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Most boring/ exciting Tour de France in last decade?

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Jul 29, 2012
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2010 was nothing compared to 2007. We had maybe 1 or 2 serious attacks between andy and contador.

In '07 peyresourde we got 20 attacks from contador on rasmussen in a time of 5 minutes. It was amazing, just awesome cycling. Nothing that happened in the last 7,8 years in the tour comes close to those 5 minutes :D
 
Jul 29, 2012
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Then we had contador on the galibier too, his flat on tignes yet he still rode away from a prime sastre and menchov.

Plateau de beille was really good too. Actually all the mountain stages were good in that tour except the one gerdemann won, nothing happened there.

I still put '06 above it though cause of landis/pereiro drama.
 
Re: Re:

Mayomaniac said:
Netserk said:
I'm truly surprised not more people have 2007 as the best or at least the second best. What more do you want? Epic raids from Rasmussen and Soler, awesome duel between Rasmussen and Contador on the climbs, Evans and Leipheimer so strong in the TTs that the two former had to attack, huge drama from Astana and Rabobank, Vino winning two stages, Cancellara actually winning something else than just a prologue in the Tour, crosswinds etc. It had everything! _O_
The cool guys left the Tour, that was the problem.
It was a fantastic race, but the Chicken and Astana left the Tour, it could have been an even better race.
Chicken only missed the ITT and of course riding with yellow in Paris. Didn't really change much regarding action on the road. Astana would've been nice on Aubisque, but it was already clear on Plateau de Beille that they wouldn't have changed how that stage went much.
 
2014 was excellent. not first place (GC), but racing was top quality.
2015 started very well, but once we hit the uphill circus (hills and mountains) the race action went down the gutter.

Contador: Dull
Quintana: Dull
Nibali: Dull

Unlike last year we now have the second rated GC men sucking wheels.

So, yea 2015 is starting to look very much like 2012. Dull.
 
Re:

Miburo said:
2010 was nothing compared to 2007. We had maybe 1 or 2 serious attacks between andy and contador.

In '07 peyresourde we got 20 attacks from contador on rasmussen in a time of 5 minutes. It was amazing, just awesome cycling. Nothing that happened in the last 7,8 years in the tour comes close to those 5 minutes :D
Meanwhile they took a minute on Evans with the help of Hincapie (crucial for Alberto ending with yellow) and Vino got the stage win in style _O_

Seriously, every single of the mountain stages were great (except LGB, but that was just a warm-up).
 
Re: Re:

Netserk said:
Miburo said:
2010 was nothing compared to 2007. We had maybe 1 or 2 serious attacks between andy and contador.

In '07 peyresourde we got 20 attacks from contador on rasmussen in a time of 5 minutes. It was amazing, just awesome cycling. Nothing that happened in the last 7,8 years in the tour comes close to those 5 minutes :D
Meanwhile they took a minute on Evans with the help of Hincapie (crucial for Alberto ending with yellow) and Vino got the stage win in style _O_

Seriously, every single of the mountain stages were great (except LGB, but that was just a warm-up).

even the timetrials were good that year
 
Jun 8, 2015
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1. Only been following pro cycling on TV since 2009. So, that was the best TdF experience. I was too new and naïve to get it. Loved the LA v Contador drama, the Schlecks, ect... It was the newness of it. Had I watched 2006, 7, 8...probably would list them before 09.

2. 2010 probably same reason as above. Chaingate unforgettable.
3. 2014 out of surprise tuned in after 1st stage. then, personal bias kicked in and enjoyed it; still have stage 5 on DVR. (Though not naïve to the usual sub-plot; or insensitive to Contador crashing) Was happy cyclist/team other than Sky won.
4. 2011 Too dull during first 2 weeks but some great mountain stages the last week that made up for it.
5. 2015 hadn't planned on it but watched a complete stage today which elevates it above 2012 and 2013. laughed a lot and was entertained, embarrassed to say.
6. 2012, 2013 had no interest. The jaded sport fan by then. Too easy to guess who would win. Stayed tuned to news now and then, hoping to be wrong.
 
Jul 6, 2012
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I think one of the (many) reasons for the Giro love over the Tour is that the Tour is also so much about the spectacle and all that surrounds it rather than just the cycling action, so I think that should be factored in, whether positive or negative, as both are of equal importance when deciding interest/boring levels. This done solely off the top of my head, apologies for any mix-ups.

