Rate the Giro 2018

[Jancouver]

Without Puff Daddy, this could have been one of the best Giros. He ruined it for me and it is a shame that Tom D will get the pink jersey later.

Therefore, and since zero wasn’t an option, I have to give it 1.

Hopefully, he won’t be allowed to ruin the TdF ...

 

[Scarponi]

People who voted 10, you have left no room for a scenario like Yates not losing time and going to into a massive 1v1 duel with Froome those final few days with Tom D just behind. Could have been a little it better.

 

[zlev11]

i voted 8/10

i liked how it was ridden super hard, like a 1990's Giro. of course the route wasn't as hard as back then, but there were still many 5+ hour mountain stages and it turned the race into a true test of endurance. it wasn't anywhere near as good as 2010, but on par with 2015 and 2016. obviously stage 19 made the race but I think if it was literally anyone except Froome who did that ride i would have voted a 9, possibly a 10 if stage 20 had turned out to be a better battle.

the only day that i felt disappointed was stage 9 to Gran Sasso, i though that route had a good opportunity to be a nice attacking race but it was incredibly boring until the last few km.

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

I gave it 10. But as someone put it: "We'll be talking about this Giro in ten years, but we don't know if that's good or bad."

Honestly I think that's an overrated thing cause that puts emphasis on a single moment and doesn't really assess if the GT was good throughout.

Then why woukld you ever have reason to give a ten? We aren't living in the age of Coppi or even Hinault, and have to grade it accordingly,

Rating it a 10 would require the first 9 days to be on the level of a Giro that took place just 3 years ago.

 

[loge1884]

I will abstain from rating, as the final outcome might unfortunately be decided in a courtroom rather than on Finistere ..... putting the sword of Damocles aside the GC fight was almost a 10 at least a 9, the mountain / mid mountain stages same, the hilly stages maybe 7 or 8 and the flat stages 2 or 3 (if Viviani wins 4 of those the sprint competition can't be world class) ....

 

[jsem94]

8. The last two weeks were amazing.

 

[Squire]

Great race. Voted 8. Really, really hoped for a plot twist in stage 20 to produce a more likeable winner, but you can't have it all.

 

[Bolder]

Re:

All things considered, 1.
If I unplug my brain, 9.

Me too, but I gave it a 10. Was glued to my TV on stages 19/20.

I'd have preferred a little more ITT kms, not b/c I think it would have helped TD/CF, but to me a grand tour should be an individual test as well as one of teams. My other nit is the whole starting in Israel thing. Not for any political reasons but these ginned-up publicity stunt starts just don't make any competitive sense. What's next, we start in the US, then fly over to Italy?

Though, come to think of it, there weren't really any Sky Train type raids except stage 20 when everyone was so exhausted it didn't matter anyway. So that's an interesting development.

All in all, a fabulous race.

 

[JetSet]

I gave it a 9. This Giro had pretty well everything, dramatic unexpected collapses and thankfully no significant crashes. The weather was really kind and the scenery was spectacular apart from maybe stages 2 and 3 in Israel. I also enjoyed the extended coverage on Eurosport...no more waiting for a tennis match being watched by only a handful of spectators to be completed. The only things missing were the lack of a real crosswind stage and that the vast majority of world class sprinters stayed away. Probably the best Giro since Porte, Sastre, Arroyo and others escaped in 2010.

Pete

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

What rating can one give to a race won by someone who shouldn't have started and who might be stripped later of his title. As a circus, a solid 9. As a sports event one solid point for those poor riders who gave everything without realizing they are part of a circus.

Pretty much this.

 

[Durden93]

I'll give it an 8. Yates' performance for the first 2.5 weeks was incredible, but this Giro felt like a war of attrition. Aru, Pinot, Pozzzovivo anf Chaves were all disappointing. It's hard for me to rate this edition to highly when it was a two man show (first Yates-Dumoulin, then Froome-Dumoulin) the whole time. There were always far too many sprint stages, which bored me. I would've liked to have seen some classic/ardennes style stages.

 

[LosBrolin]

Great edition. 9

 

[Climbing]

Re: Re:

What rating can one give to a race won by someone who shouldn't have started and who might be stripped later of his title. As a circus, a solid 9. As a sports event one solid point for those poor riders who gave everything without realizing they are part of a circus.

Pretty much this.

Voted 1 as well, no way around it.

 

[barmaher]

For me, it pipped 2015, mainly because the surprises were so much more surprising in this race. Favourites didn't just crack, they were absolutely smashed to smithereens. I didn't see most of 2010, as I was working long hours that year, but I think it was in the same ball park.

Other people have rightly raised the reservations we have about Froome even being in the race. But much like Contador in the past, it wouldn't have been the same without him. Even more of a bitter taste was the start in Israel. Completely ludicrous, and they missed a massive political headache by a few days.

9/10, and I just hope the Tour is half as good.

 

[Tonton]

...no I wasn't mourning, I was working !

First and foremost, I agree with many here: I'm very uncomfortable with Froome participating in this race and decisions that may take place in the weeks or months to come. It takes away from what was a fantastic show, full of intrigues, matches within the match, reversal of fortunes, and frankly WTF moments.

I have very mixed emotions: one one hand, I can't criticize the route or complain about a dull first week. The organizers came up with a winning formula, keep it close, open up, and yes the route was back-loaded. But that's what made all the suspense possible and what a thrill it was.

Needles to say, in addition to Froome's presence and win*, I'm not happy with the outcome of this Giro. In the near future, we may have a different result, including two guys (MAL and Carapaz) who rode against each other and never contributed when it mattered. Besides Dumoulin (bravo to him), I have a sour taste in my mouth for Simon Yates (who deserved so much better), I wanted to see a good Aru (not CancellAru, the real Aru), Pozzo deserved better as well, and of course I'm heartbroken. Tibopino had his podium with two climbs left, and... .

