Rate the 2024 Giro d'Italia

[zlev11]

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

i wouldn't put it ahead of 2022 or 2023 either.

 

[zlev11]

Healy's win last year was genuinely boring though. Just by far the strongest guy in that break. I'm not saying the break battles were all bad last year, they absolutely weren't, but going through it stage by stage I really think this year the quality of breakaway wins was above average.

isn't that exactly what Alaphilippe did though? he beat a bunch of 3rd and 4th tier riders. it was clear for the last hour and a half that they weren't going to bring him back and there was no way Maestri was going to be able to stay with him on the last climb. Healy solo'd over the entire hard part of the stage.

 

[Savant12]

5/10

Plus: Pog was very strong (good for the Tour)
Minus: Pog was very strong (bad for the Giro)

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

5/10

Last year was ruined by Remco getting Covid and the TGH crash that hurt also hurt Roglic but I still actually watched more of it because I wanted to see what would happen; I watched little of this because I knew what would happen. Fortunately, I like Pogacar, but it wasn’t much fun, to be honest, and while his performance was far superior, the drama did not compare to Roglic dropping his chain on the ITT only to climb on his bike, get a push from an old ski jumper friend, and win the Giro. Or G calmly switching his helmet, giving up precious seconds. Or Roglic yo-going like Froome. Was last year great? No. But it was at least far less predictable than this year. Pogacar’s greatness earned a 5.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Did you find the extreme dominance worse than the timid racing for the victory of the past two years?

Neither better not worse.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Will have to wait a month or so before casting a vote. Have to watch all stages in their entirety before it will be on a factual basis

Pre-start I promised myself to watch this edition, despite being in subject to extreme busyness at all hours of the day.

I managed to get all the way to stage 5. That was superb good start personally, given my circumstances!

Yesterday watched the program and thought they were going into week two...

I need that sime stop-button badly so I'll be able to watch some proper cycling!

OK, so my bid for stage 1-5:
8/10. Maybe even 9/10.

Edit; Comletely forgot I managed to watch the entire Stage 12 (Ala stage).
And guess that's why I turn to a 9/10 rather than 8/10......still just 6 of 21 stages watched.

 

[solo80k]

6/10

Pogacar, for the most dominant Giro since decades. 🐐
Ganna, Narvaez for winning H2H against Pogacar. 😅
Milan, Merlier for sprint mastery. 💨
Pellizzari, for bringing hope to future GC battles. 💪

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Gave it a 5. Really a 2 on its racing merits. Then bonuses for:

+1 for RCS's courage to avoid the hideous trend of backloading GTs by creating one in which nothing of note happens after the first rest day.

+3 for nice side stories:

• Rider Comradery: Biggest example is how after Gerraint Thomas's Stage 19 crash, all riders involved in the GC decided to retroactively stop racing starting with Stage 10.
• Antonio Tiberi sticking it to the woke cat-lovers and proving once and for all that the cycling gods do, in fact, reward animal sacrifice. Just gotta wonder close he'd be to Pogacar if it'd been a chimp.
• Rider courage on whatever day it was that they decided to ride the stage despite rumors of electricity in the atmosphere.

-1 for no Wout Van Aert: The race really could've used someone to aimlessly ride in front of the peloton for 50kms while waving to the broadcast cameras.

 

[AmRacer]

-1 for no Wout Van Aert: The race really could've used someone to aimlessly ride in front of the peloton for 50kms while waving to the broadcast cameras.

Ala did that.

 

[SafeBet]

Best Giro since the COVID year.
2021 was partially ruined for me when they cancelled Fedaia, despite having some proper racing in the final week.
2022 and 2023 were among the worst GTs in recent memory.

Excellence never ceases to amaze me and what Pogacar did was historical in many ways. A number of young Italian riders proved themselves at a higher level which is a bonus for me.

Then you have the resurrection of Alaphilippe, the sprint battles between two of the fastest guys in the peloton, the emergence of Pelayo, Steinahuser and VPP, Pippo crying after finally winning a race again.

GC battle was over way too early though, so can't be more than a 7.

