Favourite tour

Steve SilverMint

Only been a keen follower of watching cycling over the past couple of years myself but on the evidence I've seen I'm in no doubt the Vuelta has been the most captivating to watch over the past two seasons.That said I wasn't exactly happy with an Astana victory but the cycling overall was unreal throughout the tour.

I know the majority will most likely opt for Tour de France but i would rate the Giro as good as an equal and the Vuelta the best of the lot from my viewing perspective, am I alone in this view?

g0g

As a new enough follower in recent years I'd say:
1) Vuelta
2) Giro
3) TdF

Beasty

Tour de Yorkshire to watch (but only if you are there;))
Tour de Kilkenny to participate:)

Brian?

The Tour de France will always be number one for me. I've spent more time glued to the telly watching the tour than I can count. It's the biggest, the craziest and the most prestigious.I love it, I'm genuinely excited for at least 2 weeks before it starts. I can reel off every winner of the Tour in my life time and a decade before i was born.And Kraftwerk have a song about it.

2nd is the Giro. Traditionally the most exciting Grand Tour. I can name at least a dozen mountain passes used on the Giro regularly without really thinking about it. The Giro has the best colour classement jerseys. Eddy Merckx covered in snow. Stelvio pass. Roche attacking Viscount.

The Vuelta had been the most exciting 3 week Tour over the last few years. But it's not steeped in the mythology of either the Tour or Giro. If it keeps going the way it has been that will change. Great race, but it'll always be no.3 to me.

Cee-Jay-Cee

For me:

1. Vuelta
2. TdF
3. Giro

I love the Vuelta probably because I love Spain as a country, have been there countless times and got married there. We generally travel around when there and avoid the usual tourist areas and so I know many of the towns and climbs (especially in Andalucia) I'm hoping to be there next year for the Vuelta and so take in a few of the stages.

Darkglasses

Brian? wrote: »

The Tour de France will always be number one for me. I've spent more time glued to the telly watching the tour than I can count. It's the biggest, the craziest and the most prestigious.I love it, I'm genuinely excited for at least 2 weeks before it starts. I can reel off every winner of the Tour in my life time and a decade before i was born.And Kraftwerk have a song about it.

2nd is the Giro. Traditionally the most exciting Grand Tour. I can name at least a dozen mountain passes used on the Giro regularly without really thinking about it. The Giro has the best colour classement jerseys. Eddy Merckx covered in snow. Stelvio pass. Roche attacking Viscount.

The Vuelta had been the most exciting 3 week Tour over the last few years. But it's not steeped in the mythology of either the Tour or Giro. If it keeps going the way it has been that will change. Great race, but it'll always be no.3 to me.

Agree with all of this. I would also take a few more points away from the Vuelta for their big organisational shortcomings. Often has some great racing, but I thought stage 1 of this year's edition was a disgrace.

drogdub

Not to answer your question but The spring classics for me. I get way more excited about them than any of the GTs

Beasty

drogdub wrote: »

Not to answer your question but The spring classics for me. I get way more excited about them than any of the GTs

Got to say there's an appeal with a one day event - all or nothing, with no chance of a comeback if anything goes wrong

I personally think 3 weeks for the grand tours is too long in this day and age, making it impossible to be competitive in all 3 (and forcing many to target one of them)

Maybe an argument could be made to leave the Tour as is, but I think if the Giro and Vuelta were each reduced to 2 weeks it would improve the overall standard and hopefully allow the best riders to race at a competitive level in all 3 if they so wish

crosstownk

For me, this is a tough one to answer. I like them all but in different ways.

The Giro is something I always look forward to with it being the first grand tour. Le Tour has so much history and stages like l'Alpe d'Huez, Mont Ventoux, etc are just steeped in cycling mythology. La Vuelta is the final tour and can be spectacular and unexpected in terms of rider performance.

I suppose for me I'll put the Tour de France first, followed by La Vuelta and then the Giro.

If you asked me tomorrow I could have changed my mind - it's that tight in my eyes.

drogdub

Beasty wrote: »

Got to say there's an appeal with a one day event - all or nothing, with no chance of a comeback if anything goes wrong

I personally think 3 weeks for the grand tours is too long in this day and age, making it impossible to be competitive in all 3 (and forcing many to target one of them)

Maybe an argument could be made to leave the Tour as is, but I think if the Giro and Vuelta were each reduced to 2 weeks it would improve the overall standard and hopefully allow the best riders to race at a competitive level in all 3 if they so wish

I know Prudhomme has said he would like to do a tour with no high mountains. I like that idea, might open up the field a bit more and maybe make it more existing with smaller gaps being opened, more attacking less defensive cycling. But it won't happen as the high mountains tend to be the big attraction.

Brian?