Just to make Netserk smile and agree with him for once, I give this Giro a 8. But depending on how I look at it, it could be 1,2,3, even 10.

 

[armchairclimber]

I gave it an 8 .... it would have been higher but the Israel stages were a big negative for me, for a few reasons, although they did produce the fall that created the scenario that would necessitate the most insane attack I have seen in over 30 years following the sport. Yates was a revelation. Carapaz too was a big plus for me. All in all a fantastic race of relentless action that will never ever be forgotten, whatever the salbutamol case result.

 

[rick james]

9...Had a bit of everything

 

[lartiste]

Re: Re:

When enough time has passed I'll probably be able to appreciate the sheer entertainment value of this Giro. But not now,no chance, it's far too early.

Up until thursday it was a really good race - with even Froome's sudden rise to form on Zoncolan adding even more spice - and was on its way to becoming one of the best GTs in this decade. But then came friday, and it all turned into a complete farce. As such it gets 1 out of 10 and I'm feeling a bit generous even giving that much.

Interesting, what majority of people considers entertaining you consider to be farce. Why? Have you seen GT before?

Every one of them since Giro 2009, thank you for asking.

Can't really extensively answer to your main question in this subforum. Instead, I refer you to the clinic.

viewtopic.php?p=2267230#p2267230

Read the post that is third from bottom on that page. Explains why I and many others feel the way we do about Froome's exploits on stage 19. Also on page 1524 of the same thread, there's a very long post from Libertine Seguros on why Froome and his team are such divisive and widely hated figures in this sport. If you're sincerely interested in why many people think like they do about Froome, and not just trolling me, then those posts I referred to are worthy of reading.

I really did not want to troll you. Just to start discussion and understand your point. I carefully read what Libertine Seguros wrote, it is perfect as usual and also the other comment. To be honest I do not like Sky and Froome since they are killing the sport and Froome is least charismatic winner I have ever seen and most doubtful. I am trying not to be that negative to him and have to admit that you have to have balls to go into long range attack from 80km to go. For me, it was great stage, great performance and old style of racing which I like. Unfortunately won by only rider I was rooting against. But it was not only his work, but also lack of good decision making of TD, he was waiting for TiboPino, then for Reichenbach, did not doing the lead during the downhill eventhough he was clearly the best in the discipline etc.

Now understand your point, the question is whether is really destroyed the Giro or not. In my opinion it was entertaining, eventhough the outcome is questionable and question is who will be consider winner at the end of season.

 

[Tonton]

[mod hat on] let's be careful about this discussion and...well we all know the rules. And I'll attempt to be way within the boundaries.

[mod hat off] @ lartiste, There's no doubt that what Froome pulled on the Jafferau stage was a thing for the ages, a "wow" moment like we haven't seen since Landis. That day I was besides myself "I can't believe it, I can't believe it"...well, Philippa York has a take on that. Back to Froome, until that day he was a non-factor for pink. Forget him, and you have a much different race in the Fin/Jaff, maybe the two twins Lopez and Carapaz work, it's them and Pinot against Dumoulin for pink...the slaughter of Big Tom? Or Dumoulin making a big statement, Who knows? It could have been even better...who knows?

There's an uneasy feeling about Froome's resurrection, about him even been there, and to some including me, it takes some air out of the balloon.

Now the whole thing has a controversy (i.e. will the result stand?) attached to it. And worse: it would be disgusting for Dumoulin if he ever ends up winning it that Froome stole the show and wore pink in Rome.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

1/10.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

1
Ridiculous start in Israel.
The winner and how he won the race.
Total farce of a race.

Waiting for a Japanese contributor to rate your haiku, but that's class to me . Nice .

 

[OlavEH]

I'm suprised by the amount of 9 and 10s given here. The first two weeks were utterly mediocre, there were only a couple of really good stages and the GC was exciting much due to the collapse of Yates. I like a good GC battle, but not when riders collapse completely like Yates and Pinot. The battle between Nibali, Kruijswijk and Chaves in 2016 was IMO far more interesting. Especially a 10 should be reserved for an almost perfect Giro, and this was far from being that.

I've followed the Giro since 2003, and still there hasn't been a 10/10 Giro. 2010 was 9 and 05, 10 and 16 were 8-8,5, but the perfect Giro (or GT) is yet to be seen.

 

[Savant12]

9. 1 point off for the Israel stages.

Didn't feel the Giro kicked off until back on Italian shores.

 

[lartiste]

@ Tonton at the moment I was excited, but expected, that he will fade away a bit and the gap shall decrease. Now I am more sceptical, strange things are going around:

https://twitter.com/LottoJumbo_road/status/1000133284301623297

"He did Landis, Jesus!" means: Disclaimer to avoid any misinterpretation: this is not an insinuation, but a way to express the admiration for an exceptional achievement. Congratulations to Chris Froome and Team Sky.

At the beginning, they were sharing the video and now they are trying to explain? What to explain, the content is clear and straight forward.

@ TheGreenMonkey

He won similar to Pantani 1998 TdF style... .

 

[DFA123]

Re:

@ TheGreenMonkey

He won similar to Pantani 1998 TdF style... .

He really didn't. Pantani in 1998, put out 6.5w/kg on Plateau de Beille, for example.

Froome put out 5.4w/kg on Finestre. That is an absolutely enormous difference. Even taking into account the differences in the stage designs. To put that into context, Froome climbed Finestre in almost exactly the same time as Contador did in 2015, when Contador 'cracked'.

The attack succeeded because the GC field was weak and the chasers made tactical errors. It really wasn't a Landis or Pantani type move - it was more of a tactical triumph than a physical one. The power he put out wasn't that impressive.