 

[OlavEH]

6 of 10. Pog completely dominating the race is not particularly exciting, but it is at least somewhat fascinating. And the breakway stages were mostly better than the normal in the Giro the later years. A mediocre version from a mediocre route, but still somewhat better than the last two years.

 

[Jan the Man]

6 for me - the GC battle was a non- event. However a lot of the stages were really interesting and we'll raced.

 

[Red Rick]

i wouldn't put it ahead of 2022 or 2023 either.

Me neither.

Torino 2022 automatically makes that race better. 2023 just had a lethargic middle section instead of being decided on day 2

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Me neither.

Torino 2022 automatically makes that race better. 2023 just had a lethargic middle section instead of being decided on day 2

And by 'middle section', you mean 'stages 1 through 21'?

Agree that 2022 was at least somewhat better, though.

 

[Red Rick]

And by 'middle section', you mean 'stages 1 through 21'?

Agree that 2022 was at least somewhat better, though.

Middle section I mean 10 until 15 or whichever was Bergamo.

Capuccini delivered and the 2 ITTs in week 1 delivered more GC suspense than the entire GC battle of 2024

 

[Netserk]

What bothered me about this race wasn't the lack of suspense, but the lack of change and racing behind the winner.

I quite enjoyed the 2019 and 2021 Vueltas, the 2014 Tour and the 2021 Giro. They had high quality racing that wasn't just the dominator flogging the field.

Even the 2009 Tour had more racing behind the winner!

 

[Rob5091]

Was the Pogi Show worth 2 million Euros?
Juan Larra at Ciclismoaldia thinks so -
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...ditalia-2024-would-have-been-a-disappointment

 

[Brullnux]

Me neither.

Torino 2022 automatically makes that race better. 2023 just had a lethargic middle section instead of being decided on day 2

2023 was unwatchable. I prefer races either no GC suspense but entertaining stages than races with suspense but nothing happening.

 

[Red Rick]

2023 was unwatchable. I prefer races either no GC suspense but entertaining stages than races with suspense but nothing happening.

Most of 2024 was no GC suspense and nothing happening

 

[Brullnux]

Most of 2024 was no GC suspense and nothing happening

I think that's completely untrue.

I'd accepted that there would be no GC action early on, and so adjusted my expectations. In the end, I think this was a weird race, but a race in which the individual stages were normally pretty good and very watchable.

The opening weekend was one of the best in recent memory; the first week sprint stages (3, 4, 5, 9) were the best in recent memory; the medium mountain stages were hugely entertaining watches, even if it was just breakaway action; the ITTs were both very good. Even the mountain stages were better than I expected, other than Selva di Bocca and Prati di Tivo, which were horrific. Passo di Brocon stage had some entertaining if very silly tactics from a long way out, and the Grappa stage was a fun watch.

IMO, as 21 individual race days where the main question is "who is going to win today", it was an entertaining three weeks. Basically every stage had some intrigue re who was going to win, or how. That's how I approached it, because I saw the startlist and I wasn't delusional. In the end, I wasn't disappointed.

 

[Cassirer]

3/10, basically a 3 week long 2024 strade or roubaix. A bit better because of the gt sideshows (like alaphilippe).

 

[Sciatic]

This morning I rate the Giro as disappointing — because it’s always such a let down the Monday morning after the end of a GT—no jumping out of bed at the alarm (unheard of for me otherwise) and hustling downstairs to put on the coffee and turn on the broadcast to catch as much of the end of the stage as possible.

That tells me that even though Giro24 wasn’t always exciting, it was still very engaging.

 

[tobydawq]

Me neither.

Torino 2022 automatically makes that race better. 2023 just had a lethargic middle section instead of being decided on day 2

Lol

 

[Roku]

I'm baffled by the fact many people mistake suspense with quality.

There has been a certain amount of suspense for the podium and it has been a terrible quality fight.

If anything, Pogacar has greatly increased the quality of an otherwise subpar Giro.

 

[Tim Cahill]

I don't think it can be said with certainty whether Pogacar did or didn't increase the enjoyability of the battle behind, because taking him out creates a totally different racing dynamic with no UAE controlling and no mutant following. We can only go off our suspicions. If the riders in 2nd to say 7th got an idea in their heads that they could win the race by being more aggressive, I think at least a few of them have a crack.