Rate the Tour de France 2014.

[barmaher]

The reason the Tour MJ battle was boring this year was because Nibali had no issues.

People thought that Contador or Froome would be dominant. So in order to take away from their dominance vs. the clock and over mountains, having stages like Sheffield and Arenberg was the right call.

Unfortunately, these were races that Nibali excelled at. Chapeau to the shark.

 

[red_flanders]

Great course. Everyone stays in and has potential for an all-time edition. Top 2 riders out and it's a snore-fest after the Vosges.

I give it a 4, 3 of which are for the course design.

 

[Rollthedice]

I understand your points.
There is just too much risk and too much at stake. A lot more risk than in regular stages.

The pave sections were an unusual addition and will remain like that. All riders knew about this in advance yet you couldn't predict rain. None of the GC contenders are built to handle well the paves and their experience to ride this is none or limited. Yet one of the GC guys together with his team risked it all. The others were riding to survive and not to crash yet the insane risk of crashing was for that GC guy who attacked in the mud and rain. He made it while his biggest rival crashed a few days later on a road 100% safe.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

Actually - The Tour is currently boring because of riders like Froome killing the competition early in the mountains & the ITT all together. The very reason for having different kinds of terrain-for instance cobbles-is to counterbalance that weight for more complete riders-not entirely pure climbers or ITT'ers, so when those stages appear, the gaps are still short & therefore it forces more attacks. If you take the stage in Sheffield for instance- It created a massive entertaining & gaps among the riders - yet it wasn't a "mountain stage"

My point is tho that it doesn't counterbalance it at all, it just screws up the balance up even more. It would have worked in this case IF Froome/Contador had been able to continue and lost 2-3 minutes and IF Froome/Contador would indeed have been strong enough to drop Nibali a couple times. So that is 2 IFs that are needed to make this stage a success. Because 1 of those ifs didn't happen (and we have no idea if the 2nd would have), this stage singlehandedly decided the race. Any stage that does that, doesn't belong in a GT.
If you look at the rest of the final classification, the cobbles had exactly 0 effect on the race tho. Peraud lost a minute to the rest of the top 6, but he didn't ride any differently because of that. Konig, Zubeldia and Ten Dam lost more, but again, didn't race differently because of it. So for the rest of the battle, it had no effect.

Think back to the last time cobbles were used. Now imagine Contador riding in front of Frank Schleck when the crash happens. Contador now makes it safely through the cobbles without losing time. Everyone else except Andy Schleck loses time. We know Andy can't drop Contador in the mountains and Contador is a better ITT rider. Tour decided in week 1.
Now imagine Frank Schleck riding in front of Andy when he crashes. Suddenly Evans has a minute lead. Now that would have made for an interesting few stages (if we imagine that Evans was in a good shape that is).
Now imagine what actually happens, but it stays dry the rest of the Tour. No time lost for Andy in the downhill. Contador can't shake him in the mountains, Tour stays exciting until the final ITT.

So in my opinion including cobbles is a high risk strategy. You hope that your best GT rider(s) lose time on someone they are able to drop in the mountains. Yet that completely depends on them actually making it to the mountains. If it doesn't happen or when your best GT rider(s) actually win time, it backfires massively. This year it turned out it backfired, because Nibali equal to or slightly behind the rest would have been better.

 

[djpbaltimore]

I gave the tour a 5, because the first half of the tour really delivered in terms of drama and exciting racing. But once Nibali stamped his authority on PdBF, the race was over for all intents and purposes, so I can't give it a higher rating.

 

[damian13ster]

My point is tho that it doesn't counterbalance it at all, it just screws up the balance up even more. It would have worked in this case IF Froome/Contador had been able to continue and lost 2-3 minutes and IF Froome/Contador would indeed have been strong enough to drop Nibali a couple times. So that is 2 IFs that are needed to make this stage a success. Because 1 of those ifs didn't happen (and we have no idea if the 2nd would have), this stage singlehandedly decided the race. Any stage that does that, doesn't belong in a GT.
If you look at the rest of the final classification, the cobbles had exactly 0 effect on the race tho. Peraud lost a minute to the rest of the top 6, but he didn't ride any differently because of that. Konig, Zubeldia and Ten Dam lost more, but again, didn't race differently because of it. So for the rest of the battle, it had no effect.

Think back to the last time cobbles were used. Now imagine Contador riding in front of Frank Schleck when the crash happens. Contador now makes it safely through the cobbles without losing time. Everyone else except Andy Schleck loses time. We know Andy can't drop Contador in the mountains and Contador is a better ITT rider. Tour decided in week 1.
Now imagine Frank Schleck riding in front of Andy when he crashes. Suddenly Evans has a minute lead. Now that would have made for an interesting few stages (if we imagine that Evans was in a good shape that is).
Now imagine what actually happens, but it stays dry the rest of the Tour. No time lost for Andy in the downhill. Contador can't shake him in the mountains, Tour stays exciting until the final ITT.