1. 2006 - No Lance! Pre-tour drama! Rasmussen's polka dot TT kit! Rasmussen on a TT bike! Flandis' eipc stage ride (ok, later removed, but if you want that bit of history, still ultimately the ride which brought about the demise of the Uniballer!) Oscar Pereiro has more GTs than Lance! I actually got to watch it in a cycling nation (Spain)!

2. 2007 - Rasmussen and the Chicken racing each other up vertical ramps on rocket-powered drag bikes! TTs actually balancing the MTFs forcing attacks! Dogs! Oh dear Vino! Bye Germany! Zabel's final green! Bye Rasmussen, let us never see the photo of your tanlines again!

3. 2010 – Chaingate! Steakgate! Lance is crap! Trackstands on the Madeleine. Cobbles! Cav making sprint stages more boring than normal! Kept on giving for years after! Schlecklet wins a GT!

4. 2008 – Uncertain GC with genuine viable multi-rider options! Menchov crashing uphill! Riders going full genius and basically asking to be busted: Ricco LOL, Schumacher LOL, Kohl LOL! Meh winner, but meh options!
….
5. 2011 – Cuddles showing us what Levi winning the TdF would look like! Galibier! ASO finally engineer a way to give Cav green! Voeckler! Contador human! (Libertine nailed it:) a three-week long Dauphine!

6. 2009 – Starting to get hard now… Er, the Alberto-Bruneel-Armstrong love triangle more interesting than the racing!
….
7. 2013 – No Brad LOL! No competition! Er, Kittel v Cav was actually the most interesting thing in the race! Welcome Nairo!Tony's face as Froome won the TT!

8=. 2012 – Nothing good to say about this, but the Chradley Friggins' partners scrap and the whole intra-Sky intrigue was far more interesting than anything that happened on the road! Choochoo!

8=. 2014 – Dear God! Only positive the cobbles stage! No GC or Green interest at all! Favourites wiped out in crashes! Podium so weak, had to check it wasn't Österreich-Rundfahrt

2015 – would currently place 7th, interesting first week's racing, but the race is apparently dead, we can but hope it's not…
 
For me:

2007 - Crazy duelling between Discovery, Rabo and Evans. McEwen, Vino and Cance's stage wins were also cool.

2006 - Floyd's ride to Morzine, everyone going nuts.

2008 - Ricco cameo, Evans vs CSC and Sastre demolishing the Alpe

2010 - AC and Andy duel, Petacchi and Hondo disrupting HTC

2011 - Brilliant last week, a couple of other great stages too.

2014 - Good first week, the racing for stage wins wasn't bad. Majka partially rescued this.

2009 - Contador vs Lance and Cav vs Hushovd. Otherwise a snoozefest

2013 - Quintana was the only redeeming factor

2012 - The less said the better...
 
argyllflyer said:
The Hitch said:
Rank the last 10 Tour de France editions by excitement/boredom.

I know this one hasn't finished but I think from the nearly 2 weeks we've had so far, its proven to be more interesting than some full editions. Maybe it will rise up in the final week but I think its had enough to be middle of the pack.

My list

(most exciting)
1- 2006 Tour de France
2- 2008 Tour de France
3- 2011 Tour de France
4- 2007 Tour de France
5- 2010 Tour de France
------------------------------------
5- 2013 Tour de France
4- 2015 Tour de France
3- 2014 Tour de France
2- 2009 Tour de France
1- 2012 Tour de France
(most boring)

Clear difference between the 5 most boring and 5 most exciting is the former were all competitive. All of them the winner took the yellow in the last week and confirmed the race in the final days. Most went down to the final stage.

All the 5 most boring had the winner take the leaders jersey before the 2nd week. In fact all but Contador 09 took it in the first week. Last week was just a procession in all but 2015 which hasn't happened yet but possibly will go that way too.

Massively ironic that you took the most enjoyment from the 00s ones considering how often you 'take it to the clinic'.
How would that be ironic :confused:

My list is very similar to pretty much everyone elses. The tdfs that had a close gt battle and intrigue to the end at the top. The ones where the gc leader won by miles and held the jersey the whole race, at the end.

