I rated a 4. As previously said, there were a couple of enjoyable stages, but all in all too many flat stages. Could have done with an extra mtf and more for the strong men to go after.
I thought the GC was over day 1. Even though Aru too back the jersey he was never going to last the distance.
Valverde crashing out was a major disappointment. Sagan getting expelled robbed us of an epic green jersey fight. Points for Matthews making a show of it, but kittel crashing ruined that.
Porte was the old rider who I thought had enough of a stinging attack to keep froome worried, but we missed that too.
Maijka and fuglsang crashing out was also annoying, it's k they could have made the polka dot fight interesting, isn't even added some worry to sky in Gc.
Also sky is too strong. I hate changing rules because of dominance, but a salary cap of some sort with normalisation policy would really spice things up.
I thought the GC was over day 1. Even though Aru too back the jersey he was never going to last the distance.
Valverde crashing out was a major disappointment. Sagan getting expelled robbed us of an epic green jersey fight. Points for Matthews making a show of it, but kittel crashing ruined that.
Porte was the old rider who I thought had enough of a stinging attack to keep froome worried, but we missed that too.
Maijka and fuglsang crashing out was also annoying, it's k they could have made the polka dot fight interesting, isn't even added some worry to sky in Gc.
Also sky is too strong. I hate changing rules because of dominance, but a salary cap of some sort with normalisation policy would really spice things up.
- May 2, 2009
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5.
This could have been a great Tour, but riders make the race.
Too bad many of those were missing.
Points classification would have been more interesting if the main players were there, as would the GC.
This could have been a great Tour, but riders make the race.
Too bad many of those were missing.
Points classification would have been more interesting if the main players were there, as would the GC.
- Oct 10, 2015
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Re: Re:
If we look at how Froome performed in this years race then a final week like the Giro could of worked against him, also could of burnt more of his Dom's out and given more opportunity for his rivals to crack him. I think he wins anyway as the others seem to fear him and Sky but I don't agree with Leinster that he would of put more time into his rivals with a super hard final week.
lenric said:
If we look at how Froome performed in this years race then a final week like the Giro could of worked against him, also could of burnt more of his Dom's out and given more opportunity for his rivals to crack him. I think he wins anyway as the others seem to fear him and Sky but I don't agree with Leinster that he would of put more time into his rivals with a super hard final week.
7 - in the end, the tour always delivers
positive:
- race for the win was open till stage 20 (yes, Froome was the expected winner, but any mishap might have changed this)
- stages in Jura and those 2 after the Pyrenees
- stage 3 finish (Peter Sagan unclipping and still winning)
- Michael Kwiatkowski (after the work he's done this TdF I am now at peace with him "stealing" Sagan's victory at MSR)
negative
- stage design this year was clearly below par
- crashes taking out serious contenders (Valverde, Porte)
- too many mass sprint finishes
- no suicidal attacks this year (which I suppose will be a pattern in modern cycling)
surprises:
- TT wins by Geraint Thomas and Maciej Bodnar
- comebacks to top flight by Rigo Uran and Edvald Boasson Hagen
- Warren Barguil
disappointments:
- Nairo Quintana, Thibaut Pinot, André Greipel
- DSQ of Peter Sagan
revelations:
- Warren Barguil
positive:
- race for the win was open till stage 20 (yes, Froome was the expected winner, but any mishap might have changed this)
- stages in Jura and those 2 after the Pyrenees
- stage 3 finish (Peter Sagan unclipping and still winning)
- Michael Kwiatkowski (after the work he's done this TdF I am now at peace with him "stealing" Sagan's victory at MSR)
negative
- stage design this year was clearly below par
- crashes taking out serious contenders (Valverde, Porte)
- too many mass sprint finishes
- no suicidal attacks this year (which I suppose will be a pattern in modern cycling)
surprises:
- TT wins by Geraint Thomas and Maciej Bodnar
- comebacks to top flight by Rigo Uran and Edvald Boasson Hagen
- Warren Barguil
disappointments:
- Nairo Quintana, Thibaut Pinot, André Greipel
- DSQ of Peter Sagan
revelations:
- Warren Barguil
- Apr 20, 2009
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What defined this tour was the missing riders. Cavendish arguably the most important tour rider this century was greatly missed. Sagan as well. The favorites for gc spots to 2 to 5 inPorte, Thomas, Valverde, and Izgairre. I was sorry to see Roglic crash pn stage 1. I would have liked to see what he could have done ad a GC rider. With the less difficult route he had a real chance at a top 10.
