"Tour de Bore"

[Cimber]

this is clean cycling. you are not going to see massive digs and solo mountain wins for the contenders.

the riders need to adjust to the new mentality, give it a couple of years and we will have interesting racing again.

AS did it last year

 

[Clemson Cycling]

2009 was a terrible races as well with Astana dominating the whole thing and Contador running away with the show

 

[joe_papp]

Even the Froome v Wiggins drama fizzled out to nothing. That was totally p1ssweak and lame. Bring back Armstrong. He would have thrown Froome's wheels out and stole the team car!

It's such a lame Tour. It's like a 21 day charity ride that on occasions breaks out into a race.

+1. The most exciting moments were of course Vino's failed break w/ Albasini this weekend, and then his almost getting into the winning break today. If the Tour can be this boring WITH Vino (even though he is subpar, I admit), imagine how boring it would/will be w/o him!

Keep Vino, bring back Armstrong, Floyd, Pantani, Rìccò, sprinter-Cavendish, et al.

 

[Thee_chisa]

AS did it last year

who are you, yoda?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

We'be already hit the nail on the head in this thread. If Nibali, a board darling, was winning, there'd be no complaints from anyone.

I seem to recall a lot of positivity towards Hesjedal, but more or less everybody condemned the lack of action in the Giro.

As a brit, its funny to say, but I've not got a lot out of the GC "battle". I should be enjoying us put 'em to the sword but its just too cold and clinical to really excite. I'm enjoying it but it doesn't get you thinking about it 24/7 like, say, 2003 did.

I guess part of it is that unlike the days of Robert Millar, the top British contenders are great riders, but they're not the riders with the 'wow' factor, they're not going away from everybody in the mountains with burst and acceleration that ignites the GC battle, they're just slowly winding the tempo up until others drop. Just as effective, but more slow-burning. But fans find the explosive stuff more entertaining, and I'm no different. Chris Froome might be the guy with that explosive acceleration, as we saw in fits and bursts in the Vuelta (OK, on Peña Cabarga and for a handful of seconds on El Vivero), but as long as his wings are being clipped we don't know. Emma Pooley is hands down the most exciting British rider in the péloton.

this is clean cycling. you are not going to see massive digs and solo mountain wins for the contenders.

the riders need to adjust to the new mentality, give it a couple of years and we will have interesting racing again.

The 80s were cleaner than the 90s, but the racing was more exciting. I see cycling as most definitely cleanER, but not necessarily clean, so I don't feel too unfair in judging it against the 80s. This race is reminiscent of the 2009 Vuelta, only there at least the gaps were small enough that there was the HOPE somebody would try to attack Valverde. I hope you're right, otherwise 2012 reminds me of the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, the first race after they banned refuelling again; every single team decided to play safe on tyre strategy because they didn't know what to do now they actually had to race on track rather than do the calculations with the computers on fuel mileage, and the race was mind-numbingly tedious.

2009 was a terrible races as well with Astana dominating the whole thing and Contador running away with the show

That was probably the worst GT I've ever seen. This is nothing on it. At least this one hasn't been soft-pedalled and hasn't had a TTT. Imagine how awful this race would have been with a long TTT like 2009! 3 MTFs, of which one was Arcalis and another was only 8km long maximum. Insanity.

Then again, stage 17 that year was probably the finest stage Prudhomme has created to date.

 

[p1gnone]

After stage 12 there's only the one long time trial that distinguishes leaders. Only 11 and 12 with mtf! WTF. This is the least interesting TdF in my memory, 25+ years of close following. Very disappointing.

 

[p1gnone]

this is clean cycling. you are not going to see massive digs and solo mountain wins for the contenders.

the riders need to adjust to the new mentality, give it a couple of years and we will have interesting racing again.

Its not the riders that suck, but the fact that contender focus stages are minimal: MTF 11 12 ITT 9, 19. All others are for sprinters, and day racers not a threat to GC.

I m happy with less explosive, uber-jazzed cyclists , but push them hard, and let them scrap for 3 weeks not just two weeks,. This final week has but one day that distinguishes contenders.

