Review of the tour!

[hscoach2]

Best win of the tour?
Hushovd on the cobbles
Best Stage of the tour?
I like Avoriaz because I was there, but probably Tourmalet

Quote of the tour...
I have a belly full of anger, and I want my revenge"

Dissappointment of the tour?
The usual, riders like Frank Schleck, Evans and Armstrong having crashes take them out of the running, or even the tour.

Surprise of the tour?
I won't say Hesjedal, because as Canadian I already was aware of his high placings in shorter stage races and the Ardenne classics, and his mountain stage win in the Vuelta.

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf?
More of the same, although I just read a Contador quotation hinting that he would do the Giro/Vuelta (refreshing imo, that he is not going to focus entirely on the Tour)

 

[Magnus]

Daft question of the day: what is "high", the 1 or the 10?

10. Because 10 is the highest

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Best win of the tour? Vinokourov in Revel
Best Stage of the tour? Revel
Quote of the tour... - "I descended like a old granny in a wheelchair" (Gesink about the downhill of the Madeleine)
Dissapointment of the tour? Lannce Armstrong, Bradley Wiggins and their respective teams
Surprise of the tour? Ryder Hesjedal and Jurgen Vandenbroeck surpassed themselves. Nice going!
What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf? More excitement please

Tour gets a 6, just passable...

 

[The Hitch]

Can't find the exact quote or author, but I believe I was commentary from Eurosport "Its often you come around a curve and find a Euskaltel rider on the ground"

That was said by Gustav Erich Larsson on Sweedish tv and repeated for our benefit by some member from Sweeden i believe.

 

[sublimit]

Best win of the tour - Vino on stage 13

Quote of the tour - Wiggans saying he was riding mediocre and Sastre about waiting for fallen riders but i dont remember the exact quotes

Disappointment of the tour -Ciolek, class sprinter but he didnt turn up

Surprise of the tour? - Hesjedal

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf? - More rolling stages.

 

[cavfan11]

By far my favourite moment of this year's tour!

Agreed! Speaking of which does anybody have any pictures of that?

 

[VeloGirl]

Best win of the tour? Thor on Cobbles.

Best Stage of the tour? Mmm..Probably the cobbles, but I did like the Tourmalet on Stage 17 - only to see everyone's faces when they finished. They were beaten down. Their eyes were hollow.

Quote of the tour... "You'll just be riding along and there they'll be, lying in the road road like a bleeding carrot" Matt Lloyd talking about Euskaltel. LOL!

Dissapointment of the tour? Thor Hushovd. I love Thor. I love him escaping in the mountains and getting points. But, I was disappointed in his sprint. It seems to be declining every year.

Surprise of the tour? Jurgan VDB.

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf? Watching Andy and Alberto fight it out on the mountains (Hopefully. Bring back time bonuses!!)

 

[ak-zaaf]

Best win of the tour?
Me in my office game. €100 my way \o/
And Vino, but that's obvious

Best Stage of the tour?
Arenberg

Quote of the tour...
"I'll stab Andy Schleck" ACF94

Dissapointment of the tour?
Kreuziger

Surprise of the tour?
Charteau's KOM win. Wiggins not even being among the 3rd group.

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf?
An Armstrong free TDF.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Best win of the tour? Pierrick Fedrigo over lance! Nah, really it would be thor's win on the cobbles.
Best Stage of the tour? Stage 3
Quote of the tour? Come back to you on that one!
Dissapointment of the tour? Roman Kreuziger, I expected more from this guy and he had a decent team behind him.
Surprise of the tour? Hesjedal
What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf? Greipel challenging Cav in the sprints and cadel challenging ftw next year. Also hoping for a better route.

 

[ericthesportsman6]

Voted 6, the Alps were good, but the Pyrennes awful.

Best Win of the Tour? Frances triple in the Pyrennes. If I have to vote for one, Fredrigo looked amazing on stage 16, strongest on the climb, strongest in the sprint.

Best Stage of the Tour? Cobbles and the Madeline stage

Quote of the Tour? Carlos Sastre's spoiled little brats rant.

Dissapointment of the Tour Liquigas in general, but especially Kreuziger.

Surprise of the Tour? Hesjedal and VDB

What are looking forward to in the 2011 TDF? The likely return of a number of dopers, especially Ricco.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Here;s my qoute of the tour:

"The guy has great parcours" - Mike Tomalaris talking about Chavanel's career I think.

 

[old_bram]

Best win of the tour? - Vinokourov
Best Stage of the tour? - Stage 3 (for putting the life back in the tour after Stage 2)
Quote of the tour... - The "bleeding carrots" still gets me now.
Dissapointment of the tour? - Stage 2
Surprise of the tour? - Hesjedal
What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf? - The focus being the race!

 

[Lyds97]

Best win:
Thor on the cobbles. Showed his strength as a power rider, not a sprinter.

Best stage:
Stage 3, happily not the anticlimax I had feared. Also the Alpine stages were more exciting than expected.

Quote of the Tour:
Phil's analysis of Sanchez' descending skills

Disappointment of the Tour:
Bradley Wiggins. I wasn't expecting him to perform as well as last year but would have liked to be proven wrong.

Surprise of the Tour:
Six French wins. Also Vals Ferri.

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 Tour?
Alpe d'Huez is always a spectacle. Also the continued development of young riders who did well this year. More excited about the Vuelta at the moment though

 

[auscyclefan94]

pescheux has said that there could be a possible summit finish on either alpe d huez or the galibier?

The galibier mtf prospect sounds exciting!

 

[nvpacchi]

Best win of the tour? Bbox back to back victories.