Despite the great gc depth it was a very lackluster and unexciting tour. No defining moments. No dominant gc moments. The sprints were sloppy and defined by mistakes more than any great feats. Kittel showed his raw power but his terrible positioning. It was nice to see Demare and Groenwegan win. I always end up feeling bad for Bouhani but at least he finally made it through a Tour.
I would rate this tour slightly above a 1. Maybe a 1.5. Disappointing on all levels.
Despite the great gc depth it was a very lackluster and unexciting tour. No defining moments. No dominant gc moments. The sprints were sloppy and defined by mistakes more than any great feats. Kittel showed his raw power but his terrible positioning. It was nice to see Demare and Groenwegan win. I always end up feeling bad for Bouhani but at least he finally made it through a Tour.
I would rate this tour slightly above a 1. Maybe a 1.5. Disappointing on all levels.
- Aug 6, 2010
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Re:
I second this.
As George Castanza said, "Seven!"
People base too much on the final few stages. After stages 5, 12, 13 there were doubts about Froome winning.
That peterred out, but was up in the air much more often than in other editions.
And Foix was awesome too.
Durden93 said:
I second this.
As George Castanza said, "Seven!"
People base too much on the final few stages. After stages 5, 12, 13 there were doubts about Froome winning.
That peterred out, but was up in the air much more often than in other editions.
And Foix was awesome too.
- Oct 5, 2010
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No. I can't speak for others, but I don't base it on the final few stages. There were too many shitty stages where it was almost guaranteed nothing would happen. Even some of the mountain stages had little action until the last few kms.
Galibier stage was great, as was Mont du Chat and also that one where Froome punctured, oh and the wind stage, and also Foix. Foix was amazing actually. So five good stages, a few meh and a lot of plain boring stages.
I don't expect a GT to have no sprinter stages, but damn if you're going to have that many flat stages at least put a few on the coast or something, or throw in some unexpected stuff like cobbles, sterrato, narrow roads. Seeing a peloton on wide ass flat roads isn't very exciting.
Galibier stage was great, as was Mont du Chat and also that one where Froome punctured, oh and the wind stage, and also Foix. Foix was amazing actually. So five good stages, a few meh and a lot of plain boring stages.
I don't expect a GT to have no sprinter stages, but damn if you're going to have that many flat stages at least put a few on the coast or something, or throw in some unexpected stuff like cobbles, sterrato, narrow roads. Seeing a peloton on wide ass flat roads isn't very exciting.
- Aug 24, 2011
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6
GC fight remained interesting until the end. Even though Froome was going to be favoured by the TT, one slip could have cost him. The TT certainly was harder than it first appeared on the profiles.
Green Jersey fight was interesting, until Kittel's withdrawl. Should have come down to the Champs sprint, but obviously after that it did not.
White jersey was tight the whole way though. Even though Yates was unlikely to lose it, he did get pushed close.
Mountains, Barguil was a worthy winner on this.
Downside: Too many plain sprints, with Kittel in form, he was a shoe in for the win. I didn't watch most of them, just the few min highlight video was plenty for me. Need to mix flat stages up a bit more.
GC fight remained interesting until the end. Even though Froome was going to be favoured by the TT, one slip could have cost him. The TT certainly was harder than it first appeared on the profiles.
Green Jersey fight was interesting, until Kittel's withdrawl. Should have come down to the Champs sprint, but obviously after that it did not.
White jersey was tight the whole way though. Even though Yates was unlikely to lose it, he did get pushed close.
Mountains, Barguil was a worthy winner on this.
Downside: Too many plain sprints, with Kittel in form, he was a shoe in for the win. I didn't watch most of them, just the few min highlight video was plenty for me. Need to mix flat stages up a bit more.
I gave it a 7. Crashes, controversy, exciting mountain stages, even if the outcome was the same, it was in doubt until the Izoard. A confirmation of Bardet and Uran and Landa as serious GT contenders. Proves once again that it is the riders, not the course, that make the race.
I gave it a 5. I thought there were a good few entertaining race days. But such a weird Tour. Three credible contenders crashed out. Valverde, Porte, and Majka. Quintana was sh1te, as was Pinot. Most good sprinters didn't finish the race. Sagan, Kittel, Cav, Demare.
