No, it didn't have "it all".
It had a first week consisting of one prologue, one TTT and five bunch sprints, four of which were won by the same rider who then abandoned.
I really think that for all the "recency bias" some people criticise fans of the 2022 Tour for having, people have forgotten all the tedious stages of past races and only remember the GC battle.
Which could have been much better in 2003, if the guy who looked like he could beat the tyrant didn't crash out - albeit spectacularly.
It even had the bad guy winning in the end.havi
I think that at the time of the race itself, we want the majority of stages to at least provide some interest, whereas as the years go on we remember a grand tour for mainly just a few stages.
Hence, in theory, a grand tour could have fifteen of the most boring stages in cycling history (perhaps 2006 is a good example), but if it has a few truly classic stages then it may eventually be more memorable than a grand tour that has more consistent day to day interesting racing.
First week of 2022 is well ahead of 2003, of course. But how much does that matter?
Goliath is slayed: Advantage 2022.
GC action from long range: 2022.
Threatening moments to the leaders retention of the yellow jersey during the second half of the race: 2003
Competitiveness of any other contenders outside of the two main protagonists: 2003
What else? Beloki and Roglic, both pretty strong contenders, crashed out. Beloki was more memorable, for it was more dramatic (and tragic in terms of level of injury)....his GC death was instant. Roglic was more of a slow death....there wasn't really a precise moment where we went, he's definitely gone, at least not all at once. Make of all of that what you will. I'm not really sure of what to make of it, but both riders added something to both races, in a way.
Armstrong crossing the field equals Vingegaard bike changing fiasco, possibly.
Weird factor of Ullrich not riding for Telekom (also gave Vino freedom).
A big thing is that after being challenged (in the middle ITT), Armstrong then also had moments where he lost the wheel of Ullrich. Late on AX3 Domaines, up the Tourmalet, and even later on that same stage where he crashed. Although those gaps didn't amount to anything, they clearly added suspense for fans. Whereas, when Vingegaard was panicking in the north of France, we all thought Pogacar was destined to win anyway. If he'd had that sort of moment in week 3, then that adds to the memorableness of the race in an entirely new way.
Buy you're right, the bad guy still won. It needed a Pogacar 2020 PDBF from Ullrich in the final ITT to make it clearly ahead of 2022. As it is I'd probably pick 2003, but nostalgic bias....it was the first Tour that I really loved.