without aero helmet.
8. Every 10 km of Bordeaux ITT must stop for wine sample. -1 second if rider can correctly identify 'hints of charred tobacco' as predominant taste.
9. Brothers day, where riders must pair up and animate the race. -10 second bonus if you let your older brother win the stage.
10. Vinokourov day, where everyone gets a fresh pint of blood the night before.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I don't see how it is humanly possible to see how the tour can match the giro.

 

[auscyclefan94]

The Giro has nothing interesting until Saturday.

You were saying?

The gradients of the climbs at the tour are quite pathetic in comparison to the giro or la vuelta.

 

[auscyclefan94]

+1 this. I've hiked down and up this and it's a steep little affair. Plus, fans have been known to punch riders there.

Other suggestions for spicing up Le Tour :

1. Bring back Beloki and make sure he's leading the descent into Gap.
2. Race against the tide over the passage de gois.
3. TTT time penalty if you shake your fist at your own team.
4. Freeze time gaps at the top of a CAT 1 or HC climb that is within 25 kms of the finish line, and make the finish sprint only for the points and stage win.
5. Mystery stage day, where the stage details are given out just before the stage start.
6. Free for all day, where a whole region's roads are closed and sprint bonuses are scattered throughout. No GC time, but make it to the finish line before the cutoff or lose your time bonuses from the sprints.
7. Last stage ITT to Paris. (Kathy LeMond waiting at finish line). If leading the race must ride without aero bars and without aero helmet.
8. Every 10 km of Bordeaux ITT must stop for wine sample. -1 second if rider can correctly identify 'hints of charred tobacco' as predominant taste.
9. Brothers day, where riders must pair up and animate the race. -10 second bonus if you let your older brother win the stage.
10. Vinokourov day, where everyone gets a fresh pint of blood the night before.

Love it! Maybe we could have a directly straight itt where the rider cannot touch the handle bars after 1km in. with the wine sampling, maybe one of the samples could be blood...though i guess that would be too easy.

 

[L'arriviste]

How about this to get the telly/netstream addicts in?

Every day we get to vote a poorly performing rider off the race and replace them with a Z-list celebrity.

...
154. Dennis Rodman (CEL) @ 1:23:55
178. Donny Osmond's Second Cousin (CEL) @ 1:32:30
...