2017 TDF ok by me

[thwart]

That had to be the most boring 'close race' TdF ever.

Can't hold a candle to the Spring Classics... or even this year's Giro.

[chromopromo]

I watched almost every minute of the tour but the domination of team Sky ensures a less dramatic race. Its been like this for the past several years. Fromme has been the strongest GC rider each year but he has not had many situations were he had to take the race on by himself. Sky is just too strong and never leaves him unprotected even on the major uphill finishes. Fromme seem more vulnerable this year but Landa was always there. Its would have been great to see Fromme respond to repeated attacks without his minions.

This is why I find the racing in the Giro and Vuelta more entertaining. The teams are more evenly matched and GC leaders are more vulnerable. Stuff happens.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by jlwdm

+1 except for the Phil and Paul comments. I really enjoyed NBC Sports Gold without them.



Jeff

Same here.

And continue to enjoy The Cycling Podcast (in association with Rapha) and The Cycling News Podcast (in association with Cosmo Catalano..).

The VeloNews Podcast and Stages - not so much. Content is fine, I just find Fred too grating to listen to (he has a voice fit for a Chaplin movie), and Lance kind of outran his headlamp.

[shovelhd]

I thought that it was the worst TDF in years. Barguil was fun to watch, and I loved that short climbing stage when everyone was attacking relentlessly. We need more of that.

[MerckxMad]

Originally Posted by thwart

That had to be the most boring 'close race' TdF ever.

Can't hold a candle to the Spring Classics... or even this year's Giro.

Tour de Who Cares? The scenery was nice. I did not find the racing entertaining.

[numbskull]

I enjoyed the race. It was nice to go out each am for 40-50 miles then return home and lounge around for an hour or so watching professional cycling. Was it edge of the seat stuff day after day......obviously not........but it certainly added a nice change in the rhythm of my life which was fun.

[Seramount]

was out of town over the wkend and DVRd the last 3 stages.

watched one last nite and will view the others today.

since I obviously know the outcome, guess that makes me an unabashed TdF fan...

[Vamoots58]

Originally Posted by numbskull

i enjoyed the race. It was nice to go out each am for 40-50 miles then return home and lounge around for an hour or so watching professional cycling. Was it edge of the seat stuff day after day......obviously not........but it certainly added a nice change in the rhythm of my life which was fun.

+1!!!

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

Movistar's idiotic strategy to have Quintana do the Giro-Tour double totally backfired

He used his dry powder for the Giro, which he actually had a shot at winning. Not enough mountain top finishes and too much time trialing in this year's Tour for him to really have a shot. Not a course that suited him at all. My guess is Movistar thought he'd be punchy enough to animate on the mountain stages, snag a KOM jersey or maybe a podium spot, with Valverde sneaking off to win stages here and there.

Didn't count on Valverde snapping a crowd barrier support leg in half not even 20k into the race.

I don't think they went in with Quintana expecting to win, even if that's what they said publicly. Not as dumb as it might seem at first glance, but they did have a pretty solid run of bad luck in July.

[galgal]

I don't think it was a vintage tour in GC terms, unless one is very much a Froome/Sky fan, but even then you didn't have the incredible (in every sense) Froome of say Ventoux 2013. Also think there were too many long flat stages with no other interest than an inevitable sprint at the end, which still might appeal to some I suppose. That said, they were some really good stages and fun moments. It's such a long hard exhausting race and I appreciate how special it must be for the less heralded riders to just get to the finish line. Just think of the big names who didn't. On the last stage it was cool to see a rider allowed off the front for a bit so he could meet family and friends on the route. I miss it now that it's over. Can't wait for the Vuelta

[tiretrax]

I love the tour and hate when it's over. It means summer is halfway over/kids only a few weeks away from school/hottest time of year to come and will be here for two and half more months/holidays and family issues on horizon/another year gone. Well, at least the Classics Season is coming!

I am surprised no one mentioned Bardet. He's probably at TT camp for the next month. If he can improve that, he's definitely going to have at least some days in yellow next year.

[54ny77]

take race radios out of it and every stage will be exciting to watch. voeckler is probably the last of the dinosaurs who raced in an era where it didn't seem like a video game.

[Fivethumbs]

It's too predictable now. Like on the sprinters stages, it's hard to watch four hours of guys pedaling bikes just to have the race get interesting in the last two minutes. The sprinters all sit and hide and come out in the last three K's. It seems like no one wants to race their bike. The breakaways almost never succeed unlike in the past. For example, Griepal did not win a single stage. I say why not race your bike Andre?! I remember when Cipollini would go into breaks. Other riders would work with him so the break would be successful with the idea that they would try to escape before it came down to a sprint. I have a video where Abdujaparov won a race on a solo breakaway! Where are guys like that now? They are a rare breed - few and far between.

[LegendRider]

Originally Posted by tiretrax

I love the tour and hate when it's over. It means summer is halfway over/kids only a few weeks away from school/hottest time of year to come and will be here for two and half more months/holidays and family issues on horizon/another year gone.

Off topic, but my kids start school on Monday, July 31 in a major school district in metro Atlanta. No one knows exactly why the school board keeps moving the start date up (last year it was early August), but the fear (or hope?) is year round school with small breaks between quarters or semesters. No matter what the explanation, my kids are grumpy about it!!

[PQJ]

Originally Posted by LegendRider

Off topic, but my kids start school on Monday, July 31 in a major school district in metro Atlanta. No one knows exactly why the school board keeps moving the start date up (last year it was early August), but the fear (or hope?) is year round school with small breaks between quarters or semesters. No matter what the explanation, my kids are grumpy about it!!

Hello, fellow Cobbian!