So in my opinion including cobbles is a high risk strategy. You hope that your best GT rider(s) lose time on someone they are able to drop in the mountains. Yet that completely depends on them actually making it to the mountains. If it doesn't happen or when your best GT rider(s) actually win time, it backfires massively. This year it turned out it backfired, because Nibali equal to or slightly behind the rest would have been better.

None of the riders dropped on the cobbles. Froome never got there, and Contador lost over 2 minutes but was still within striking distance. Thats why Tinkoff planned to attack on the second to last climb instead of just having a sprint to the finish. if not for Contador crash (again, nothing to do with cobbles) we would have a spectacle, whether Nibali was able to follow or nor.
It is not risky to put cobbles in, at least not more than having downhills. This just rewards riders that know how to handle a bike, and that know how to position themselves, and both are parts of being a cyclist. If people do not want stages like that, lets just put Froome, Quintana, Contador, Nibali on stationary bike, measure their power output and announce a winner. No risk at all and the strongest man wins.

 

[metaCYCLE]

Biggest Disappointment?
The abandons obviously
Biggest Surprise?
Majka
Best Stage win?
5th
Positives?
The parcours
Negatives?
F**king selfies!
Funniest moment?
Demare's camper break
Looking forward to the next tour?
Of course
During the tour were you counting down the days until the Vuelta starts?
No

 

[Climbing]

I gave it a 7.
First week has been one of the best TdF in years, very good stage profiles.
After Froome crashed out (he would have lost 3 days imho on the cobbles anyway), but especially after Contador DNF it was clear who would wear the Yellow in Paris.

Biggest Disappointment?
Contador crashing out.

Biggest Surprise?
Sagan not winning any stages.

Best Stage win?
Arenberg and Hautacam

Positives?
Majka doing so good after having rode hard in the Giro.

Negatives?
A lot of riders unable to handle their bikes, very disappointed as a MTBer myself.

Funniest moment?
Horner on Hautacam.

Looking forward to the next tour?
Looking forward to any races, as always.

During the tour were you counting down the days until the vuelta starts?
No.

 

[No_Balls]

Biggest disappointment

Contador/Froome chrashed while Karma gifted Nibali another GT.

Biggest surprise

Nibali destroyed battlehardened veterans on cobbles. Nibali not destroying Tony Martin during the Time trial.

Best stage win

Majka, Lars Boom, Tony Martin

Positives

Cobbles. Piti losing the podium.

Negatives

Second and third week.

Funniest moment

That single moment when realising we had a great race on hand.

Looking forward to the next tour?

Always. Hopefully we have a race then.

During the tour were you counting down the days until the vuelta starts?

U know it.

 

[Arnout]

Biggest Disappointment? Some favorites dropping out and Rogers winning a stage.
Biggest Surprise? Majka and Bardet.
Best Stage win? Nibali stage 2 and Navardauskas.
Positives? Very good race design, lots of days with action almost throughout, a lot of unpredictability and good battles for stage wins.
Negatives? GC decided early on, teams like Lotto-Belisol riding on the front like zombies even when their chance of winning is very low, that was the only thing that really annoyed me this Tour.
Funniest moment? Nibali riding into a girl on the road on the Hautacam.
Looking forward to the next tour? Always
During the tour were you counting down the days until the vuelta starts? No.

 

[shades1]

i could only give it a 4 im afraid , losing froome and contador was a major disaster , it was just a stroll in the park for nibali after that , if you have not got these 3 plus quintana in a TDF then it really is not a lot of fun in that last week .

congratulations to nibali but at end of the day he only beat second tier riders . lets hope we can have "the big 4" next year fit and injury free and we can get a great race .

 

[veji11]

Solid 7 for me. Can't give it more because of Contador's and Froome's crashes spoiling the competition for yellow, although Nibali was really strong. The route was really really good. Gave us many interesting non high mountain stages (2,5;7;8;11,15,19), although the weather assisted ASO's designs there. I hope they keep up the good work. As a frenchman seeing the french do well was a pleasure of course.

Looking forward to next year of course, and looking forward to the Vuelta too!

 

[Pulpstar]

Biggest Disappointment? Froome & Contador & Cav crashing out, lack of any competition for both yellow and green jerseys. Dominance of Kittel on pan flat sprint stages.

