Rate the 2024 Giro d'Italia

[Gigs_98]

Discuss!

 

[Krzysztof_O]

In terms of the GC it was most predictable race I've ever watched. We could basically predict stage outcomes (if Teddy signaled he wanted to win) and even places of Teddy's attacks! The only surprise was his stage 1 failure. GC suspence non-existent. The fight for the 2nd and 3rd also very subdued. 1/10 for GC competition.

The Giro showed the dominance over the field of historic proportions. The fact that I like the winner also matters. Plus I actually watched the Giro from up close (stage 2 to Oropa, my first big race), which obviously makes me more emotionally attached to the race. Therefore I'll give it 5/10.

 

[Monte Serra]

5. Not great, but Pogačar's dominance was memorabele and impressive. Some entertaining breakaway stages. But not really a fight for the podium or the other jerseys. Might be lower than a 5 actually, but recent Giros haven't put the bar too high.

 

[Nick2413]

In before Rick’s 1/10


I gave it a 4 purely because the non-GC action was pretty good and the expected boring stages actually were fun, and Pogacar’s domination is worth at least a couple points despite making for a boring race.

The GC battle of the entire top 10 was by far the worst I’ve ever seen. Not a single memorable GC moment.

The stage 16 mess also worth negative points.

Some nice wins and breakthroughs by Steinhauser, Pellizzari, and Ala back in shape.

 

[Netserk]

While in a good mood, I can be generous and put it up ahead of 2021 & 2019. But it takes some generosity.

Clearly better than the previous two editions. Clearly worse than 2020, 2018, 2017, 2016 & 2015.

Between 3/10 and 5/10, final vote tomorrow.

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

4 non disrespect to Pogacar, Milan, Merlier and to all the guys who fought in the brakes that onored the Giro, but the GC battle was the worst i've seen. 21 stages and nothing worth of beeing called an attack by the other guys

 

[Gigs_98]

Obviously it wasn't a great edition, but it also wasn't as bad as I feared. I actually enjoyed the Pogacar show quite a bit and in terms of non-gc stages it was actually one of the better GTs. Stage 1 was great, so were stages 3, 5 and 9 despite all being "sprint stages". The breakaway battles of stages 6, 10, 12 and 19 were superb and I really enjoyed stages 15 and 20 for the utter dominance. Also, the TT's, the first one in particular, had really exciting duels for the stage win between Ganna and Pogaccar.

I think I genuinely could have forgiven the lack of a battle for the win if only the battle for the remaining gc positions had been somewhat interesting. But Thomas rode one of the most boring GTs I have ever seen from a podium finisher, Martinez obviously didn't do much once he was in 2nd and O'Connor and Tiberi just weren't good enough to do more than what they did. Altogether I'd say this makes it a slightly below average GT, so I'd probably give it a 4 or a 5.

I was also thinking about the @Netserk scoring method of ranking the last 10 editions. The result of that would be:
1. 2015
2. 2018
3. 2016
4. 2020
5. 2017
6. 2019
7. 2021
8. 2024
9. 2022
10. 2023
so with this method it would be a 3. That said, many of the best GTs of the last decade will come off this list rather soon, so I wouldn't be surprised if this Giro gains a few places over the next few years.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

In before Rick’s 1/10

Only positive numbers in the poll so @Red Rick won't even vote.

 

[topcat]

It had all the drama of a hit and run. Shocking and a feeling of being devastated afterwards. Alaphillipe and Pellizzari the only highlights. 2/10
(So we're all agreed- it's an 8).

 

[peterfin]

I gave a 4/10. It will be remembered as the Pogacar Domination edition with rather weak competition exemplified by a fading 38 year old still making the podium. Some remarkeable stage wins made it entertaining (Pogacar, Alaphilippe, Steinhauser ...) and the sprint battles between Milan and Merlier were also more than average.

 

[Mayomaniac]

While in a good mood, I can be generous and put it up ahead of 2021 & 2019. But it takes some generosity.

Clearly better than the previous two editions. Clearly worse than 2020, 2018, 2017, 2016 & 2015.

Between 3/10 and 5/10, final vote tomorrow.

Honestly, I wouldn't put it ahead of 2019 and 2021.

 

[yaco]

Gave it a 9. It was a joy to watch a classy rider in Pogacar in full flight.

 

[jmdirt]

9/10
Best GT of the year so far! 10/10
Best Giro this year! 10/10
Tadej-10/10
Sprints- 10/10
Breaks-10/10
TTs-10/10
GC-2/10

 

[Gigs_98]

While in a good mood, I can be generous and put it up ahead of 2021 & 2019. But it takes some generosity.

Clearly better than the previous two editions. Clearly worse than 2020, 2018, 2017, 2016 & 2015.

Between 3/10 and 5/10, final vote tomorrow.

