2017 TDF ok by me

[rounder]

I thought this year's TDF was a good race and Chris deserved to win.

I was really bummed out by the Peter Sagan - Mark Cavendish crash and results. I liked a lot of the stages. The scenery was beautiful as always. I am ok with the Phil and Paul show...my wife likes them which allows me to watch the race every year. I thought today's stage and end of the race was fine. I am ok with Chris Froome winning, and thought he was super classy with his speech, especially thanking the other participants and speaking to the French in their language at the end. Thanks.

[DrSpoke]

Pretty much my thoughts as well.

[R3awak3n]

it was a good tour in my eyes. people will hate but its the internet so nothing new here.

[joosttx]

I always enjoy it. I wish Porte hadnt crashed out. I am impressed with Chris Froome demeanor on the winner's podium. Very Classy.

[MattTuck]

I honestly didn't think Froome would win again, based on the historical fall off of TDF winners around his age. I'd be very surprised if he is able to win next year, especially given how strong some of his competitors (and teammates) looked.

Movistar's idiotic strategy to have Quintana do the Giro-Tour double totally backfired, BMC's trust in Porte blew up in their face, with shrapnel hitting Dan Martin. Barguil looking great, Cannondale having a (surprise) contender, the controversial and circumspect banishment of a non-French rider. This tour really did have a lot of interesting side stories... which is really the entertaining part of the tour, atmo.

But I'm really excited for next year, and props to Froome if he goes onto race the Vuelta.

[tv_vt]

I thought this year's TDF was a good race and Chris deserved to win.

I was really bummed out by the Peter Sagan - Mark Cavendish crash and results. I liked a lot of the stages. The scenery was beautiful as always. I am ok with the Phil and Paul show...my wife likes them which allows me to watch the race every year. I thought today's stage and end of the race was fine. I am ok with Chris Froome winning, and thought he was super classy with his speech, especially thanking the other participants and speaking to the French in their language at the end. Thanks.

I'll second that opinion. Good race.

[William]

Eight minutes of this years Tour hi lights recapping the entire race. No voice overs, just some very nice imagery...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3fkN5xE8wg






William

[regularguy412]

I honestly didn't think Froome would win again, based on the historical fall off of TDF winners around his age. I'd be very surprised if he is able to win next year, especially given how strong some of his competitors (and teammates) looked.

Movistar's idiotic strategy to have Quintana do the Giro-Tour double totally backfired, BMC's trust in Porte blew up in their face, with shrapnel hitting Dan Martin. Barguil looking great, Cannondale having a (surprise) contender, the controversial and circumspect banishment of a non-French rider. This tour really did have a lot of interesting side stories... which is really the entertaining part of the tour, atmo.

But I'm really excited for next year, and props to Froome if he goes onto race the Vuelta.

The Vuelta is always the better race.

And I'm already ready for it.

Mike in AR:beer:

[galgal]

Barguil. Could anyone break the US Postal/Sky strategy of lining up a row of super domestiques to kill the race in the mountains? This kid is a throwback to the great riders in the mountains.

[regularguy412]

Barguil. Could anyone break the US Postal/Sky strategy of lining up a row of super domestiques to kill the race in the mountains? This kid is a throwback to the great riders in the mountains.

Reminiscent of Richard Virenque. A little taller and hopefully without the doping.

Mike in AR:beer:

[jlwdm]

The Vuelta is always the better race.

And I'm already ready for it.

Mike in AR:beer:

Hardly better. The Tour is so much more important than any other race. The Vuelta might be fun to watch sometimes because it is not the strong teams or the strong riders peaking. Fun yes, but unimportant.

Jeff

[jlwdm]

Barguil. Could anyone break the US Postal/Sky strategy of lining up a row of super domestiques to kill the race in the mountains? This kid is a throwback to the great riders in the mountains.

He was fun to watch, but he only went on his big attacks because the GC contenders did not care about him. Remains to be seen how he does if he is trying to compete for the GC.

Jeff

[ultraman6970]

Hope teams learn from the stupid mistakes made during this year's tour, specially their super sharp strategies to help sky all the time :D

[colbyh]

I think this year had really weird dynamics - the great stuff was amazing (e.g. Uran and Martin coming out of nowhere to be legit challengers, Kwiatkowski being superman) but the low points...man they were boring.

too many flat run-ins left everyone bored to tears without Sagan/Cav/Kittel (for the last few) and with Greipel not on top form. it's great to see Matthews win but it feels hollow with a diminished field.

two surprise breakaway wins with Calmejane and Roglic but not much else. and then coming from the Giro, which was some of the most fun bike racing I've seen in years, it was maybe asking too much for the Tour to blow everyone away.

[MattTuck]

Yeah, not sure if it is not the top riders on top form, less pressure, different time of the year, whatever... but the Vuelta can definitely feature some more exciting and unpredictable racing.

Not sure it is better or worse than the tour or the giro.

[ultraman6970]

Vuelta rocks, like it a lot better. Steeper climbs and stuff. Sadly valverde wont be there :( another chance for Pistolero to win it?

