Which is the best of the Grand Tours

[The Hitch]

Tour is on NOS (one of the Dutch public channel), Sporza (Flemish public channel) and Eurosport over here. Everyone get all those channels, at least as far as I know.

Giro and Vuelta is live on the last two

Everyone gets eurosport and Sporza in Holland wow.

Its not only dope addicts and lonely sailors who find everything they need there. I think i would like living there too.

So Sporza is Flemish public channel? I thought SPORza meant it was a sport channel.

 

[Barrus]

Everyone gets eurosport and Sporza in Holland wow.

Its not only dope addicts and lonely sailors who find everything they need there. I think i would like living there too.

So Sporza is Flemish public channel? I thought SPORza meant it was a sport channel.

It's on the Flemish public channel, as the sports channel. Only showing sports and further it's not on the television. But it's perfect that it is public channel, as that means that there is no commercials throughout the entire race

 

[tubularglue]

Giro,

creates heroes before the riders test positive for the year

 

[ultimobici]

Since we are on this point, how many hear live in a country where the Tour (or any cycling race) is live on one of the main 4 or 5 tv channels. Not cable, not extra channels, but on the main ones, like BBC, France 1 etc.

ITV4 had tour live for 2 hours every day this year in UK. All you needed was a Freeview box.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

For me the Giro is the best. Im a cycling fan. I like watching cycling. Prestige plays a part. The Tour de France is more prestigious, it is our blue ribbon. But prestige is ONLY 1 consideration. The Others would be parcors, calliber of riders, excitement. In calliber of riders the Tour wins big, but personaly for me the calliber of riders is not that important. If a gt has riders who arent the best, then that just means the race will be better because for most of the challengers, it is their best chance. Someones dream will come true. A GT does not lose prestige if a non prestigious rider wins. On the contrary, the rider who wins gains prestige by winning the GT.

In parcors the Giro OWNS the TOur. Terminillo, Gappa, Zoncolan, Kornplatz Mortirolo, Gavia Pass. Thats 6 huge mountains within 30km of a stage finish. COmpare this to 2 - Madeline and Tourmalet in the Tour this year. Take into account that the Zoncolan and Mortirolo are both bigger than anything the TOur has.
Less sprinter stages. A tt doesnt have to be 50km. I prefer 2 exciting 10- 20 km tts rather than 1 long 50k tt. A ttt is always there as well, as are breakaway stages. The less sprinter stages the better.

In excitement the Giro obviously rules. The mountains are more exciting, the sprinters stages are more exciting- breakaways have a chance.

In conclusion the Tour is more prestigious, but its prestige is NOT enough to make up for its lack in excitement.

I'm wit you man. Couldn't have said it better... except I think overall the Giro is more scenic. Plus if I was to go watch one, it would be the Giro.

 

[The Hitch]

ITV4 had tour live for 2 hours every day this year in UK. All you needed was a Freeview box.

Same with BBC on red button for the worlds. In both cases you needed a freeview box. You could also watch them for free on line but its not on one of the 5 main channels

 

[Cobblestoned]

Tour is Tour, and Giro is Giro

So, I can't vote.

But Vuelta surely is like a third wheel on a bike.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Giro,

creates heroes before the riders test positive for the year

Number of Giro podium riders testing positive in 2010: 0
Number of Tour podium riders testing positive in 2010: 1

Usually there's at least one, though, I'll grant you. 2008 they were both as bad as each other, mind (if only because the Giro retests have been put off approximatedly 7 382 times)

 

[jsem94]

More votes for california than Vuelta? .............................................................

 

[C50dream]

Grand Tours

You have to be joking that the Tour of California is a "grand tour", then my club's 3 day tour must be the next best:

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Tour of California... I am disgusted

 

[Straßenrennen]

Giro > Vuelta > Tour

But I voted for Vuelta since it looked a bit lonely with only one vote.

I was previously a lone wolf, thankyou for the company.

