Richie Porte Discussion Thread.

[gregrowlerson]

Yes.

And I agree that Catalunya, even if it was old, was probably not that prolific for a long time of its history. And there was a different Catalan stage race that was more prestigious (the Setmana Catalana).

Probably historically it was only PN and Swiss that were pretty significant. Before the 90's grand tour riders also raced the classics.

Once stage racers became more specialised is probably when Basque Country and others became bigger, when grand tour riders would ride that instead of the cobbled races. Contador being probably the perfect example.