 

[step23]

This Tour is even more embarrassing than boring. Things like Twiggy pulls a Merckx, Froom pulls a Kohl and SkyPostal pull a USPS/Discovery are really disgusting (I mean Cav leading the group into 1cat climb is just something).

 

[Thee_chisa]

Its not the riders that suck, but the fact that contender focus stages are minimal: MTF 11 12 ITT 9, 19. All others are for sprinters, and day racers not a threat to GC.

I m happy with less explosive, uber-jazzed cyclists , but push them hard, and let them scrap for 3 weeks not just two weeks,. This final week has but one day that distinguishes contenders.

but they are not going to fight so hard as recovery is more difficult in clean times. 1-2 strong attacks a week is what you can expect.

 

[BroDeal]

Starting with 2009 the ASO has designed the courses to produce Tours like this.

First, the opportunities for the GC men have been limited to produce close races, especially in the first 75% of the race. This is supposed to be exciting even though there is nothing for the GC riders to do for most of the Tour. Ideally the ASO wants the GC contest to come down to the last few days. It did not work out this year because of UK Postal.

Second, several mountainous stages are designed so that the GC contenders will not bother fighting it out for the stage. Instead those stages will be won by a breakaway rider, which has a good chance of being French. This is the reason for mountain stages being wasted with a downhill finish and, sometimes, a flat afterward. The GC guys won't expend any effort when they know that cannot get clear to the finish, so they will let a break go. This is also the reason why there are no time bonifications any more. That eliminates the motivation for the GC racers to chase a break and gain twenty seconds with a win.

Get used to it. This is what the ASO wants.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Starting with 2009 the ASO has designed the courses to produce Tours like this...

Get used to it. This is what the ASO wants.

ASO better be careful. If this turns into a regular thing over the next couple years (giving them the benefit of the doubt that since 2009 is just an abberration), then people will stop watching telecasts until they come up with better parcours. People will still flock to the roadside, but TV viewers will start to disappear.

 

[Finn84]

That was probably the worst GT I've ever seen. This is nothing on it. At least this one hasn't been soft-pedalled and hasn't had a TTT. Imagine how awful this race would have been with a long TTT like 2009! 3 MTFs, of which one was Arcalis and another was only 8km long maximum. Insanity.

Then again, stage 17 that year was probably the finest stage Prudhomme has created to date.

At least that year TTT wasn't 60+ km like it was in Armstrong/USPS era.
2003, the closest overall of those years

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 83h 41' 12"
2 Jan Ullrich (GER) Bianchi +1' 01"
3 Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ) Telekom +4' 14"
4 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC +6' 17"
5 Haimar Zubeldia (ESP) Euskaltel +6' 51"
6 Iban Mayo (ESP) Euskaltel +7' 06"

TTT results with those teams.
1 US Postal presented by Berry Floor 1.18.27
3 Team Bianchi 0.43
6 Team Telekom 1.30
10 Team CSC 1.45
18 Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.22

ONCE was second, half a minute behind US Postal, but as many remember they lost Beloki in that horrible crash.

 

[guncha]

ASO better be careful. If this turns into a regular thing over the next couple years (giving them the benefit of the doubt that since 2009 is just an abberration), then people will stop watching telecasts until they come up with better parcours. People will still flock to the roadside, but TV viewers will start to disappear.

TDF 09 was disappointment to me and this one is about as bad. It means there have been two failed routes in four years.
I have been watching this TDF much less than in 2011 and 2010 (as of now st. 1,3,9,11 live and highlights of st.7,8,10). If trend of bad routes continue I'll watch TDF much less.

 

[Eric8-A]

The whole Sky domination isn't a problem for me. It got boring when the majority of the GC riders were written off because of injury, when it was just a race for yellow between Wiggo and Evans, and Nibali and Menchov were fighting for third. Now it seems like it's just Wiggins and his Sky team that are making sure he holds on to yellow for a few more days. I could be wrong about that, I haven't been watching the Tour.

