Reflections on the 2009 Tour de France

[auscyclefan94]

What is your opinion on the tour this year? Please rate the tour out of 10.

 

[groverjones]

I always love the Tour, but this year was quite boring overall. What made up for the lack of more mountain finishes for me was the quality of the breakaway victories.

 

[hfer07]

this year's Tour was "a bit of a joke"

 

[Dr. Maserati]

this year's Tour was "a bit of a joke"

......."come on"?

 

[palmerq]

I thought is was quite good. I gave it 7. The sprints were pretty boring and sundays will be again, but you cant blame him really, but still for entertainment it was boring, but this created some good moments from thor. There had been a few breakaway wins too, although i think these get overrated and the french havn´t really had a good tour,only good inn the sense that they´ve been so rubbish for a long time :S, but they were still entertaining, feillu winning was nice. Contadors attacking stye made it good watching even though it looked clear he would be in yellow. Wiggins too did well to keep the podium battle interesting, nibali too did better than i thought. Well done to armstrong he did good too, even if I think his comeback has been a bit of a let down so far. But overall the podiumm battle was going on right till the end, the green jersey too. I think the 2nd week was not great bt once they got to the alpes it was close to top class :S. Not a brilliant tour, but certainly not a rubbish tour and I think traffic on this site and forum will show how much intrest people had in ti right till the end.

 

[clydesdale]

Well I'm an Andy Schleck fan and have a certain affinity for Contador as well so naturally I enjoyed it to the extent that the result was almost what I'd hoped for (but pretty much what I expected). The problem is, there was 2 boring weeks to start the tour which knocked it down a few pegs. I gave it a seven.

Also, I believe someone on here owes me an apology as I said I hoped for an Andy Schleck podium and they laughed at me. I honestly don't know who it was though.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I'd say the first two weeks were probably the most boring Tour I'd ever seen. But things did pick up in the final week and we did see some good racing. So I'd say below average, mostly because of the course, and riders not taking many risks, but not as bad as it was looking for a while.

hfer07's "bit of a joke" comment was a reference to Lance's description on last year's Tour.

Whoever voted a 10 must be a huge Contador fan.

 

[pedaling squares]

I gave this TdF a 6. Some great moments - I could watch AC & AS hit each other with attacks for all 21 stages. Fellieu and Haussler's stage victories. And LA's comeback to a podium position was very impressive.

There were some boring moments, but what do you expect on a long, hot, flat stage? It is the Tour de France, not the Tour des Alpes. Also, too many would-be contenders for the GC and points competitions were disappointments.

But what bothered me the most about this tour was that, in a year without positive drug tests, so much of the talk was about events that did not involve racing. Garmin vs Columbia, Cavendish vs Hushovd, Sastre vs the Spanish press, Cadel discussing his bowel movements, Astana vs Astana.... give me a break.

 

[The Barb]

The Good:

Mark Cavendish - Won EVERY bunch sprint he contested. The best sprinter ever?
Alberto Contador - The best climber and the best time-trialist. On another level.
Podium girls - Was it just me or were they of a higher standard this year?
Thor Hushovd - A class act. Memorable mountain breakaway the highlight.
Franco Pellizotti - Brought a little meaning to the otherwise near meaningless polka dot.
The Schleck brothers - Animated the race and seem like nice kids.
Matt Keenan - Phenomenal young broadcaster.


The Bad:

Mark Cavendish - Grow up you petulant little boy.
Alberto Contador - Drug questions are entitled to be asked. Answer them.
Podium girls - Are they not a massively outdated concept?
The course and the unfairness of the team time trial (obviously)
Ligget and Sherwin (even more obviously)
The media obsession with Armstrong v Contador
Rabobank - Sorry, one stage win doesn't make everything else ok.
No positive drug tests - This is not a good thing. Something is going on.
Crowds interfering with riders - A little can be accepted but shooting is going a little too far.
All sprinting teams except Columbia - It was like you weren't even trying.

Overall .... I say 4/10.

 

[auscyclefan94]

The good and The bad at the Tour '09

The Good
Alberto Contador - amazing, dominating ride. Reminds me of Armstrong in 2001
Thor Hushovd - King of Green with class and dignity. What a great season.
Astana in fighting -always has given everyone on the forum alot of arguments
Matt Keenan - the real voice of cycling.
Thomas Voeckler -my favourite stage was his win.
Andy Schleck -even though he lost by 4 minutes he was a real protaginist

The Bad
Cadel Evans - terrible ride. peaked too early. Hoping to see a better Cadel at Vuelta and TDF next year. Needs to move teams
Carlos Sastre - bad ride from the start from defending champion. Not at his best.
Denis Menchov - from giro to tour. from hero to zero. could work on bike handling skills
Phil Liggett - lets just say he was terrible
Mark Cavendish - he has won 5 stages but has shown what a p*ick he is.
Christian Prudhomme - a bad route based around Ventoux. TTT course was terrible + too descisive and the first 2 weeks were boring. Even Mont Ventoux wasn't spectacular like Prudhomme hoped for.
Silence Lotto - who can a bunch of dills run a cycling team. They have no clue what it takes to win a tour de france. Other than McEwan and Evans what have they really acheived over the past few years?