Biggest Surprise? Nibali beating cobbles specialists, Pinot's descending,

Best Stage win? Tony Martin

Positives? Stage 2 Yorkshire must have been the biggest live audience for any sporting event ever, watching and riding part of the route (Jenkin Road) was a personal highlight; The parcours was also pretty awesome and the battle for the podium was interesting


Negatives? See disappointments !


Funniest moment? Valverde riding round with all those gold chains on the time trial - i mean


Looking forward to the next tour? Sure - hopefully Nibali, Quintana, Contador and Froome are all fit and in good form.


During the tour were you counting down the days until the vuelta starts?

No but the line up seems interesting, was disappointed to hear AC is probably ruled out.

I gave it a 7, would have been 8 or 9 if Frootador had stayed upright.

 

[Oldman]

A pure 10 with a bullet for NASCAR type wreck footage. Whoooeeedogee!

 

[Dutchsmurf]

None of the riders dropped on the cobbles. Froome never got there, and Contador lost over 2 minutes but was still within striking distance. Thats why Tinkoff planned to attack on the second to last climb instead of just having a sprint to the finish. if not for Contador crash (again, nothing to do with cobbles) we would have a spectacle, whether Nibali was able to follow or nor.
It is not risky to put cobbles in, at least not more than having downhills. This just rewards riders that know how to handle a bike, and that know how to position themselves, and both are parts of being a cyclist. If people do not want stages like that, lets just put Froome, Quintana, Contador, Nibali on stationary bike, measure their power output and announce a winner. No risk at all and the strongest man wins.

You didn't get my point. My point wasn't that Froome and Contador dropped on the cobbles. My point was that with the knowledge of both of them having to quit before the mountains, the yellow jersey was decided by that stage already. Because the best GT rider left, started with a 2 minute bonus.
My point also was that nobody raced any different because of the results of the cobbles stage. Name me one rider who raced differently in the mountains because of time lost on the cobbles stage. I can't think of any. And because I can't think of any, I find the whole cobbles stage too much of a risk to be put in a Tour. Although it would have been perfectly fine if it had been dry probably. But any stage you know beforehand will be carnage when it does rain, shouldn't be put in.

That you go from my post to putting riders on stationary bikes, just shows to me that you don't know what you are talking about. One has nothing to do with the other and you (should) know that. I'm all for twisty descents, stages with multiple hills/mountains were you can use your team. Racing is more than just power output. It is also about saving your energy for the right moment, picking your moment to attack. Who to follow and who not. And true, not crashing is part of it too. Besides, probably none of the names you mention would win if it comes to power output over 200km on a stationary bike.

 

[cineteq]

7 seems to be a fair number.

 

[damian13ster]

You didn't get my point. My point wasn't that Froome and Contador dropped on the cobbles. My point was that with the knowledge of both of them having to quit before the mountains, the yellow jersey was decided by that stage already. Because the best GT rider left, started with a 2 minute bonus.
My point also was that nobody raced any different because of the results of the cobbles stage. Name me one rider who raced differently in the mountains because of time lost on the cobbles stage. I can't think of any. And because I can't think of any, I find the whole cobbles stage too much of a risk to be put in a Tour. Although it would have been perfectly fine if it had been dry probably. But any stage you know beforehand will be carnage when it does rain, shouldn't be put in.

That you go from my post to putting riders on stationary bikes, just shows to me that you don't know what you are talking about. One has nothing to do with the other and you (should) know that. I'm all for twisty descents, stages with multiple hills/mountains were you can use your team. Racing is more than just power output. It is also about saving your energy for the right moment, picking your moment to attack. Who to follow and who not. And true, not crashing is part of it too. Besides, probably none of the names you mention would win if it comes to power output over 200km on a stationary bike.

I know that if it was on stationary bike then Tony martin would be multiple GT winner but apparently for most people here those 4 (well, not Nibali according to some) are legit potential GC winnners (if somebody else wins its a fluke).
Other riders didnt ride differently because nobody could match Nibali. It would be different story if Froome and Contador were there (as proved by Tinkoff-Saxo's revealed tactic for stage 10). So cobbles did force other contenders to do things differently, unfortunately Alberto crashed out before executing that plan, so we were robbed of a spectacle that was beautifuly set up by the cobbles stage. And it wasnt a carnage. NOBODY dropped out because of cobbles. If I remember correctly, outside of couple punctures there werent any problems, so when did this carnage happen? Yes, it is also for saving energy and picking your moments to attack, and why not include bike handling skills on that list as well (major aspect in cobbles)? The point I am trying to make, is just because some contenders dont like/dont want to practice/can't ride cobbles, it doesnt mean they shouldnt be put in the race because they provide excitement. Stage 5 was arguably the best stage in entire Tour