 

[will10]

Then again, stage 17 that year was probably the finest stage Prudhomme has created to date.

Indeed. Proof that you don't always need HC mountains, it's all about stage design.

 

[BroDeal]

TDF 09 was disappointment to me and this one is about as bad. It means there have been two failed routes in four years.
I have been watching this TDF much less than in 2011 and 2010 (as of now st. 1,3,9,11 live and highlights of st.7,8,10). If trend of bad routes continue I'll watch TDF much less.

All four were bad. Nothing happened for three quarters of the race last year. It appears the only reason Andy went on a flyer is because he was roundly being made fun of for what he did and said in the previous part of the race. It was not about trying to win the Tour. It was about salvaging what was left of his honor with a stage win. In 2010 Contador and Andy rode through the mountains hand in hand.

 

[Pippo_San]

And to think that people always complained about the lack of ITT kms in GTs...
Here, you're served. If you took away those ITTs from this route, you'd have got a very intriguing situation.


(of course the problem isn't the ITT kms, but the ridiculous stage design...yet it was worth to remark it)

 

[Boeing]

Highlight of tv coverage was when Craig Hummer interviewed Philip Gilbert before stage 2 and Gilbert's wife is in the back ground sporting her new mohawk. so fine.

 

[guncha]

All four were bad. Nothing happened for three quarters of the race last year. It appears the only reason Andy went on a flyer is because he was roundly being made fun of for what he did and said in the previous part of the race. It was not about trying to win the Tour. It was about salvaging what was left of his honor with a stage win. In 2010 Contador and Andy rode through the mountains hand in hand.

I disagree because TDF 10 had 5 high mountain stages for GC + 2 nice stages in medium mountains. It was good route by ASO. AC and AS were too equal to drop each other. But it was amazing to see their superiority towards other contenders.
Last year they contested uphill finishes in first week (for instance, Mur de Bretagne stage). I don’t think it is a problem that high mountains start in the second week; they were properly designed. Riders were cautious to make attacks in Pyrenees. It was good route by ASO.

 

[observer]

I'm actually looking forward to the Vuelta this year, it seems that even the "flat" stages are hard with some ending uphill.

It seems to be the direct opposite of this years Tour route, time will tell to see which is more exciting.

As a race I prefer the giro, with 2009 between Menchov and DiLuca particularly interesting.

 

[Mellow Velo]

All four were bad. Nothing happened for three quarters of the race last year. It appears the only reason Andy went on a flyer is because he was roundly being made fun of for what he did and said in the previous part of the race. It was not about trying to win the Tour. It was about salvaging what was left of his honor with a stage win. In 2010 Contador and Andy rode through the mountains hand in hand.

If you think stage 11 was bad, then you clearly weren't watching, Bro.

 

[auscyclefan94]

All four were bad. Nothing happened for three quarters of the race last year. It appears the only reason Andy went on a flyer is because he was roundly being made fun of for what he did and said in the previous part of the race. It was not about trying to win the Tour. It was about salvaging what was left of his honor with a stage win. In 2010 Contador and Andy rode through the mountains hand in hand.

A lot happened in the three-quarters of the race that you are likely referring to, whether it be crashes, attacks, people dropping away or other incidences. Secondly, Andy attacked because he wanted to the Tour and he had to attack from far out because he was not going to win by waiting for the Galibier or the Alpe on the next day. Nothing to do with shame and I think you know that. Andy and Contador attacked each other numerous times and not hand in hand as you might like to thin. On the stage finish to the Tourmalet, both attacked each other but eventually called a truce close to the top because they were easily matched.

 

[auscyclefan94]

If you think stage 11 was bad, then you clearly weren't watching, Bro.

I think he was referring to the 2010 and 2011 Tours, not this year.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Ok yesterday was a bit strange
1 and a half hours they chasde back everything and then they just quit.
Why didn't Lotto or Greenedge go for the sprint?

 

[Bavarianrider]

By the way Prudhomme doesn't design stages. Peschaux is the chief route designer, not Prudhomme