Beasty wrote: »

Got to say there's an appeal with a one day event - all or nothing, with no chance of a comeback if anything goes wrong

I personally think 3 weeks for the grand tours is too long in this day and age, making it impossible to be competitive in all 3 (and forcing many to target one of them)

Maybe an argument could be made to leave the Tour as is, but I think if the Giro and Vuelta were each reduced to 2 weeks it would improve the overall standard and hopefully allow the best riders to race at a competitive level in all 3 if they so wish

You can make that argument, but it's never going to happen. Rightly so, it would cheapen 2 phenomenal races.

Beasty

Brian? wrote: »

You can make that argument, but it's never going to happen. Rightly so, it would cheapen 2 phenomenal races.

May not happen now, but who knows in a few years time

The cycling calendar is getting very crowded and some racers who may otherwise have found the Vuelta attractive have been racing in the likes of Britain and Canada over the past week or so. I also think the Vuelta is far too close to the Tour and racers will tend to avoid it if they want to do the Tour. Next year may test things even more as the Olympics will be on shortly after the Tour and prior to the Vuelta. I know a lot of people downplay the importance of the Olympics but every 4 years it moves up a notch and some riders (and indeed their national federations) will focus more and more on it (look at what winning the Olympic Tennis title did for Andy Murray and indeed the sport of tennis in the UK with more young players starting to come through and GB progressing in the likes of the Davis Cup)

Pudsy33

The Eneco Tour

Brian?

Beasty wrote: »

May not happen now, but who knows in a few years time

I think I can say, with great confidence, it's not going to happen.

The cycling calendar is getting very crowded and some racers who may otherwise have found the Vuelta attractive have been racing in the likes of Britain and Canada over the past week or so.

I think you'll find they're not actually choosing Britain and Canada over Spain, they're being sent to those races by their teams. The Vuelta is where it's at for 3 weeks, the tours of Britain and Alberta are 2nd tier distractions.

I also think the Vuelta is far too close to the Tour and racers will tend to avoid it if they want to do the Tour.

You're may be right about them being too close. But decisions on riding the Vuelta are usually made after the tour, so I'm not sure why it would be avoided ahead of time.

Next year may test things even more as the Olympics will be on shortly after the Tour and prior to the Vuelta. I know a lot of people downplay the importance of the Olympics but every 4 years it moves up a notch and some riders (and indeed their national federations) will focus more and more on it (look at what winning the Olympic Tennis title did for Andy Murray and indeed the sport of tennis in the UK with more young players starting to come through and GB progressing in the likes of the Davis Cup)

Ah the Olympics! Who really cares about the Olympic road race? I suppose Sammy Sanchez with his gold shoes. Otherwise it doesn't really feature to me. I could be wrong. I've been accused many times of being too much of a traditionalist when it comes to pro racing, I honestly couldn't give a hoot about the Olympic road race. I'm far from alone there. Winning a monument is harder than winning it, far harder.

happytramp

No question but that the Tour has featured the least interesting racing over the past 4 years. The last four editions have been a one horse race after the first week. Giro for me.

pelevin

Initially I thought seeing the question I don't really have a favourite but actually given a little time I realise emotionally the Giro probably resonates most with me. The one Nibali won up against particularly Wiggins was the first GT I watched after staying away from pro-cycling for a long time, & particularly the first half or so of the race was thrillingly uncontrolled, free and full-on racing. The Tour by contrast afterwards seemed very controlled, formulaic. Then the second half of that race had the visual spectacle of the peloton against the backdrop of the high mountains covered in snow. Just awesome - that alone brings a thrill that goes very deep! Also I think the physical nature of the Italian climbs seem most visually appealing, the action more closed-in & intimate. That might be a subjective opinion formed a bit haphazardly but it's in my head for now at least.
This year's Giro obviously was controlled very much by Astana but Contador's performance without a team made the race, and it imo had the best stage of the year with the Mortirola stage. The Giro also being the first of the year has a freshness to it in the viewing that has obviously lessened a lot by the time the Vuelta comes along.

So I don't think till now I had a conscious thought of the Giro being my favourite, I've just watched and taken them as they come, but in the few years I've been back watching overall the Giro has been my favourite.

On Beasty's point, I think the reduction to 2 weeks would probably eat too much into the prestige of the Giro & Vuelta, but 18 days about would seem maybe reasonable.

