Rate the 2015 Giro d'Italia

[NatB]

9- Almost all the stages had really great racing. Much better than when the ride and only attack in the last 2km.

 

[ILovecycling]

7 + 1 for the mythical podium girls

 

[Gigs_98]

9 for me. Finally a great gt again. I waited for something like this since... I don't even know since when
However although the fight for the pink jersey became a little bit boring after the ITT, there were still big fights and every single stage had something special.

 

[Pentacycle]

If it weren't for the crashes on the flat stages, and Porte's unfortunate withdrawal, this would have been close to perfect. 8+

Contador wins this thing, big plus for me.

The Astana boys bringing out all of their firepower in the mountains, made every stage with at least some lumps totally worth it.
Everytime the road went up, the GC candidates were exposed.

And especially the frequent attackers in this race need to be highly praised.
Some might not have gotten a win or jersey, they have left their mark on the race. Ryder and Stevie to name a few.

More of this please!!

 

[Jspear]

9.
Amazing race but always room for a little improvement. The parcours were great, the first week wasn't a borefest, It took till stage 16 (I think) before we saw a double stage winner, AC brought great excitement on stage 16 especially, but also stage 18 - stage 16 would have been the best stage I've seen in a long time if he had won, stage 20 added some excitement and a little tension. And of course the greatest part is that the greatest rider actively riding won. It would have been a 10 if he had won one stage and if one of the "big four" had been here.

 

[Netserk]

9

One of the best GTs I have seen.

Who would've thought a route with an ITT that actually mattered and the hardest mountains always as the penultimate would allow for such good racing?

 

[Ataraxus]

A solid 9. Only mud in the riders' faces was missing for a ten

 

[Electress]

9. The thrills n' spills. Says a lot that I had forgotten all about #wheelgate and that there ever was an RV. Mortirolo and the following day were highlights for me. But kudos for the breakaways. Whole thing had a spirit of attack to it. Probably helped that the strongest rider had a weak team, and the strongest team by far had a weaker and more inexperienced leader.

 

[deValtos]

Somewhere between 8 and 9.

Was just missing a good main plot, all the sideshows were great though.

Also -0.5 for Pozzo/Porte/Uran not at 100%

 

[Tonton]

A solid 8, close to 9, but not quite. Great course, suspense, but IMO missing top riders who would have given Bertie a run for his (and Oleg's) money. Great entertainment but not so great cycling on several levels: poor tactics on Astana's part and sheer stupidity for Sky.

 

[The Hitch]

7 or 8. The closest the race came to having a gc battle were the 5 seconds when Contador held his shoulder on stage 6 or something. Also didn't have any all time great stages. Some of the excitement was jut controversy not racing.

And I always like to keep the top score (10) open anyway, in case something better ever comes along.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Just 8. It lacked a brilliant stage caused only by racing not other incidents. Astana was a negative. Someone mentioned podium girls, they are a negative as well. No GT deserves 10 while it has them. 2010 was a better Giro, but maybe that is because I had Evans in the race.

 

[red_flanders]

9. Fantastic race with almost every stage delivering massive entertainment. Motirolo stage was an all-time classic. Only thing keeping it from being a 10 was a great 1:1 battle. Darn interesting race.

 

[Moviestar]

8. Almost every stage was entertaining to watch. A nice successor to the Vuelta 2012. I didn't give a 9, because Contador was clearly the strongest rider, with the Astana tactics ( the sacrifice of Landa) it became ''easier''. Also i had never the feeling that Contador would lose this Giro. The Vuelta 2012 keeps standing ahead in my order of recent GT's.

 

[Jancouver]

Somewhat exciting race but still just 7 for me.

While the Giro usually has a much better course design than TDF, unfortunately, the best riders (other than Contador) are not participating and most WT teams sends their "B" teams so we have second tier riders fighting for the glory.

Its like Champions League vs UEFA league or whatever they are calling that second tier cup.