Edit: oh, I get it now. The noughties tours were doped but these ones are clean cos sky are winning. Do feel free to join us in the clinic when you feel up to defending that viewpoint ;)
 
has anybody got a high rating for a tour which their favourite rider lost? just curious as to how much that affected peoples enjoyment.
my favourites
08, 06
least favourite
12 (though froome attacking wiggins is probably the only time i have actually laughed during the tour),13,14
 
Re:

Singer01 said:
has anybody got a high rating for a tour which their favourite rider lost? just curious as to how much that affected peoples enjoyment.
my favourites
08, 06
least favourite
12 (though froome attacking wiggins is probably the only time i have actually laughed during the tour),13,14
None of my favorite rider won the last 10 Tours, yet I enjoyed many of them. I didn't really have anyone to root for during watching the delayed coverage of 2006 and 2007, and I would have those two editions on the top of my list. I liked Sastre, but I didn't remember rooting for him when he won, I didn't really enjoy 2008 anyway. I supported him during Contador-Armstrong saga. Samu has never even came close. And I only jumped in Contador's bandwagon in 2011, he's never won since. I don't like Sky, but despite their domination, I think 2013 is quite enjoyable and has a grand feeling to it.
 
Re:

Koba80 said:
I think one of the (many) reasons for the Giro love over the Tour is that the Tour is also so much about the spectacle and all that surrounds it rather than just the cycling action, so I think that should be factored in, whether positive or negative, as both are of equal importance when deciding interest/boring levels. This done solely off the top of my head, apologies for any mix-ups.

1. 2006 - No Lance! Pre-tour drama! Rasmussen's polka dot TT kit! Rasmussen on a TT bike! Flandis' eipc stage ride (ok, later removed, but if you want that bit of history, still ultimately the ride which brought about the demise of the Uniballer!) Oscar Pereiro has more GTs than Lance! I actually got to watch it in a cycling nation (Spain)!

2. 2007 - Rasmussen and the Chicken racing each other up vertical ramps on rocket-powered drag bikes! TTs actually balancing the MTFs forcing attacks! Dogs! Oh dear Vino! Bye Germany! Zabel's final green! Bye Rasmussen, let us never see the photo of your tanlines again!

3. 2010 – Chaingate! Steakgate! Lance is crap! Trackstands on the Madeleine. Cobbles! Cav making sprint stages more boring than normal! Kept on giving for years after! Schlecklet wins a GT!

4. 2008 – Uncertain GC with genuine viable multi-rider options! Menchov crashing uphill! Riders going full genius and basically asking to be busted: Ricco LOL, Schumacher LOL, Kohl LOL! Meh winner, but meh options!
….
5. 2011 – Cuddles showing us what Levi winning the TdF would look like! Galibier! ASO finally engineer a way to give Cav green! Voeckler! Contador human! (Libertine nailed it:) a three-week long Dauphine!

6. 2009 – Starting to get hard now… Er, the Alberto-Bruneel-Armstrong love triangle more interesting than the racing!
….
7. 2013 – No Brad LOL! No competition! Er, Kittel v Cav was actually the most interesting thing in the race! Welcome Nairo!Tony's face as Froome won the TT!

8=. 2012 – Nothing good to say about this, but the Chradley Friggins' partners scrap and the whole intra-Sky intrigue was far more interesting than anything that happened on the road! Choochoo!

8=. 2014 – Dear God! Only positive the cobbles stage! No GC or Green interest at all! Favourites wiped out in crashes! Podium so weak, had to check it wasn't Österreich-Rundfahrt

2015 – would currently place 7th, interesting first week's racing, but the race is apparently dead, we can but hope it's not…
That was 2005.

I won't even comment on you mixing Boonen up with Zabel... :p
 
Jun 29, 2015
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Re: Re:

gunara said:
Singer01 said:
None of my favorite rider won the last 10 Tours, yet I enjoyed many of them. I didn't really have anyone to root for during watching the delayed coverage of 2006 and 2007, and I would have those two editions on the top of my list. I liked Sastre, but I didn't remember rooting for him when he won, I didn't really enjoy 2008 anyway. I supported him during Contador-Armstrong saga. Samu has never even came close. And I only jumped in Contador's bandwagon in 2011, he's never won since. I don't like Sky, but despite their domination, I think 2013 is quite enjoyable and has a grand feeling to it.

this i like me - expect sastre none of my favorites could win. i always cheered for the underdog. maby its psychological. now im cheering for nairo. but if he wins 3TOurs in a row...
also i started to like contador when he became human and especially after fuente de when started to race with brain. brute-force winners who just dominate to me are very disturbing (also in other sports)
 
Jul 6, 2012
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Re: Re:

Netserk said:
That was 2005.

