Tour de France - the sincerity poll

[McLovin]

My guess would be Madeleine .

If we had a girl, than her name would have been Marie (after Marie Blanque) Madeleine. But it's a boy so it's Bernard (petit St. Bernard). I know it'a a common french, german, austrian name, but in my country it's like naming your kid Toyota. Funny stories with older relatives.

 

[The Hitch]

Why.would you wait till the end of October to plan your holiday ? The dates are announced before and unless this unhealthy obsession with 1 race began the year last you should know by now the first 1 and a half weeks are guaranteed crap.

And the comment about cycling news not existing without the tour is stupid. people ride bikes don't they.

its like saying that if the Olympics didn't exist no one would care to hold races to find out who the fastest men on earth are.

cycling made the tour into what it is and if the tdf was not there cycling would have had a different blue ribbon event.

How old are young Hautacam and Deuxalpes btw

 

[McLovin]

he is two,thanks for asking.how about yours alberto and zomie?

 

[Viking]

Mark me down as another fan of the Spring Classics. You've got the big races on the cobbles and the Ardennes, along with the smaller races like Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Scheldeprijs, and Brabantse Pijl. That's like 5 or 6 weeks of great racing.

The Tour is pretty special, too, because of the atmosphere. Also there aren't any other sports (that I follow) with much going on in July.

 

[LouieLouie]

Leave in May and stay away. Until San Sebastian, that is.

 

[phanatic]

The Tour de France is a great race with a lot of big names at the start etc. but I prefer the april classics.

Let's hope they make the finish as well this year.

 

[Publicus]

The lore of the Tour and one Lance Armstrong brought me to cycling, but in the wake of his retirement 1.0, I learned the true beauty and depth of cycling. The Tour still has its place in my heart, but frankly I've found myself getting far more excited about the Classics and the Giro.

 

[Kwibus]

I voted no.

Ofcourse it's the Tour that brought me to cycling and I will never deny it's a great race and the most important race there is for cycling, but now that I'm in love with cycling it's the month January that gets me going. First racing after 3 months of nothing.... Allthough it's just the Tour Down Under I still can't wait for it to happen.

I love the 1 day races, so March and April are great and the Giro has stolen my heart. The Tour is huge though and I'm sure I will love it again.
Besides that I'm allready looking forward to the Vuelta as well and September etc. Wait.. I just love cycling so the TdF is just part of the entire cycling calendar.

 

[Angliru]

I love ALL the GTs. Giro being a fave because I adore the crazy Italians, the scenery and plus it's first GT of the year - the long drink of water after the drought of winter.

The primary reason I prefer Vuelta/Giro, however, is coverage - for the TdF I'm stuck with Vs. which I find almost intolerable. All the ads, the extremely boring fluff pieces, and the commentary make it difficult to watch.

Each GT is like a 3-week soap opera for me. I fall completely down the rabbit hole every time. And love it.

My sentiments exactly but let me add that I truly look forward to the Ardennes Week and have taken to getting more immersed in Paris-Roubaix and RVV over the past few years. I just get excited at the beginning of each season with my unofficial start to the season being Paris-Nice. Deep down though I just love the grand tours for the reason that you stated (in bold).

 

[ElChingon]

If you wait for only one race then there's nothing much to talk about for/to you.

 

[CQmanager]

Le Tour? I will be on vacation first two weeks of the Tour but I dont think I will miss that much. The last week should do it ....

Which reminds me that I need some volunteers to update the CQ rankings for our game while I will be gone ... and if you didnt select your team yet, you can do it by Saturday morning.

CQM

 

[ingsve]

I guess this poll is meant to separate the regular posters from the ones that only show up in July.

 

[LugHugger]

April is without doubt the best month of the year.