Best Stage of the tour? Col de la Madeleine stage

Quote of the tour Liggett telling off Sherwen when Gesink flatted en route to Pau sarcastically asking should the peloton wait for him.

Disappointment of the tour? Was expecting lots from Taarame, Neutralizing stage 2

Surprise of the tour? VDB2

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf? Txurruka stage win!

 

[kennyc]

pescheux has said that there could be a possible summit finish on either alpe d huez or the galibier?

The galibier mtf prospect sounds exciting!

The Cycling News article doesn't seem to indicate a mtf -

According to information published in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, the 2011 Tour de France will climb the Galibier again and technical director Jean-Francois Pescheux also hinted there would be a stage finish at L'Alpe d'Huez.

They will climb the Galibier again, but I doubt they finish there.

 

[karlboss]

Best win of the tour? Vino...after the disappointment at mende, and the work he did through the tour, this one made me smile.

Best Stage of the tour? 9 casar's win, I like mountains followed by decents followed by a short flat portion. This stage there was something on offer for the stage and GC.

Quote of the tour...bleeding carrots is pretty amusing

Dissapointment of the tour? Frank crashing out, while sorenson could thin the field to 15 Frank could have thinned it to 5, tactics would have completely changed.

Surprise of the tour? Tour appears to have been won at 6w/kg

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf? Alberto and Andy for GC, Greipel and Cav in the Sprints, Cancellara and Martin in the TTs, Frank supporting Andy, new team lineups.


Why such a low rating for the tour overall? It was no Giro, but surely far better than 09. Close between 1 and 2, 3 and 4 a surprise 5...Variety of stage winners, competitive Green and polkadots...is it just that the expected winner won, or needed a cheap 40 seconds to do it?

 

[blaxland]

Best Win of the Tour:Thor Hushovd

Best stage of the Tour:Stage 3 Cobbles

Quote of the Tour:None

Dissapointment of the Tour:Wiggins failure to back up from last year,Cancelling the stage 2,No one except Schleck,Contador attacking in the mts,etc

Surprise of the tour:Gesink not having a crash

What are you Looking forward to in the 2011 TDF?More agressive riding,More MTF's,More ITT kms and a Lance free TDF.

 

[dsut4392]

Daft question of the day: what is "high", the 1 or the 10?

You really must be pedantic if you think it makes a difference whether you vote "5" or "6" to express how underwhelming the tour was It wasn't a tour to excite the emotions in either direction...

 

[auscyclefan94]

The Cycling News article doesn't seem to indicate a mtf -

They will climb the Galibier again, but I doubt they finish there.

Wrong!
In 2009 the Tour's final mountain stage finished at the summit of Mont Ventoux and at the summit of the Tourmalet this year. The 2011 Tour de France could decided with a finish at the summit of the Galibier or perhaps at L'Alpe d'Huez.

 

[Roland Rat]

Best win of the tour?
Cav's sprint of redemption, the day after he looked a broken man.

Best Stage of the tour?
Stage 9.

Quote of the tour...
Nothing stands out.

Disappointment of the tour?
The love-in on the Tourmalet, and Contador gifting Schleck the stage.

Surprise of the tour?
The French winning 6 stages, many in the mountains.

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf?
The Lance circus not taking over the Tour. But that's quite a negative "looking forward to" thing. On the positive side, Sky having a year's experience, and hopefully Geraint Thomas taking another step up in performance and Peter Kennaugh getting some experience.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Best win of the tour?
Cav's sprint of redemption, the day after he looked a broken man.

Best Stage of the tour?
Stage 9.

Quote of the tour...
Nothing stands out.

Disappointment of the tour?
The love-in on the Tourmalet, and Contador gifting Schleck the stage.

Surprise of the tour?
The French winning 6 stages, many in the mountains.

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf?
The Lance circus not taking over the Tour. But that's quite a negative "looking forward to" thing. On the positive side, Sky having a year's experience, and hopefully Geraint Thomas taking another step up in performance and Peter Kennaugh getting some experience.

- Dare to dream...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

No one except Schleck,Contador attacking in the mts,etc

Did Menchov not attack when he and Sánchez gained time on the bromancers?

 

[Roland Rat]

- Dare to dream...

Coming from you?

 

[LoveShack]

Best win of the tour? Schleck attacking in Stage 8 in Morzine and out sprinting Samuel Sanchez for the stage win. Alberto finished 10 seconds back. It clearly sent the message that Andy was capable of giving Alberto a struggle and this was not a one man race.

Best Stage of the tour? Stage 8: Excitment from start to finish and day that Lance "left enough skin on the pavement to feed the entire town of Morzine".

Quote of the tour? "If John Gadret is found dead in his hotel room in the morning, I will probably be the primary suspect." Nicolas Roche after Gadret refused to give him a bike when he punctured his wheel while lying 14th in the GC during Stage 16. He added later "As he sat beside me on the team bus I had great difficulty in not putting his head through the nearest window."

Dissapointment of the tour? Jani Brajkovic After winning the Dauphine including an impressive counter to numerous attacks by El Pistelero, I really expected him to show something at some point during the tour. I realize he was a domestique, but he consistently did even worse than expected, dropped on almost every single surge, and had a horrible TT.

Surprise of the tour? Roche, baby, he's coming up....watch out!!! Thanks for giving us Irish fans something to smile about, Nicolas!

What are you looking forward to in the 2011 tdf? More balance, more contendors, and more riders capable of attacking and doing so in the mountains. Also, more finishes at the top of mountains and get rid of any semblance of stages like 16 with the mountain climbs in the first 50 -100 kms and the last 80 kms being flat. I'd rather watch a 50 km quickie race ending at the top or the bottom of the last mountain.