Rate the 2024 Tour de France

[Potomac]

9

1 point deducted for not finishing in Paris. The ASO did the right thing avoiding Paris, but a deduction nonetheless.

And why is this poll anonymous?

 

[Izzyeviel]

Far too many of you want to go back to the 'golden age' where the GC winner would never try to win a stage, and whose sole tactic was to attack in the final km to put 10 seconds into everyone else.

Theres no hope for you people.

 

[jmdirt]

10
Best TdF this year!

+Tadej
+Jonas
+Remco
+Biniam
+Cav
+Jasper
+Richard
+Matteo
+Abrahamsen
+enjoyable, entertaining

-Primoz
-Crashes

 

[armchairclimber]

Great spectacle. Proper racing. Shame about Pederson, but the upside of that was Girmay's green jersey. Cav's record. A winner with a modicum of charm. Visma failing ... though I do like Jorgenson. Good TV coverage on the whole. A solid 8 from me ... verging on 9.

 

[proffate]

Almost no one crashed, but I still managed to lose Mads Pedersen and Vlasov from my fantasy team 😡

Sooo, vuelta looks wide open as long as Pog stays home. He must be tired of sleeping in hotels by now right?

 

[Taxus4a]

8, they all have been ambitious, and there have been 2 or 3 stages to remeber, and they didnt smoke any important stage..but can be better with all them at his best and a log hard mountain stage, especially at the end of the race. Remco has to learn to play his chances better.

 

[Fantastico]

Far too many of you want to go back to the 'golden age' where the GC winner would never try to win a stage, and whose sole tactic was to attack in the final km to put 10 seconds into everyone else.

Theres no hope for you people.

Of course, because there is only two possibilities, GC winners not going for stages at all and a GC winner winning every single mountain stage.

 

[jmdirt]

Basically, it was a good tour. Unfortunately, the sport has become so professional and a few teams so strong that others only have a chance if these teams don't want to. That's a shame. But that's the way things are developing - not just in cycling or sport in general.

I've been watching/reading cycling since the mid '80s and it was similar then (as far as team strength not professionalism). There is always a team or two who seem to win more than others.

I can't rattle off the data like many on here, but I remember Mapei winning everything except for the GTs (Tony R won a VaE in the mid '90s) for about 10 years.

 

[jmdirt]

A very generous 6/10

First half of race GC racing was excellent and really saved the race for me, the last week of GC racing became rather predictable and as others have said, too few super strong teams dominating GC.

Way too many sprint stages like always, why can they not throw in a few finishes like Amstel, Fleche, Milan-San Remo or even Mur de Bretagne at least, whilst not turning them into major GC battlegrounds instead of numerous boring sprint stages where even breakaways seem to be giving up the ghost. Need far more variation.

Finally well done to Cav on achieving a modern record, largest margin between Winner and Lantere Rouge since 1952. Almost 6.5 hours, time-cuts have become a joke.

Going OT here, but what would you suggest for time cut rules? While they obviously go stage by stage (% of winners time), only 73 rider were within 4 hours of Tadej...only 45 within 3 hours.

 

[Cookster15]

Gave it an 8. People forget all the back ended Tours where we had to wait until stage 12 to have a proper mountain stage or all the Tours that had snoozy sprint stages for most of the first 10 days. This tour the focus was on the GC battle from start to end. For the sprinters it was still great to see Biniam Girmay's success.

And in the two main protagonists we had Pogacar attempting the double and double defending champ Vingegaard coming back from serious injury and hospitalization. This kept us guessing what would eventuate on the road in the last half of the race. Even after PdB we didn't know if Pog might collapse or fade with the Giro in his legs or if Vingo's interrupted prep might blunt his feared 3rd week level. Then of course Remco rode a solid race to secure a podium - much better than when he won the Vuelta. So I was tuned in every day for three weeks.

ps - yes I am a Pog fan.