[Elefantino]

I liked the Giro much more this year, not only because we were there. It was a better course, a better race.
Next year we should have Dumoulin going for the Tour, and he will be very dangerous to Froome or whoever.
Quintana needs time off. Like about 49 weeks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vamoots58]

Enjoyed the Tour this year. Have to admit, I am amazed at how unpopular Froome is. Realizing fandom is a subjective thing, not sure why he gets the 'super boring' tag. Consummate professional. He never gets flustered, when under pressure. His recovery from two difficult mechanicals at very inconvenient times was impressive. He was able to mark his rivals at every point except one 250m 20 degree pitch. Saw a number of board posts during the tour about the race 'being fixed'. I actually agree, BUT feel the fix was against Froome and Sky. Wonder what would the final GC have looked like with a more traditional structure. Historically there were two 'real' time trials, Flat, ~50km. Tough to slight Sky for being the best prepared, most thorough team out there. Landa put in a huge performance, but looking back at last year, it was Wout Poels who led Froome up every climb and could have distanced him at any time. Considering the early loss of Thomas, and the almost non-impact of Henao, Sky won that race with 6 people. Definitely missed Sagan, great for cycling and always a great animator!! I also a fan of the Liggett/Sherwin show. I enjoy the historical and cultural color Paul adds, clearly a passionate student of the history of his adopted country. I am looking forward to the Vuelta.

[jlwdm]

Enjoyed the Tour this year. Have to admit, I am amazed at how unpopular Froome is. Realizing fandom is a subjective thing, not sure why he gets the 'super boring' tag. Consummate professional. He never gets flustered, when under pressure. His recovery from two difficult mechanicals at very inconvenient times was impressive. He was able to mark his rivals at every point except one 250m 20 degree pitch. Saw a number of board posts during the tour about the race 'being fixed'. I actually agree, BUT feel the fix was against Froome and Sky. Wonder what would the final GC have looked like with a more traditional structure. Historically there were two 'real' time trials, Flat, ~50km. Tough to slight Sky for being the best prepared, most thorough team out there. Landa put in a huge performance, but looking back at last year, it was Wout Poels who led Froome up every climb and could have distanced him at any time. Considering the early loss of Thomas, and the almost non-impact of Henao, Sky won that race with 6 people. Definitely missed Sagan, great for cycling and always a great animator!! I also a fan of the Liggett/Sherwin show. I enjoy the historical and cultural color Paul adds, clearly a passionate student of the history of his adopted country. I am looking forward to the Vuelta.

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

Jeff

[VTCaraco]

I was struck by the Sky riders popping in the last week on the climbs. Those moments demonstrated just how deeply these guys turn themselves inside out...and I don't recall it as vividly in past years.

https://youtu.be/Zf2xXtxEZjE

And I found that I liked Froome LESS this year than previous years. He was definitely poised and strong, but I found myself irked by his body-language towards Landa. I don't know that they ever revealed much of what was said, but these team-leaders don't win without their super-domestiques and the notion that he was questioning the loyalty ~ it least as the body-language suggested ~ was annoying to me.

[oldpotatoe]

Hope teams learn from the stupid mistakes made during this year's tour, specially their super sharp strategies to help sky all the time :D

Well, considering how close the 3 'contenders' were at the end(even Aru), and also considering the strength of Sky, I think Ag2r, Cannondale and Astana would have attacked more and supported their strong guys more...if they could, they couldn't. They just didn't have the goods that Sky had. 'Why didn't he attack there? Well, cuz he couldn't attack there...

Overall good tour. Buying NBC/Gold worth every penny, IMHO..The 2 Aussies were excellent... O'Grady and the 'other guy'...:)

[54ny77]

i much prefer watching the giro or vuelta to the tour. hands down.

it's like watching ncaa basketball--just nonstop.

remember the vuelta a few years ago when horner won? man that was good stuff. leader jersey changed hands several times if i recall. back & forth between nibali and horner.

Yeah, not sure if it is not the top riders on top form, less pressure, different time of the year, whatever... but the Vuelta can definitely feature some more exciting and unpredictable racing.

Not sure it is better or worse than the tour or the giro.

[LegendRider]

I don't recall a Tour where so many big-name riders DNF'd:

Valverde
Sagan
Cavendish
Demare
Gesink
Porte
Thomas
Majka
Fuglsang
Bennett
Gilbert
Kittel
Pinot

[Vamoots58]

Enjoyed the Tour this year. Have to admit, I am amazed at how unpopular Froome is. Realizing fandom is a subjective thing, not sure why he gets the 'super boring' tag. Consummate professional. He never gets flustered, when under pressure. His recovery from two difficult mechanicals at very inconvenient times was impressive. He was able to mark his rivals at every point except one 250m 20 degree pitch. Saw a number of board posts during the tour about the race 'being fixed'. I actually agree, BUT feel the fix was against Froome and Sky. Wonder what would the final GC have looked like with a more traditional structure. Historically there were two 'real' time trials, Flat, ~50km. Tough to slight Sky for being the best prepared, most thorough team out there. Landa put in a huge performance, but looking back at last year, it was Wout Poels who led Froome up every climb and could have distanced him at any time. Considering the early loss of Thomas, and the almost non-impact of Henao, Sky won that race with 6 people. Definitely missed Sagan, great for cycling and always a great animator!! I also a fan of the Liggett/Sherwin show. I enjoy the historical and cultural color Paul adds, clearly a passionate student of the history of his adopted country. I am looking forward to the Vuelta.

