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2013 Giro was very bad (the last 2 weeks, at least. The first week was good with Marina di Ascea and Pescara being the notable ones. Also Firenze wasn't that bad) because of the cancelled stages.Valv.Piti said:I'd say 2013 Giro definitely was better than 2014, maybe even 2012. We forget just how horribly bad designed the Giro of 2014 was. Val Martello was nice, the Grappa ITT was awesome, but the rest was crap, crap, crap, crap.
Brullnux said:Lower than 2012-2014?hfer07 said:7 for me. sadly all the emotions happened in the last week, while the previous ones were somewhat blunt... on the Positive side - the World's introduction of Tom as the next GT contender is always exciting-same goes for Jungels, which is a huge talent on the right path - and of course- The successful campaign of Gavira, winning 4 stages & living up highly to the hype. Other honorable mentions go to Pinot & Nibali- great warriors, great riders & always deliver the goods.
the disappointment? Quintana. It was his race to lose since day one- and he did. I just learned he was ill during the 2nd week with fever, he stated publicly he was not near to his best, but despite the setbacks, Tom did have higher ones to overcome and he did.
It was a good Giro, but strangely, the lowest rate in my book in the last 5 editions.....
2011 giro had crostis but it was cancelledValv.Piti said:Or just the 2nd week of the 2011 Giro, climbing some of the absolute toughest and most beautiful climbs in the world day in and day out. Then you add Crostis and you golden.
Are you trolling us on stage 1?Gigs_98 said:I voted 7.
Stage 1: Easily the best gt stage of this decade
Stage 2: One of the two big disappointments of this first week. There is a pink jersey up for grabs in a medium mountain stage and the one who gets it is Greipel in a sprint
Stage 3: Not a great stage but better than the average flat stage due to echelons in the last 12 kilometers
Stage 4: One of the most disappointing gt stages of this decade
Stage 5: Pibernik's solo was fun, all in all still boring but not really worse than expected
Stage 6: Again, I didn't really expect more
Stage 7: Same as above, the number of boring stages in succession was a bit annoying though.
Stage 8: Decent medium mountain stage.
Stage 9: In my opinion a very exciting stage. The big crash was ofc a shame, but after that the carnage caused by Movi and Dumoulin time trailing up Blockhaus was great.
Stage 10: I never find ITT's very exciting but at least the outcome was great for the race
Stage 11: Good stage, but it could have been much better if the break had collaborated well. When Dumoulin was completely isolated after the first climb and Amador in a huge break in front I just really hoped for a L'Aquila kind of stage.
Stage 12: boring flat stage
Stage 13: boring flat stage
Stage 14: Really underwhelming stage design but the final climb was amazing. The look in Quinta's face when he looked back and saw Dumoulin was great.
Stage 15: Neither better nor worse than expected
Stage 16: Actually a disappointing stage, but that said it was still a good stage.
Stage 17: Good breakaway stage. Polanc being in virtual Maglia Rosa for a short time was cool, and I was very happy for Rolland
Stage 18: Could have been an incredible stage if Quintana and Nibali had a few seconds advantage over the Grödnerjoch, but unfortunately it came down to the final climb
Stage 19: Actually the same as above. If Dumoulin hadn't caught the front group this could have been an epic stage. Now it was a stage which started extremely exciting and ended with a very weird mtf.
Stage 20: And again carnage very early on but because they used the wrong side of the Grappa the group in front couldn't stay away and nobody wanted to attack on the last 8 km of the pass which were actually hardly uphill. Last 25 km were amazing though.
Stage 21: The outcome was quite obvious pretty early but still a way more thrilling finale than usually in gt's.
Only looking on the stages this would probably only be a 6 or even a 5, but although a close gc usually isn't that important to me I just had to rate this higher because of the close battle. How often do you watch a gt where the top 5 could all still possibly win the whole thing before the last two stages. Thats what this Giro will be remembered for.
I'm Austrianportugal11 said:Are you trolling us on stage 1?Gigs_98 said:Stage 1: Easily the best gt stage of this decade
Was 2009 really that much better?Netserk said:Better than '12, '13 & '14. Worse than the rest of the Giri I've ever followed.
portugal11 said:The perfect giro would be a giro that had a first week like 2010 giro, a second week like 2015 giro and a third week like last year