Overall I give this tour a 4/10 even with a stronger field. Last Years tour i gave a 7/10

 

[TrudyTas]

What I really enjoyed:
* battles between Saxo and Astana - JB and BR great tacticians
* Haussler's great ride on stage 13 - no one else could keep up in the cold and rain
* breakaways not being brought back as expected
* breakaways not staying away when expected
* Matt Keenan's commentary and scenery
* really excited winners - Haussler, Sorensen, Feillu
* Pellizotti refocus on the Polka dot and do it with style
* Thor fighting for cred from the Manxman
* Wiggins, Nibali and Millar
* The way AG2R pulled once they had the MJ


What I didn't enjoy so much:
* a dominant team (Astana) removing excitement from the race by simply being so dominant - hopefully next year the top riders will be more evenly spread across teams - can't wait to see LA trying to keep up with AC, AS
* obvious stuff ups by SBS commentators
* the media obsession with LA
* the lack of sparks flying in the Pyrenees
* Jens' crash!
...

 

[Bagster]

I'd say the first two weeks were probably the most boring Tour I'd ever seen. But things did pick up in the final week and we did see some good racing. So I'd say below average, mostly because of the course, and riders not taking many risks, but not as bad as it was looking for a while.

hfer07's "bit of a joke" comment was a reference to Lance's description on last year's Tour.

Whoever voted a 10 must be a huge Contador fan.

Agreed. There were some good individual stages but in terms of any GC tension it had about zero. It was really a foregone conclusion after the TTT barring accidents. It was bad enough when Lance was in his heyday, wondering who would be second. This year we only got to wonder who would be third! The whole of the ASO jewel in the crown Ventoux stage ended up being focussed around whether Wiggo, LA or Frank would get the bronze.

 

[pankadog]

It is such a shame that Phil Ligget (and his whole team) is so one sided. Saying Contador does not have the brains of Lance Armstrong??? He has proven that he is the strongest both physically and mentally. He was able to break through the pressure put on him by Armstrong for three weeks. He ignored the criticism that he "hurt" the team. Why was that never mentioned when Armstrong dropped Levi, Landis or Hamilton when he was riding for himself. Saying that Contador doesn't have the intelligence to build a strong team??? Bruyneel builds/built the team not Armstrong. Shame on the commentators for being so one sided (and frequently not recognizing the riders during stages). I wish I don't have the listen to the same next year.

 

[scribe]

Is there an echo in here?

 

[scribe]

Is there an echo in here?

 

[Cobber]

The Good
Alberto Contador - amazing, dominating ride. Reminds me of Armstrong in 2001
Thor Hushovd - King of Green with class and dignity. What a great season.
Astana in fighting -always has given everyone on the forum alot of arguments
Matt Keenan - the real voice of cycling.
Thomas Voeckler -my favourite stage was his win.
Andy Schleck -even though he lost by 4 minutes he was a real protaginist

The Bad
Cadel Evans - terrible ride. peaked too early. Hoping to see a better Cadel at Vuelta and TDF next year. Needs to move teams
Carlos Sastre - bad ride from the start from defending champion. Not at his best.
Denis Menchov - from giro to tour. from hero to zero. could work on bike handling skills
Phil Liggett - lets just say he was terrible
Mark Cavendish - he has won 5 stages but has shown what a p*ick he is.
Christian Prudhomme - a bad route based around Ventoux. TTT course was terrible + too descisive and the first 2 weeks were boring. Even Mont Ventoux wasn't spectacular like Prudhomme hoped for.
Silence Lotto - who can a bunch of dills run a cycling team. They have no clue what it takes to win a tour de france. Other than McEwan and Evans what have they really acheived over the past few years?

Overall I give this tour a 4/10 even with a stronger field. Last Years tour i gave a 7/10

+1.. agree almost entirely. I would add:

Good
Haussler's stage win

Bad
In addition to the bad route, the lack of some good tough mountains nearer the start stopped Andy Schleck really showing us what he had. A stage like the Columbiere stage at the end of the first week could really have had some fireworks. And yes, the organisers idea to leave all the action until the end was completely destroyed by the TTT.

 

[Cobber]

Is there an echo in here?

Nope - that is just inside your head.

 

[hfer07]

It is such a shame that Phil Ligget (and his whole team) is so one sided. Saying Contador does not have the brains of Lance Armstrong??? He has proven that he is the strongest both physically and mentally. He was able to break through the pressure put on him by Armstrong for three weeks. He ignored the criticism that he "hurt" the team. Why was that never mentioned when Armstrong dropped Levi, Landis or Hamilton when he was riding for himself. Saying that Contador doesn't have the intelligence to build a strong team??? Bruyneel builds/built the team not Armstrong. Shame on the commentators for being so one sided (and frequently not recognizing the riders during stages). I wish I don't have the listen to the same next year.