 

[Altitude]

Tour obviously

 

[xmoonx]

I voted for the Tour, this year. Other years I thought the Giro and La Vuelta were more exciting and would have voted accordingly.

The Tour of California!

 

[Marcus135]

I had to vote tour even tho the gero was such a great race this year. They only showed about 15 mins of the Gero a day in Australia so i could not enjoy it as much as i could the tour were they showed the whole thing...

 

[auscyclefan94]

I think TSF is going senile. ToC? WTF? please tell me you are trying to be funny?

 

[Jan the Man]

Giro d'Italia

Better parcours and usually (in the past decade) a more exciting race.

 

[markene2]

1: Giro
2: Vuelta
3: Le Tour

 

[CatsNK]

For me the Giro is the best. Im a cycling fan. I like watching cycling. Prestige plays a part. The Tour de France is more prestigious, it is our blue ribbon. But prestige is ONLY 1 consideration. The Others would be parcors, calliber of riders, excitement. In calliber of riders the Tour wins big, but personaly for me the calliber of riders is not that important. If a gt has riders who arent the best, then that just means the race will be better because for most of the challengers, it is their best chance. Someones dream will come true. A GT does not lose prestige if a non prestigious rider wins. On the contrary, the rider who wins gains prestige by winning the GT.

In parcors the Giro OWNS the TOur. Terminillo, Gappa, Zoncolan, Kornplatz Mortirolo, Gavia Pass. Thats 6 huge mountains within 30km of a stage finish. COmpare this to 2 - Madeline and Tourmalet in the Tour this year. Take into account that the Zoncolan and Mortirolo are both bigger than anything the TOur has.
Less sprinter stages. A tt doesnt have to be 50km. I prefer 2 exciting 10- 20 km tts rather than 1 long 50k tt. A ttt is always there as well, as are breakaway stages. The less sprinter stages the better.

In excitement the Giro obviously rules. The mountains are more exciting, the sprinters stages are more exciting- breakaways have a chance.

In conclusion the Tour is more prestigious, but its prestige is NOT enough to make up for its lack in excitement.

I totally agree. I'll also add that in the States, we have 100% better television coverage of the Giro than the Tour, since we can see Giro on Universal Sports (good announcers) and they also run it 2x/day so you can catch it live or as a re-run, which rocks.

The Giro is also more scenic. And no one beats the Italian fans.

Gotta love the mud, too.

 

[Descender]

Giro,

creates heroes before the riders test positive for the year

This is priceless.

 

[Mich78BEL]

1) Tour (most prestiges cycling-race still)
2) Giro (close second imo)
3) Vuelta

 

[Altitude]

I totally agree. I'll also add that in the States, we have 100% better television coverage of the Giro than the Tour, since we can see Giro on Universal Sports (good announcers) and they also run it 2x/day so you can catch it live or as a re-run, which rocks.

The Giro is also more scenic. And no one beats the Italian fans.

Gotta love the mud, too.

The tour is on like 5 times a day. And the Universal Sports announcers are horrible.

 

[rhubroma]

All three are great. The Tour is hot. The Giro is passione. The Vuelta is the heat of the Spanish people.

France is more prestigious. Italy is more spectacular. Spain is an enigma. More or less corosponding with the philosiphising of Kant, with all the due cautions.

All three have something to offer to those who understand and seek something form the sport.

 

[CatsNK]

The tour is on like 5 times a day. And the Universal Sports announcers are horrible.

Not for me it's not - I don't get Versus. And I can't stand those LA fanboy announcers they employ, anyway.

 

[Matthijs]

Vuelta! Always exciting untill the end, small differences, a lot of MTF and once in a while the Angliru. They set the trend with the real beast and later on the Giro followed with Zoncolan. A lot of stages with hard sprint finals for stronger but fast guys like Bettini, Gilbert, Hushovd, Freire. Not so much easy pussy wins for the sprinters as in the Tour and Giro.

Tour was ****** up half the 17 years a follow cycling by one guy. A special guy with admirable results, but he made the race boring to follow.

And in september I have more time than July and May.