Brian?

pelevin wrote: »

Initially I thought seeing the question I don't really have a favourite but actually given a little time I realise emotionally the Giro probably resonates most with me. The one Nibali won up against particularly Wiggins was the first GT I watched after staying away from pro-cycling for a long time, & particularly the first half or so of the race was thrillingly uncontrolled, free and full-on racing. The Tour by contrast afterwards seemed very controlled, formulaic. Then the second half of that race had the visual spectacle of the peloton against the backdrop of the high mountains covered in snow. Just awesome - that alone brings a thrill that goes very deep! Also I think the physical nature of the Italian climbs seem most visually appealing, the action more closed-in & intimate. That might be a subjective opinion formed a bit haphazardly but it's in my head for now at least.
This year's Giro obviously was controlled very much by Astana but Contador's performance without a team made the race, and it imo had the best stage of the year with the Mortirola stage. The Giro also being the first of the year has a freshness to it in the viewing that has obviously lessened a lot by the time the Vuelta comes along.

So I don't think till now I had a conscious thought of the Giro being my favourite, I've just watched and taken them as they come, but in the few years I've been back watching overall the Giro has been my favourite.

On Beasty's point, I think the reduction to 2 weeks would probably eat too much into the prestige of the Giro & Vuelta, but 18 days about would seem maybe reasonable.

You're right about the Giro in many ways . I think it's the epic sight of the peleton climbing through the snow that really brings it home. Prime example was last year when Quintana attacked on a snowy descent.

Beasty

Brian? wrote: »

You're right about the Giro in many ways . I think it's the epic sight of the peleton climbing through the snow that really brings it home. Prime example was last year when Quintana attacked on a snowy descent.

The additional benefit of the Giro is it's early in the season when the calendar is simply not as crowded with major events. We're having a discussion in another thread about the Worlds which should be the true culmination of any season, but some of the better riders will be missing either due to injury or burnout with the Vuelta having only just concluded

funnights74

To watch:Tour of Flanders. I love that week in the spring when the cobbles sort out the peleton.
To Ride:Tour de Kilkenny. From sign in to post race nothing is too much trouble for the guys Organizing this. Everyone should ride this(but i don't want it to become a Ring of Kerry either :eek:)

irishrover99

1)Eneco. 4 days of cobbles,climbs
2)Vuelta. Lots of short uphill stage finishes
3)Arctic race of Norway. Amazing scenery.

The American races in Utah,Colorado are starting to grow on me. Amazing high mountains and scenery.

Brian?

Beasty wrote: »

The additional benefit of the Giro is it's early in the season when the calendar is simply not as crowded with major events. We're having a discussion in another thread about the Worlds which should be the true culmination of any season, but some of the better riders will be missing either due to injury or burnout with the Vuelta having only just concluded

The worlds have never really been the culmination of the season though. I can't think of another sport where to be "world champion" means so little. It's very rare the best rider in the world is the world champion. Kelly never won it and was world number one for almost a decade. Definitely worth winning, a nice big prize. But no way would anyone take it over winning the Vuelta.

pelevin

I wonder now would Kelly prefer to have had a win at the Worlds or Flanders.

Brian?

pelevin wrote: »

I wonder now would Kelly prefer to have had a win at the Worlds or Flanders.

That's a good question. In his book he expressed a lot of regret about missing out on the world's and shrugged off not winning Flanges. It's actually mental he didn't win the tour of Flanders.

funnights74

pelevin wrote: »

I wonder now would Kelly prefer to have had a win at the Worlds or Flanders.

I've heard him say during his commentary on Eurosport that he would give up one of his Paris-Roubaix's to have won a Tour of Flanders. The prestige that goes with that would mean more to him than a Worlds.

NeedMoreGears

I always remember the tour growing up so it's hard to dislodge it from the top spot but the last few years it's been a bit dull compared to the Giro or the Vuelta. If I'm pushed I'd probably go Tour, Giro, Vuelta but it's a bit like being asked to rank Guinness, red wine and whiskey ; an impossible task.

As an aside would shorter stages (say 120-140km) make for better racing and allow some riders genuinely compete in two or more GTs?

Wishbone Ash

drogdub wrote: »

I know Prudhomme has said he would like to do a tour with no high mountains. I like that idea...

Dear God no! :eek: I think it only really begins when it hits the high mountains.

NeedMoreGears wrote: »

I always remember the tour growing up so it's hard to dislodge it from the top spot but the last few years it's been a bit dull compared to the Giro or the Vuelta. If I'm pushed I'd probably go Tour, Giro, Vuelta but it's a bit like being asked to rank Guinness, red wine and whiskey ; an impossible task..

Same here. I don't recall much attention about the Giro or Vuelta when growing up but the TDF was always there and even more so when Channel 4 began showing it in the mid-1980s. I like all three in different ways but if pushed, I go TDF, Giro, Vuelta.

(I also favour Guinness, red wine and whiskey - we must be on the same wavelength! )

Dr. Bre

The tour hasn't been exciting for a few years now - nibali wiggins froome x2 all winning the tour easily. Last exciting tour for me was when Evans won. The giro has been my fav recently . Maybe it being the first grand tour helps