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Rate the Vuelta a España 2017

How good was the Vuelta?

  • 1

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 1 1.2%
  • 4

    Votes: 1 1.2%
  • 5

    Votes: 3 3.6%
  • 6

    Votes: 10 11.9%
  • 7

    Votes: 24 28.6%
  • 8

    Votes: 32 38.1%
  • 9

    Votes: 9 10.7%
  • 10

    Votes: 4 4.8%

  • Total voters
    84
  • Poll closed .
Lets hear what people have to say. Maybe the Contador fans need to wait a few days voting, otherwise I suspect we will end up with lots of heat-of-the-moment 10's :D

I couldn't decide between 7 and 8. Easily the best GT this year since the Giro was mediocre and the Tour downright horrible. The huge plusses were the almost non-existent sprint stages and Contador's many great attacks, the minuses were the uber strong Sky-team and no Valverde or Purito. They will always be synonymous with the Vuelta for me, especially the former.

Screw it, lets say 8, I was entertained.
 
I give it a 7.

Contador did a great job of animating the race but it was clear that no one could really beat Froome. It was similar to the Tour if you replace Aru with Nibali: win a stage early on, form looks to be improving, final week hype, in the end form was not there to defeat Sky train.

Only 8 months till the next GT :lol:
 
There as a glimmer of hope for a GC battle in the end, but that was rather anticlimactic. Contador got an incredibly satisfying goodbye that was so much better than I could've imagined after Andorra. Few sprint stages, a few nice breakaway battles. Too much Sky Train for my taste...

8 I guess?
 
Re:

Dazed and Confused said:
A poor GC season overall, 2017.
Agreed.
I'm going 7, because it was a pretty good GC, but it could have been improved, Sky basically messed it up with their train, else I'd suspect it would have been more interesting. Being Polish, I can't really winge either :eek: ;). Either way, we basically had 3 sprints (including tomorrow) which is good, and on most days at least SOMETHING happened, which is also an advantage. There were some stages that would be improved with just a few tweaks, but on the whole, really enjoyable.
 
Objectively, the course design was the best out of the three grand tours and it was raced at a higher level than the other two grand tours.

However, the GC battle was rather anticlimactic and 2017 was not a great year in general when it came to late race GC suspense.

Great win for Contador to finish his career, though.
 
Aug 16, 2013
7,620
2
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I can't help to compare it with the Tour. Every race is the best race ever comparing that French monster.

Allright, a 7.5. We did have some very good stages (Sagunt, Antequera, Los Machucos, Santo Toribio, Angliru) and an exciting fight for the podium. Actually the hilly 'transitional' stages were really good because they were designed properly. It's something the Vuelta-organisation should do more often in the future.

The mountain stages were decent, but not really Vuelta-style due to a (too) strong Sky train. It wasn't due to the route, which was fine, but too much control of one team is something the Vuelta is now affected with too. And with the current developments (the signings of Sivakov and Bernal), i fear that's not going to change.

Some other positive things this Vuelta:
- The breakthrough of MA Lopez as the new super climber
- The first pro win of Sander Armee
- The rehabilitation of Keldermerckx as a proper GC-guy
- The fact Zakarin gets his reward for his positive, agressive racing approach
- The fact Matteo Trentin already showed he will a great team leader at ORICA
- The great win by Denifl on Los Machucos (one of the best wins of this year imho)

Some disappointments:
- The lack of firepower by ORICA, on paper one of the strongest teams in the race
- The struggle of Fabio Aru
- The letdown of Kruiswijk in the first two weeks
- The way UAE rode this Vuelta

But the big winner this Vuelta: Louis Meintjes. What a race!

Ow, and one thing: Muchisimas gracias Alberto. Tu eres un gran campeon. Para siempre en nuestros corazones!
 
Jul 5, 2011
858
0
0
8. Easily the best GT this year. Still serious issues to be addressed re 400 watt Skytrains etc, but what a grand exit from Bertie and some promising performances from the likes of Denefil, Lopez and Majka. There is hope.
 
Aug 21, 2011
467
0
9,280
A seven for me. I love La Vuelta. It has been my favourite GT for a long time. However this year it hasn't seemed quite the same. I missed seeing Valverde, the race doesn't seem quite the same without him and Purito. Carlos Bettancur's crash was a low point as well. I would also have liked to have seen the stage wins being shared out a bit more between teams. Then of course there was the way Sky rode, it was almost like watching the TDF. A shame that there was no real feeling that Froome was going to be challenged from really early on in the race. On the plus side there were some nice stage wins for riders like Miguel Ángel López and it was good to see Aqua Blue take a stage with Denifil. Fortunately as well we did still have Alberto riding and being prepared to attack. Great that he won on the Angliru and that Spain got a stage win at last.
 
9/10 for me, easily the best GT of the year. Always difficult to think what might have been but if Contador hadn't been ill in Andorra and lost all that time it could have been truly spectacular. Most have outlined the good points well but highlights for me were:

- Properly designed transitional stages which were animated on many occasions by Contador attacking
- Finally a breakaway win for De Ghent after 17 (?) attempts this year in GTs
- Introduction of some exciting new climbs, los Muchacos was brutal and fine win for Denial
- What a way to end his career for Contador on el Anglíru

The main downside for me was the Sky train, just too strong. Moscon's transformation after his "break" raises the old Father Ted question:

via Imgflip Meme Generator