I meant to add a couple of other thoughts. Thomas De Gendt is a #@$&'ng Viking!! Absolutely amazing to watch that guy turn himself inside out in what seemed like virtually every break away!! Chapeau to Warren Barguil, truly honored the polka-dot jersey!!

[clyde the point]

Post-tour depression starts for me today.
Overall I enjoyed it and echo the comments made previously. I think Froome has his hands full next year.
Sadly gone are the days when riders rode races to win not just train. Getting fit for one race in the season is one-dimensional in my opinion. I like guys who can do it all.

[jlwdm]

Well, considering how close the 3 'contenders' were at the end(even Aru), and also considering the strength of Sky, I think Ag2r, Cannondale and Astana would have attacked more and supported their strong guys more...if they could, they couldn't. They just didn't have the goods that Sky had. 'Why didn't he attack there? Well, cuz he couldn't attack there...

Overall good tour. Buying NBC/Gold worth every penny, IMHO..The 2 Aussies were excellent... O'Grady and the 'other guy'...:)

+2

I am glad I purchased NBC Sports Gold after the first week. Robbie McEwan, not O'Grady. I was not a big fan of McEwan as a rider (too many headbutts and too much swerving in the sprints) but he was a great announcer.

Jeff

[PQJ]

The scenery and spectacle are always fun to take in. But the racing? Probably the least compelling Tour in decades. IMO, of course.

[paredown]

I don't recall a Tour where so many big-name rider's DNF'd:

Valverde
Sagan
Cavendish
Demare
Gesink
Porte
Thomas
Majka
Fuglsang
Bennett
Gilbert
Kittel
Pinot
A really good reminder--and this changed the feel of the race in all kinds of ways--although the final on the Champs was less hairy than usual...

[choke]

Hardly better. The Tour is so much more important than any other race. The Vuelta might be fun to watch sometimes because it is not the strong teams or the strong riders peaking. Fun yes, but unimportant.

JeffI've seen you express a similar statement in other threads (I think even once addressed to me) and I get it...you think that the TdF is the greatest race. However, not all of us share that opinion. I don't disagree that the TdF is important and that pretty much all of the top riders are there....but those two facts don't automatically mean that the racing is the best or most interesting of the three Grand Tours. Personally, I would rather watch one Giro d'Italia than five Tours de France because I find the TdF boring in comparison to the other two GTs and have for many years.

As for unimportant...well, to an Italian or Spanish team the Giro and Vuelta are very important. In the case of some teams those races are even more important than the TdF.

[73Bronco]

My first time watching as I'm relativity new to cycling. I was surprised how much strategy was involved. It was like a game of chess, and not as much a seat of your pants suspense I thought a "race" would have. I do miss it now that it's over.

I was most impressed on Stage 4 when Keirsbulck had his solo breakaway for almost the entire stage.

[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]

+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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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!

[Ciavete]

Big train. Maybe too big. Impressive, but hurts race.

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/eapadilla/Tour2017Champs-800x533_zpsdresbxho.jpg (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/eapadilla/media/Tour2017Champs-800x533_zpsdresbxho.jpg.html)

[LegendRider]

Hello, fellow Cobbian!

Yes, indeed! Two at Walton.

[Web1111a]

Hello, fellow Cobbian!
Where in east Cobb are you

[victoryfactory]

Loved the Tour this year:

The resurgence of French riders (and the crowds reaction)

The courage of Contador and Quintana
Not to mention DAN MARTIN

Uran and Bardet on the podium!

Landa missing the podium on the final day by SECONDS in the ITT.


Kittle's 5 stages after Sagan's dq (political move imo)

No drug busts (that I heard of)

And a shout out to NBCsn for giving the tour the world class coverage and production values it deserves.

Did anybody else notice that Phil and Paul were being gently isolated by the nbc producers? Very little camera time.

I enjoyed Bob and Christian disagreeing on tactics,
and their nutty predictions. They are getting better every year.

Steve on the moto always having real time input from the team cars.
That looked like a very tough assignment.

Jens' daily take on the tactics was enjoyable too.

I don't think the nbc coverage did a disservice to the spectacle that is the TDF in any way.

Not gonna nit pic*. I must admit I loved it.**

PLENTY of drama for me.



*ok, I could have done without Taylor Phinney's goofy videos.

** all these comments are based on watching the stages after recording them and zapping the commercials. I could not have tolerated it otherwise.

VF