What would have improved this tour...

[auscyclefan94]

I know, ACF, you're right of course. It's just an idea.

But to me it seems as valid as rule changes or different stage profiles. These ASO team agreements don't work so well for us spectators.

And I daresay you'll not like me for lumping BMC in with Sky, Footon or Milram, but wouldn't you agree that apart from Cadel (until misfortune befell him) and a bit of Burghardt, there's not been much to shout about?

A bit of brent bookwalter and ballan also. Morabito finished 16th on the tourmalet which was a mighty fine effort.

 

[icefire]

Cancellara being stoned in the stage to Spa

 

[timmarshall]

This is a fantastic idea. I wonder would the organisers ever go for it. Even if they just did it for one year it would be amazing.

The only problem is that there is a chance two riders will finish with the same time, which would mean whoever came second would probably try something on the Champs Elysees.

Any two or more riders who finish level, within a bikelength of each other, go back down the hill and repeat until its settled?

 

[saganftw]

The only problem is that there is a chance two riders will finish with the same time, which would mean whoever came second would probably try something on the Champs Elysees.

why is that a problem? i see it as a chance to see great show

 

[Belokki]

A prime Lance Armstrong!

 

[Mellow Velo]

A prime Lance Armstrong!

I prefer my meat a little less well cooked, than Lance was, thanks all the same.

 

[simoni]

Both Contador and Schleck were afraid to really go for on any climbs as if one of them did the other would sit in their wheel and conserve energy. Each made a few attemps to drop the other but when they could not they slowed up.

But is this not as much a result of them being incredibly evenly matched as much as anything else?

Even Sanchez and Menchov aren't that far behind esp when compared with the armstrong cakewalks. Its very very close and therefore gaps are very difficult to forge. The tourmalet is about as tough as it gets.

I would have liked to see another stage in the alps (st jean-de-m to briancon say via the croix de fer and lauteret perhaps with maybe a finish at risoul?!) and dream of the Puy de Dome again one day. Could also do without these long run outs to Pau and Tarbes from the pyrenees - the aspin and aubisque are the places where the tour should be won and lost but this year served little purpose other than to wear people out that little bit more. These legendary roads deserve better.

 

[Belokki]

I prefer my meat a little less well cooked, than Lance was, thanks all the same.

wuss...

But hey...the guy was 3rd at the age of 38, after years of absence and broken collarbone... that blew me away...

imagine him 10-9 years younger and hungry for victory... he would eat Conti alive, with the Schlecklets for desert

 

[marinoni]

My apologies if someone's already made these points.
I agree with putting back the time bonuses.
It would be great if they could add in the Zoncolan or Angliru but logistically I don't see how. Both climbs, unlike say Sestriere, are a really long way from France.
I don't think putting in longer, harder mtn stages will help. The DS's will just get more conservative and we'll just get more of the same 220km tempo ride with a 10k raced tacked onto the end. Maybe the way to go is the opposite direction. Why not try a really short mtn stage? Something like maybe a cat 1 and HC of 80-90 kms. The stage that Andy Hampsten won in the 85 Giro was around that length. I also like seeing mtn TT's.
Lastly, put the Alpe back in. I'm all for shaking things up but it's a classic finish and I miss it. There's something about that long, sweeping left-hander onto the bottom of the climb that I love.

 

[avanti]

Always include a mountain time trial with a summit finish - generally rain will not be a major issue. Rotate between Alps, Pyrenees, Mt. Ventoux perhaps.

 

[turtlesoup]

More Mountain Top Finishes............ and less fail stages like Stage 15 where although we had 2 Tier 1 climbs and 2 HC climbs, the stage was so poorly designed with 60 km flat after the last climb, that the whole peloton soft-pedalled through the stage with Thor Hushovd, the green jersey holder, underlining how stupid the stage was by attacking the peloton in the climbs.

Mountain Top Finish........... for god sake!

stopped reading after this because this is exactly what i had in mind. stupid stage with useless results, I like how they had some mountain stages in the first week it kept things interesting.

 

[turtlesoup]

wuss...

But hey...the guy was 3rd at the age of 38, after years of absence and broken collarbone... that blew me away...

imagine him 10-9 years younger and hungry for victory... he would eat Conti alive, with the Schlecklets for desert

all this while getting a transfusion and chatting to Ferrari

 

[Belokki]

all this while getting a transfusion and chatting to Ferrari

even in 2009?

 

[turtlesoup]

even in 2009?

clinic discussion but i do remember a small case of some blood bags found in team astana trash.....

 

[gingerwallaceafro]

I like the way less long TT's are in the Tour nowadays, watching Shleck and Contador up the Tourmalet was sport of the highest quality and what we all want to see right?

Despite this I think the balance would have been better and a closer all round Tour if there had been another time trial midway.

 

[hoolaparara]

Part of the trouble is how standard the race is, also produced by the emphasis on the end of the race to allegedly keep interest. Instead there needs to be more front loading. I agree with the ideas of more time trial, give say 2x50k flat or 1x50,1x40flat 1x1hr climbing.. but with the flat ones done in the first 2 weeks so there can be gaps the climbers have to work to catch.

I think I'd like to see is a combination of what other people have mentioned, someone mentioned the first stage of 2008 and someone else a short one climb stage.. I'd like to see that done on the first stage, with say 100k dead flat leading to a cat 1 or HC climb. Everybody comes in cold.. all those mid climbers (you know the guys in the last 25 on the last climb and 1-2 different guys hang on till near the end each stage) would be fresh and keen to get some notice and this could allow some of the GC guys to get unexpected gaps from working with stage hunters whilst the guys who come in to peak for the third week (as so many claim) could struggle to keep up.
(Follow it with 4 flat stages to give them even more reason to work hard.)