Re:
I definitely agree with your first para. Losing Porte, Valverde, Izagirre, Fuglsang from the GC battle made it a lot less interesting than it could have been. Losing Demarre, Cav and Sagan, and especially the timing of losing Kittel, killed the green jersey contest. But I don't think any of those should take away from the deserved winners of those 2 jerseys (and I say this as not a fan of Froome or Matthews. Or even Barguil normally).
But I disagree with your 2nd. I thought it was still an excellent contest; the GC group fought out nearly every stage win in the mountains, or at least had bonus seconds in play when they did finish. The yellow jersey changed hands on "summit" finishes 3 times. Riders in the top 5 attacked each other; just because Sky then reeled Aru or Bardet in, or because Martin was only able to claw back 9 seconds at a time, doesn't mean they weren't trying. Froome always had someone with him, be it Landa or Kwiatkowski, or in the early climbs Nieve, who could keep the tempo high enough to discourage attacks, and then step that tempo up again to close them down when someone was strong enough to actually go.
I think in that regard, Porte was the big loss, as he showed in his brief time, and at the Dauphine, that he had the legs and the willingness to attack from farther out than the final km. So it would have been interesting to see him and Dan Martin combine at the end of the stage to Foix, for example, or what he could have done on the Galibier.
Chomsky said:
I definitely agree with your first para. Losing Porte, Valverde, Izagirre, Fuglsang from the GC battle made it a lot less interesting than it could have been. Losing Demarre, Cav and Sagan, and especially the timing of losing Kittel, killed the green jersey contest. But I don't think any of those should take away from the deserved winners of those 2 jerseys (and I say this as not a fan of Froome or Matthews. Or even Barguil normally).
But I disagree with your 2nd. I thought it was still an excellent contest; the GC group fought out nearly every stage win in the mountains, or at least had bonus seconds in play when they did finish. The yellow jersey changed hands on "summit" finishes 3 times. Riders in the top 5 attacked each other; just because Sky then reeled Aru or Bardet in, or because Martin was only able to claw back 9 seconds at a time, doesn't mean they weren't trying. Froome always had someone with him, be it Landa or Kwiatkowski, or in the early climbs Nieve, who could keep the tempo high enough to discourage attacks, and then step that tempo up again to close them down when someone was strong enough to actually go.
I think in that regard, Porte was the big loss, as he showed in his brief time, and at the Dauphine, that he had the legs and the willingness to attack from farther out than the final km. So it would have been interesting to see him and Dan Martin combine at the end of the stage to Foix, for example, or what he could have done on the Galibier.
- Apr 15, 2014
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Re: Re:
If you think that was really 'attacking each other', you're (very) easily satisfied.Leinster said:
Re: Re:
If you think they weren't trying, you're very hard to please. Like I said, whatever anyone tried, Froome always had extra support with him to do the hard work cancelling it out. The one time he was isolated, after the Chat, Astana had 2 men and a reasonable motivation to work with him (close down Bardet, put time into Quintana and Contador, all of whom they were also racing against, oh, and make sure Landa in the group behind didn't catch up either).Jagartrott said:
- Apr 15, 2014
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There are a ton of other watchers, including about all the ex-riders I've heard give there opinion, that think the top riders were too passive - so I don't think my standards or expectations are too high.
- Mar 29, 2016
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4 - Kwiatkowski, Sunweb, Kittel highlights. Uran did best he could. like Bardet. Froome had 200 meters of problems in the whole tour and did enough to win. Nobody seemed to have the ability to take 2,3 minutes on Sky/Froome so the race was over before it reached the Alps.
2/10. An abominable Tour overall.
Everyone knew Froome would take time from Uran and Bardet in the final time trial, so the GC competition was not as close as it seemed.
Way too many sprint stages, and even they were poor because of the losses of Cavendish, Sagan and Demare.
More hilly stages needed.
Everyone knew Froome would take time from Uran and Bardet in the final time trial, so the GC competition was not as close as it seemed.
Way too many sprint stages, and even they were poor because of the losses of Cavendish, Sagan and Demare.
More hilly stages needed.
- Feb 9, 2013
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I gave it a 4 - not because I necessarily disliked the course (seeing as I'm too new to cycling I wouldn't be able to distinguish between this or that), but because so many star/best riders were gone by stage 21 I ended up wondering why even bother watching the rest of this?
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