Phil's Parkinson is starting to get worse by the day....

 

[skippy]

the more often i ride the route of the tour the more i expect of it.

the giro this year was easily more enjoyable,sunny&co

mbatative.

knowing conquistador was in a class of his own predicted the result for me. the dauphinee was the preview and would have tipped off everyone to a big,clear,decisive win for alberto!

lance has proved that he can ride more than one tour and it would be no great surprise to see him at the vuelta!

lance would have great business sense in asking alberto to captain some of the events in 2010, perhaps even the tdf!

6/10 less aussies than 1998 and 2nd team results but wiggo is just starting so look at him like murray versus henman!

 

[luckyboy]

4/10 - Much more of a joke than last year

 

[Polkadot09]

5 out of 10.

Bad route, not enough mountain finishes. Alberto was simply in a class of his own, only Andy can keep up in the hills. Andy's attacks were great, Nibali looks good for the the future and so does Van den Broeck. Astana dominated the GC, Columbia dominated the finishes. Glad to see some good breakaway victories.

Congrats to Alberto and Andy for some great climbing, next few years should bring some classic battles between these 2, can't wait. How much time would they have put into everyone else if Ventoux was earlier in the race?

More mountain top finishes next year please with no TTT or a very short one at most.

 

[elapid]

5/10 - saved by the last week. The Tour organizers did themselves a disservice by trying to keep the overall open until the final week because it made for a boring first two weeks. My goods and bads:

Good
1. Contador - deserving winner, underrated by many commentators, and did well in what I imagine would be a difficult internal environment
2. Pellizzotti - shifted focus and won the polka dot jersey with style and grace
3. Hushovd - won the green jersey with a magnificent display in the mountains and good consistency throughout the Tour
4. Cav's sprinting dominance
5. More successful breaks than most other years
6. Stage wins by the likes of Haussler, Voekler, Astarloza and Feillu
7. The Schleck brothers for animating the race
8. Wiggins - remarkable performance
9. Nocenti and AG2R for doing the yellow jersey justice
10. Nibali and Kreuziger - two talented riders who hopefully will go a long way in the future
11. Lance's third place considering his age and time away when retired
12. SaxoBank and Astana team tactics - fascinating to watch

Bad
1. Course - boring for two weeks, not enough mountain top finishes or difficult climbs, and too many climbs neutralized by downhill finishes
2. TTT - either don't include it or modify the time differences because it has too much of an impact on the overall when this competition should be settled by individual performances, not team performances
3. Astana infighting and Bruyneel antagonizing it rather than settling it down
4. Armstrong and Levi twitters
5. Cancellara whining about Evans in a break and motorbikes helping Contador win the last iTT
6. Peloton's reaction to the race radio ban experiment
7. Disappointing performances by the likes of Evans, Sastre and Menchov
8. Not enough competition for Cav and Columbia-HTC in the sprints
9. Versus commentary - biased to the point of sickening

 

[pmcg76]

Well the Tour was effectively over the TTT, at the time I said it was between Alberto & Lance but LA was not as strong as I thought he would be. Then nothing happened for nearly 2 weeks, this helped to keep the GC tight but if you design a course like this year, then nothing will happen.

The last week was a bit exciting but it couldnt have been anything else really. It was all a bit contrived. Having Astana as the super team didnt help matters either. It was a circus with Astana, some people enjoy that but I would watch wrestling if I wanted that rubbish.

Cavendish is a super, super sprinter but quickly making me really dislike him, will soon be in the same category as LA if he continues his ways.

This 2007 winners being poor this year is irrelevant as Andy Schleck only finished 12th last year but was 2nd this year.

Surpsrise for me was Bradley Wiggins, really happy for him, just hope he has not turned to the dark side.

The French also had a good Tour which was great to see, it is their race & country after all.

Nicolas Roche, never mentioned but seems to have inherited his old mans nose for sniffing out the breaks. Top 25 in his debut Tour not bad at all, a real all-rounder. Just needed a stage to add some gloss.

I can safely say this Tour will not go into my Top 10 of the last 25 years but can also predict 2010 will be alot better if they dont include the TTT. Roll on the Vuelta.

 

[tigerboy]

Arguably shows the need for a sprinters classification which the Maillot Vert in NOT. Cav 6-1 in stage wins but Thor 10-8 in top ten finishes and was out of the top 100 only 7 compared to Cav's 10.

Thor legit Green jersey on CONSISTENT FINISHING which is what the Vert is about but is there an argument for a real bona fide sprinters jersey? I just throw this out for discussion.

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

I don't think we need a "sprinter" classification: one just need to take a look at the number of stages won to see who was the best at sprinting.