 

[Cookster15]

Positive:

Girmay
Turgis
Campanerts
Carapaz
Abrahamsen
Healy

Negative:

Cav
Unrealistic climbing times
No GC fight
Predictable GC
Philipsen

Don't understand people giving 8, 9 and 10 for this. Gave it a 4 and that feels generous

No GC fight? In hindsight yes, but we were guessing even until stage 19 after knowing what happened in 2023. A glass half empty view.

 

[Netserk]

Going OT here, but what would you suggest for time cut rules? While they obviously go stage by stage (% of winners time), only 73 rider were within 4 hours of Tadej...only 45 within 3 hours.

Most mountain stages had extended time cuts this year, and they already had greater time cuts than a decade ago[EDIT: back in 2011]. Without that, I think the time cut would have been 43'57" on the stage to Plateau de Beille, which only 91 riders made. Of course, had that been the actual time cut, those behind would have hurried more.

Interestingly, had Visma not drilled it and the breakaway took the stage win and if Carapaz had the same finish time, then only an additional 8 riders would miss the time cut with the old rules.

Addendum: For the stage to Isola 2000, only 68 riders would make the time cut with the old rules.

 

[42x16ss]

Far too many of you want to go back to the 'golden age' where the GC winner would never try to win a stage, and whose sole tactic was to attack in the final km to put 10 seconds into everyone else.

Theres no hope for you people.

Or maybe some of us enjoy a proper GC dogfight like 2003, 2007 or 2011

 

[pmcg76]

Going OT here, but what would you suggest for time cut rules? While they obviously go stage by stage (% of winners time), only 73 rider were within 4 hours of Tadej...only 45 within 3 hours.

Netserk already noted that time limits were extended a number of times this year. As a comparison, stage 20 this year and stage 10 from the 89 Tour were very almost identical in distance, route, vertical meters and speed, this year was 1kph faster. In 89, the time-cut was 12%, this year it was 20% because they extended the time-cut. It shouldn't matter if it came later in the race, stages have a set co-efficent, regardless of when they happen.

3-4 hours used to be the norm for the gap from yellow to LR. The last few years has seem it regularly reach 6 hours+. Why? If the guys at the front of the race are going faster than previous generations, then naturally the guys at the back should be doing similar. Therefore the time cuts should reflect this.

 

[Tonton]

I'd give it at least 8. But since I'm a fan, I gave it a 10

Meh, it was an 8...

 

[Izzyeviel]

Or maybe some of us enjoy a proper GC dogfight like 2003, 2007 or 2011

You & I remember those Tours very differently.

2003 - there was zero contest. The only element of doubt was Lance being Lance and not going full gas
2007 - Rasmussen was dominating quite easily until his holiday antics were revealed to the world
2011 - A fourth rate climber holding yellow for half the race because Evans & Schleck were afraid to go for it because they wanted their teams to have it easy until the final mountain stage.

yeah no.

 

[jmdirt]

Netserk already noted that time limits were extended a number of times this year. As a comparison, stage 20 this year and stage 10 from the 89 Tour were very almost identical in distance, route, vertical meters and speed, this year was 1kph faster. In 89, the time-cut was 12%, this year it was 20% because they extended the time-cut. It shouldn't matter if it came later in the race, stages have a set co-efficent, regardless of when they happen.

3-4 hours used to be the norm for the gap from yellow to LR. The last few years has seem it regularly reach 6 hours+. Why? If the guys at the front of the race are going faster than previous generations, then naturally the guys at the back should be doing similar. Therefore the time cuts should reflect this.

Does it make the overall race any different if the LR is 4 hours vs 6?

 

[Cookster15]

You & I remember those Tours very differently.

2003 - there was zero contest. The only element of doubt was Lance being Lance and not going full gas
2007 - Rasmussen was dominating quite easily until his holiday antics were revealed to the world
2011 - A fourth rate climber holding yellow for half the race because Evans & Schleck were afraid to go for it because they wanted their teams to have it easy until the final mountain stage.

yeah no.

And I remember differently to you. I agree with those years as a proper dogfight:

2003 - the most entertaining and least dominant of Lance’s “wins”. Some epic moments like Armstrong’s uphill crash on Luz Ardiden and his cross country skills when Beloki had his horrible career ending crash.