JMHO

 

[Irondan]

I gave it a solid 8. This race was very exciting for the most part, but not having a big GC battle kept it from being an epic race IMO. Contador had this race locked up pretty early, Astana raced hard but Aru's bad form early in the race was a little surprising. I would like to see Landa lead a team of his own next year, that's TBD. Porte was also a surprise drop out. His bad luck will be legandary. I'd like to see him back next year though, for another run at the Pink Jersey. His presence makes the race more interesting I think. As far as Contador, I don't think he was at his best for this race. He was holding back while keeping one eye on the Maglia Rosa, and one on The Tour. I'm hoping the aggressive style of racing demonstrated here is something of a status quo for future GT's. Including the attacks while broke down with mechanicals and such. Attack Attack Attack!!

 

[jmdirt]

7
Other than AC, the top GC guys were not here, nor were the fastest sprinters. It can't be truly awesome without the best doing battle.

 

[gunara]

I only had real access since 2011 so I can ignore everything else. Best GT I could watch more than half an hour per stage.
I didn't jump around with joy seeing the parcour, it promised a good first week, the rests are nice but with today's racing you'd never know. Alberto gave hope, but if he's too good, it's also bad.
But everything went way better than expected, first week was incredible, than it just got crazier. Even all but one flat stage had their stories. At Cervinia stage, when it got boring, I thought to myself that we deserved a boring stage after being spoiled by the whole entertainment.
No real big names other than Contador? It doesn't bother me, big names and big entertainment don't always go together, and I don't rate gt only on gc battle only.
To me it's a perfect 10, better future gt can go 11 if they want. On a personal note, my dad passed away on the first Thursday but this Giro does not bring back sad memory, it's so good it helped me get through hard times and remember everything with smiles. Alberto, Mikel, Ryder, Steven, Carlos, Domenico and all those guys with big hearts, I thank and salute them all.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

I only had real access since 2011 so I can ignore everything else. Best GT I could watch more than half an hour per stage.
I didn't jump around with joy seeing the parcour, it promised a good first week, the rests are nice but with today's racing you'd never know. Alberto gave hope, but if he's too good, it's also bad.
But everything went way better than expected, first week was incredible, than it just got crazier. Even all but one flat stage had their stories. At Cervinia stage, when it got boring, I thought to myself that we deserved a boring stage after being spoiled by the whole entertainment.
No real big names other than Contador? It doesn't bother me, big names and big entertainment don't always go together, and I don't rate gt only on gc battle only.
To me it's a perfect 10, better future gt can go 11 if they want. On a personal note, my dad passed away on the first Thursday but this Giro does not bring back sad memory, it's so good it helped me get through hard times and remember everything with smiles. Alberto, Mikel, Ryder, Steven, Carlos, Domenico and all those guys with big hearts, I thank and salute them all.

Condolences! RIP to your dad!

 

[phanatic]

8'd it, but would have been a 10 had Landa attacked all out on the Mortirolo.

 

[gunara]

I only had real access since 2011 so I can ignore everything else. Best GT I could watch more than half an hour per stage.
I didn't jump around with joy seeing the parcour, it promised a good first week, the rests are nice but with today's racing you'd never know. Alberto gave hope, but if he's too good, it's also bad.
But everything went way better than expected, first week was incredible, than it just got crazier. Even all but one flat stage had their stories. At Cervinia stage, when it got boring, I thought to myself that we deserved a boring stage after being spoiled by the whole entertainment.
No real big names other than Contador? It doesn't bother me, big names and big entertainment don't always go together, and I don't rate gt only on gc battle only.
To me it's a perfect 10, better future gt can go 11 if they want. On a personal note, my dad passed away on the first Thursday but this Giro does not bring back sad memory, it's so good it helped me get through hard times and remember everything with smiles. Alberto, Mikel, Ryder, Steven, Carlos, Domenico and all those guys with big hearts, I thank and salute them all.

Condolences! RIP to your dad!

Thanks a lot, Mate. Cycling helps, both as activity and spectacle, especially when it's this good.

 

[Sasquatch]

This was the best Grand Tour this century.

 

[SafeBet]

The only reason I'm not giving it a 10 is because neither Kruijswijk nor Hesjedal won a stage.

 

[damian13ster]

7. Could have been 9 if Landa was fully supported right after he showed he is the best climber. That and a crash from Porte are big minuses from me. Could have been spectacular

 

[jens_attacks]

10

I would gave it 11 if landa would have attacked on mortirolo