I think 2021 was really similar to this edition with a slightly less dominant victory but also slightly worse transitional and breakaway stages. But the big difference for me is that although that intrigue might now look misguided, there really actual intrigue about Bernal winning throughout the race. Lots of people thought Evenepoel could win until at least stage 11 and didn't entirely rule it out until after the Zoncolan. And after Bernals crack on stage 17 there was a genuine believe that Yates might still beat Bernal. Hell, Caruso's attack on stage 20 was absolutely meant as an attempt to snatch away pink. That race did not feel decided until stage 21.

With 2019 on the other hand I absolutely see why one would rate it lower than 2024, because the first half of that race might have been the worst first half of a GT I've ever watched. But once they hit the Alps that race was genuinely good. The four stage stretch from 13-16 was fantastic, even if I didn't like the outcome. And like in 2021, there was a very serious attack for the win all the way on stage 20. That battle for pink made it so much more dramatic that I have to put it above this year.

 

[Red Rick]

While in a good mood, I can be generous and put it up ahead of 2021 & 2019. But it takes some generosity.

Clearly better than the previous two editions. Clearly worse than 2020, 2018, 2017, 2016 & 2015.

Between 3/10 and 5/10, final vote tomorrow.

The 5 seconds of hype that NIBALI IS SO BACK of 2022 alone made it better than this year.

 

[Valv.Piti]

2015
2016
2018
2019
2017
2024
2020
2021
2022
2023

So an average Giro. Would be the dirt worst if not for Pogacar

 

[Pantani_lives]

8/10

The question is always what people mean by "good". Do they mean a winner of high quality or do they mean suspense? This Giro had the most dominant GT win of the century, with a massive performance by Pogacar. That also means there was hardly any suspense, so people on the Internet will complain.

What constitutes a "good" Grand Tour? The 1969 Tour is one of the most legendary races in cycling history, but there was no suspense. Merckx won by 17 minutes. The 2001 Vuelta on the contrary was close until the final time trial, but people hardly remember Angel Casero's victory.

This was a Giro that people will remember because of the dominance of the winner. But now we'll get a few more pages of moaning.

 

[Red Rick]

Gave it a 4. Red Rick of a few years ago would find a way to give it lower, I'm going soft in my old age.

It's the single worst GC battle I've ever seen bar none, and if that wasn't enough, Pogacar playing farming simiulator also completely strangled any life out of the battle for the rest of the podium/top5 and top 10., Sprints are sprints, and they were way too damn many. Ciclamino was decided from the 1st sprint basically. Gravel stage did nothing as expected. Adam Hansen reared his ugly head. Yadayada. 0 KoM fight Pogacar ate that too, and I'm not sure he even noticed.

The ITTs were 2 of the highlights, which in itself speaks volumes. Other highlights for me were Alaphilippe winning that stage and Pellizari's exploits.

But when the Giro gets outdone for drama by some fan hitting Novak Djokovic in the head with a bottle it's just been a poor ass Giro

 

[hfgon1]

First stage was awesome, the others were too much as expected to be a memorable Grand Tour. But not the fault of Pogacar or Milan/Merlier who were very dominant.

 

[Red Rick]

2015
2016
2018
2019
2017
2024
2020
2021
2022
2023

So an average Giro. Would be the dirt worst if not for Pogacar

How can you know when UAE decided the pace of every single stage?

 

[Escarabajo]

6.
Route could have been better. But I have a soft spot for Pogacar and Martinez. Besides, we are seeing once in a generation prodigy riding a bike. I have never seen someone like Pogacar ride the bike like this. So that should account for something.

 

[Gigs_98]

How can you know when UAE decided the pace of every single stage?

Yeah, I agree, everything in this Giro went through Pogacar and UAE, in a way I have never seen it before. Every move was made with the thought of how Pogacar would react to it in the background. Everyone would always wait for what Pogacar did because that would be the deciding factor and only after he opened up the race, the rest started racing as well. Never seen anything like that.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Yeah, I agree, everything in this Giro went through Pogacar and UAE, in a way I have never seen it before. Every move was made with the thought of how Pogacar would react to it in the background. Everyone would always wait for what Pogacar did because that would be the deciding factor and only after he opened up the race, the rest started racing as well. Never seen anything like that.

Apparently nobody dared ask Teddy if they could race for 2nd and therefore the lack of GC action.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, I agree, everything in this Giro went through Pogacar and UAE, in a way I have never seen it before. Every move was made with the thought of how Pogacar would react to it in the background. Everyone would always wait for what Pogacar did because that would be the deciding factor and only after he opened up the race, the rest started racing as well. Never seen anything like that.

I must admit I'm still not optimistic at all, cause with the given riders you do probably just want a more 2014esque route with a bunch of hard MTFs.

 

[Cookster15]

I was going to rate it a 3 but then I read Escarabajo's post which I agree with. So I've rated it a 6. Let down by lack of competition and the weather shortening the Stelvio stage.