2007 - LOL. Contador and Rasmussen were great and Cadel played a great underdog role.

2011 - Evans rode the perfect race knowing his strengths and the stage 20 TT which he demolished to take yellow. Because Cadel was climbing well Schleck wasn’t confident except for that epic Galibier stage won by Andy that you seem to have forgotten? The Pyrenees were disappointing but stages 16,17,18 and 19 in the Alpes were epic. Many here rated 2011 very highly for entertainment.

 

[Rob5091]

Hilarious, for all the wrong reasons.

 

[pmcg76]

Does it make the overall race any different if the LR is 4 hours vs 6?

It doesn't impact the race for GC, but it can impact the race for the green jersey, sprint stages etc. The Tour is supposed to be the biggest and toughest race. Having the best riders get better whilst having the weakest ride around at the level of 30 years ago seems ridiculous. Hardly surprising as the modern riders moan about everything. It was the CPA who moaned about getting the time cut extended on a stage this year. OMG, how terrible, the riders might actually have to make an effort.

 

[Netserk]

It doesn't impact the race for GC, but it can impact the race for the green jersey, sprint stages etc. The Tour is supposed to be the biggest and toughest race. Having the best riders get better whilst having the weakest ride around at the level of 30 years ago seems ridiculous. Hardly surprising as the modern riders moan about everything. It was the CPA who moaned about getting the time cut extended on a stage this year. OMG, how terrible, the riders might actually have to make an effort.

Do you recall how often a large group outside the time limit used to be reinstated? In 2011 with the stricter limits, that happened multiple times I think (and it only cost Cav 20 points each time then).

The oldest example I recall of the Tours I've watched was the stage Voigt won in 2006 that catapulted Pereiro in yellow.

 

[pmcg76]

Do you recall how often a large group outside the time limit used to be reinstated? In 2011 with the stricter limits, that happened multiple times I think (and it only cost Cav 20 points each time then).

The oldest example I recall of the Tours I've watched was the stage Voigt won in 2006 that catapulted Pereiro in yellow.

Yeah, that started in the 90s. They realised that if they soft-pedaled, but stayed together in a large group, they wouldn't get thrown out and it worked. I think it was 93 or 94 Tour the first time it happened.

If anyone has actually been to a GT mountain stage, they will know the grupetto will frequently be riding along chatting like a Sunday club ride.

 

[Izzyeviel]

And I remember differently to you. I agree with those years as a proper dogfight:

2003 - the most entertaining and least dominant of Lance’s “wins”. Some epic moments like Armstrong’s uphill crash on Luz Ardiden and his cross country skills when Beloki had his horrible career ending crash.

2007 - LOL. Contador and Rasmussen were great and Cadel played a great underdog role.

2011 - Evans rode the perfect race knowing his strengths and the stage 20 TT which he demolished to take yellow. Because Cadel was climbing well Schleck wasn’t confident except for that epic Galibier stage won by Andy that you seem to have forgotten? The Pyrenees were disappointing but stages 16,17,18 and 19 in the Alpes were epic. Many here rated 2011 very highly for entertainment.

you have a strange definition of epic

2007 yeah, it was sure exciting to watch Contador and Evans ride on Rasmussens wheel before he inevitable rode off into the sunset stage after stage.

2011. They waited until the last stage to start racing for yellow. Having the 'best' riders take it easy for 18 stages isn't a good race.

Jonas & Pogacar race their hardest to put minutes into everyone, in the past GC guys took it easy and it was considered good if they took a few seconds here & here. I know which I prefer.

 

[Peyroteo94]

How can anyone rate 1-3 this Tour? I am not saying this Tour was incredible but they really think this was close to the level of 2012 Giro or 2012 Tour? This Tour was way better than 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014. In the last 10 years, only 2 Tours were better...

 

[Izzyeviel]

How can anyone rate 1-3 this Tour? I am not saying this Tour was incredible but they really think this was close to the level of 2012 Giro or 2012 Tour? This Tour was way better than 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014. In the last 10 years, only 2 Tours were better...

Not everyone believes the Tour should be an actual race.