I won't even comment on you mixing Boonen up with Zabel... :p

I did apologise for mix-upsin advance! But... Rasmussen also did a TT in polka in 2006.
(Ok, not the one I was thinking of!)

I won't even comment on you not realising Zabel won a final green jersey (wearing it for one day) in 2007.... :p
(This was what I meant, not picking it up in Paris)
 
This'll be long - have patience. Or just move on. That's up to you :D

1. 2007 - pretty much the perfect Tour, until Michael Rasmussen got kicked out. The final TT was tense, though.
Great prologue in London, Cancellara's wonderful puncheur finish in Compiegne, a tricky finish into Autun with a Pozzato win from a decimated peloton, the fabulous stages to Tignes (Rasmussen) and Briancon (Soler), the wind creating havoc in Montpellier, a seriously demanding TT to Albi and the constant Rasmussen/Contador battles through the Pyrenees. Phew! Plenty of highlights.

2. 2011 - a version that some love and some hate. As mentioned earlier in the thread, I loved it. The final week was just about the greatest GT-week I've witnessed, but even the two first weeks did enough to keep me interested. A bunch of tricky finishes made even the sprints somewhat interesting.

3. 2008 - revisiting this, it's actually better than I remembered. Valverde and Ricco' dominating the first week uphill finishes, Schumacher being ridiculous in the TT's, Luis Leon Sanchez winning a terrific medium mountain stage in the wind and rain, the obvious but entertaining Saunier Duval show, and the yellow jersey battle being tense and close to the end. Hey, even an entertaining white jersey battle between Andy Schleck and Roman Kreuziger.

4. 2014 - sure, the battle for the win wasn't very exciting after Contador's crash, but the racing was quite interesting. Great start in England, epic cobbles stage, great tricky finishes with wins for Trentin, Gallopin and Kristoff, some fine stages in the Vosges with entertaining breakaways, bizarre antics from Majka in his two wins (wink, wink) - and, as a semi-francophile, I really enjoyed the battle for the white jersey.

5. 2010 - a really tight GC battle between Contador and Schleck, with some bizarre incidents (Chaingate, the uphill trackstands). A classic Vino victory, cheating the sprinters in Revel, the day after he was caught in the final at Mende, some clever sprinting from Petacchi, and a pretty good cobbles stage. Nothing extraordinary, but overall quite decent.

6. 2006 - to be honest, I barely remember this edition. The first two weeks are one big blur, and nothing really stands out, revisiting this now. Well, besides the chaos before the start with Ullrich, Basso, et. al. being kicked out. The racing itself got really interesting in the aftermath of the Voigt/Pereiro stage (which I missed), and the two 'Landis stages' was obviously out of this world crazy. Two weeks of forgettable racing and a crazy finish. What a lot of people accuse 2011 of being, in other words.

7. 2013 - a beautiful start in Corsica with some decent racing, until Sky strangled their competitors. Some entertaining moments - I really enjoyed Riblon clawing his way back to TJVG on l'Alpe D'Huez - and some, let's call it bizarre, mountain accelarations from Froome. Unfortunately, I missed out on the echelon stage. Great to see the Tour emergence of Nairo Quintana, of course.

8/9. 2009/2012 - probably equally horrible. It's quite telling that the most interesting parts of these editions were the internal drama of Astana/Sky. 2009 started off well with a nice ITT in Monaco and the echelon stage, but the entire middle part of the race was mindnumbingly boring. Contador being waaaaay better than everyone else didn't help. Its one redeeming factor was the stage to Le Grand Bornand. 2012 was one long procession. Did anyone really care halfway through the race? I kinda liked the medium mountain stage Pinot won, but that's about it.

It's too early to say anything about 2015.
 
My list:

2007 - had it all
2009 - Alberto vs Lance!
2006 - Hey as it happened it was awesome!
2010 - pins and needles as it happened
2011 - Evans rides like a champ
2014 - ok I like Nibali :).
2008 - Ricco was exciting until he was tossed :(
2013 = No comment
2012 - YAWN.....
2005 - Disgusted throughout
 

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