Which one was the worst Grand Tour of the last decade?

[asdfgh101]

In a poll like this TDF editions will be slammed in comparison to the Vuelta because more people follow la grand boucle much more closely.

With that said the 2009 TDF was really not as bad as is being painted. True there wasn't enough big GC drama till late on and Ventoux was an anti-climax but unfortunately that is symptomatic of modern grand tours.

This Giro was a damp squib in comparison to other editions with the clincher being the weak field.

 

[goggalor]

2009 Tour was dreadful. No good racing. 2010 wasn't great either.

 

[LaFlorecita]

2009 Tour was dreadful. No good racing. 2010 wasn't great either.

Great racing from one guy.

 

[Parrulo]

indeed the 2007 tour was fantastic, contador vs rasmussen on the Peyresourde imo still remains as the biggest one on one battle on a climb we have seen in the last 10 years.

also contador on the galibier(?) where he attacked dropped every(even rasmussen!!!) and bridged across to popo who guided him on the descent was great, shame they were caught on the flat until the finishing line by group of about 10 guys

 

[asdfgh101]

2009 Tour was dreadful. No good racing. 2010 wasn't great either.

I must have imagined the stage to Le Grand Bornand. Overall it was a poor TDF but at least it had a good field, a storyline and one majorly decisive GC stage.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Talking of Tours only.
2008 was horrible.


2006 was a special case of course.

 

[LaFlorecita]

indeed the 2007 tour was fantastic, contador vs rasmussen on the Peyresourde imo still remains as the biggest one on one battle on a climb we have seen in the last 10 years.

also contador on the galibier(?) where he attacked dropped every(even rasmussen!!!) and bridged across to popo who guided him on the descent was great, shame they were caught on the flat until the finishing line by group of about 10 guys

Yes that Tour was awesome. It was what got me into cycling (or into Alberto?)

 

[goggalor]

Great racing from one guy.

Not in 2009. While he was probably in the condition of his life, he wasn't particularly entertaining to watch. Too dominant and too conservative (unlike the 2011 Giro where he was only dominant).

I know some found the infighting in Astana entertaining, but I just thought it was petty, and it's not like Armstrong was ever going to challenge Contador on the road. And Klöden-gate was only surpassed in lameness by Chain-gate the next year.

 

[greenedge]

In Australia really anyone who knows what a bike looks like can call themselves a cycling journalist, can't they?

Usually Mike is good- in this article i think he was just mainly talking about the marketing appeal of the Giro/ not wanting to sound negative considering SBS were ramping up its coverage.
The commentary team of Matt Keenan and McGrorory are also good. Sophie Smith is good at interviews/ on cycling central.

I like the self styled Tanman for his eccentricities but they are weird at times.

RG is a great pioneer of cycling in Australia and is very good.

 

[Boeing]

What about the 2007 tour?

So it was great for 16 stages then. OK partial

 

[LaFlorecita]

Not in 2009. While he was probably in the condition of his life, he wasn't particularly entertaining to watch. Too dominant and too conservative (unlike the 2011 Giro where he was only dominant).

I know some found the infighting in Astana entertaining, but I just thought it was petty, and it's not like Armstrong was ever going to challenge Contador on the road. And Klöden-gate was only surpassed in lameness by Chain-gate the next year.

What? How can someone be dominant and conservative at the same time.

Anyway, I loved the 2009 Tour, and I disagree Alberto wasn't entertaining to watch. He attacked on the way to Arcalis, to Verbier, he went on the attack together with Andy and Fränk and he rode a fantastic tt that had me screaming in front of the TV. He could've attacked on Ventoux as well, however, he had to ride a certain American up the climb.
The 2009 Tour is the best I've seen so far. (To be fair, I've only seen the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions)

 

[guncha]

Vuelta 2007. The hardest MTF (Covadonga) was as early as in stage 4. All the other MTFs were 1st cat at best and there were not difficult enough to test Menchov. There were almost no mountain stages in 2nd and 3rd week. Crap and complete lack of action.