2012:

Tour of Dengie Marshes
RvV
PR
Rutland CiCLE Classic
Tro Bro Leon
AGR
Fleche Wallone
LBL

 

[hfer07]

For my liking:

All the races between March & June are the best-the only thought I have in my mind on July is to get vacation time & enjoy the summer

The Tour to me has become an "obligated cycling ritual" where you would like not to watch it sometimes, but you end up doing so, regardless of the spectacle....

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Interested, yes. But wet dream, no.

 

[McLovin]

@ingsve
apparently. I'm not a Tour die-hard fan. I love cycling and I love to cycle. Best stage I ever saw was 2005 Finestre, and I admit that. I eat my nails in classic season, beacuse of emotions. I know that even with Mont du Chat, Colombier, Granon, there is no Angliru or Zoncolan in France. But le Tour has that je ne sais quoi. And it's a fact that France is by a mile the number one country regarding tourists and that has something to do with Tour. You can not make a Tour de France in Canada or in Spain, or wherever. It's an opinion. And again, I am watching cycling from Australia to Japan, but le Tour is something different.

 

[SirLes]

I'm one of the many English fans who got into the sport when Channel 4 started showing the TdF in the mid 80s.

Add to that the fact that I have visted France so many times on holiday and know many of the areas well adds to the enjoyment.

Finally the Tour usually starts the same day as my summer holiday (It does this year) so it always signals the start of the best time of the year.

This year I will be watching on German Eurosport and with three small children it will be difficult to watch for long. It's best watched in a PMU cafe somewhere in the South of France having just been for a ride yourself.

 

[McLovin]

It's best watched in a PMU cafe somewhere in the South of France having just been for a ride yourself.

HAHA...that's what I'm saying. Watching the Tour in Briancon in a restaurant, 10 minutes after you saw them on the road. That was a nice feeling.

 

[Parrulo]

if i ever were to plan my vacation around a cycling race/races then hands down april and the one day races would be the time.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

This is the worst week of the year (from a cycling perspective), even if you like the race.

Hey, you and I agree wholeheartedly on something!

For me August is probably the best month of the cycling calendar. It's signalled by the Klasikoa, then you have a great week where you can watch the hors d'œuvre of the rain of Poland, followed by the excitement of Burgos, and wash it down with a refreshing glass of baking heat and mountains, probably with an EPO spritzer, in Portugal. You then have Ain and the Grand Colombier (being used properly unlike the Tour or Dauphiné), the endless winding-up between Pisti and Hitch over the relative worths of Eneco and Poland, and then the Vuelta starts. And while Colorado isn't necessarily using its terrain that well (yet), Utah was pretty good last year and I'll keep an eye out for it this year for sure. I could do with something to reinvigorate my love for the sport anyway.

Of course this year Poland happens during the Tour, which at least gives us another televised race to distract ourselves from it.

 

[Peccio89]

I tend to appreciate more the classic season, and i usually i fell very anxious the week before the Milan-Sanremo.

So for me it's a no

 

[guncha]

Usually I take the vacation in July to watch TDF. For instance, last year I watched 5 hour coverage of all crucial mountain stages, med. mountain stages, ITT, TTT, Mur de Bretagne etc. But this year I have taken vacation in August because I am not excited about the route and I've got a feeling that ASO cared more about collecting money from the towns in valleys rather than exciting racing.

 

[spetsa]

The Tour de France is a great race with a lot of big names at the start etc. but I prefer the april classics.

Let's hope they make the finish as well this year.

Without the help of post stage rule changes!

 

[airstream]

Usually I take the vacation in July to watch TDF. For instance, last year I watched 5 hour coverage of all crucial mountain stages, med. mountain stages, ITT, TTT, Mur de Bretagne etc. But this year I have taken vacation in August because I am not excited about the route and I've got a feeling that ASO cared more about collecting money from the towns in valleys rather than exciting racing.

Hehe, so do I. Going on vacation to be ready for September. Andy vs Contador. The galaxy vs the star.

 

[icefire]

I learned about the Tour some 4 or 5 years after I started to be interested in bike races. Don't ask me what planet I was living in