Is the Giro Better than The Tour?

[Erik.Lazdins]

The Giro has some spectacular climbs, the racing appears harder on the riders in the the Tour...

Discuss

[rounder]

I like the giro. The rides and scenery are beautiful. It is not over commercialized compared to the tdf. They always seem to have worthy winners, and you hardly ever hear about scandals.

To me though, the tdf is where it's at. The challengers are at the top of their game (form) and they are the best in the world. The coverage is excellent. Everyone knows the challenging stages that will affect the race and they always seem to make a difference. The tdf scenery is also excellent. The podium girls are beautiful in both races.

[acorn_user]

The Giro has been a bit more exciting over the past few years. But there's no doubt that the TdF has the prestige.

[Charles M]

The Giro is no place near the same rider pressure / difficulty when fully considered.

The Giro was my favorite anyway


EXCEPT

They need to get tough on B team dope havens like LPR.

[jhcakilmer]

Giro is much more of an open race, which IMO makes it more exciting.

As stated above not as comercial as the tdf.

Personally, I think the tdf is way over hyped.....great race, but what really makes it so great?? When the same guy wins it 7 consecutive times....it gets a tad boring. I think like many things it's the media that makes the race what it is....$$$$$.

I think the tdf has better PR and management, no questions, they know how to put on a show, enhance the drama, and pull you in.

[jbrainin]

The TdF usually has one thing the Giro most often lacks: the vast majority of the very best riders in the world striving for the victory. Maybe things were different in Eddy's day but for as long as I can recall (+/- 20 years), the Tour simply had much stronger competitors than the Giro. The Giro, though usually more compelling, strikes me as a more provincial race than the Tour.

That said, I hope like heck that the Giro is televised in the US this year because it's gonna be one hell of a race. Maybe a one-in-one-hundred race, even!

[velotel]

I suspect that the names of the two races long ago gave the TdF a lift into the american conscious. Everyone knows that the title means it's a tour around France because the word tour is the same in french and english. Giro means tour in english but lots of americans don't know that.
The TdF managers have in modern times been far better in the PR department than the Giro managers. They know well that it's not a race they're managing but a product they're selling.
Then there's american media's involvement in the race that had enormous economic impact. When Lemond won the Tour, the american media was all over it but when Hampsten won the Giro, an equally significant win in my opinion, there was effectively zero coverage by the american media. Lemond's victory is I believe what really put the TdF off the front because with that, international media coverage, and especially american which at the time was the most important of all, increased enormously even though it also decreased when he was no longer racing. It lessened but it was still considerably greater than before Lemond. Lemond's win also pushed salaries for the top riders way up the scale and there's nothing quite like the stars signing contracts for big numbers to attract media attention even if they don't have a clue what in the heck the person is supposed to do to earn that salary.
That constantly increasing importance in the media meant that sponsors looking for media coverage suddenly saw the TdF as an excellent way to cash in on the publicity. For sure the best of all is winning the race for a sponsor but the beauty of a three-week stage race is that there are enormous opportunities for sponsors to be in the limelight via stage wins. Hence winning a stage in the TdF became a major career goal for riders and teams and that means every stage in the TdF has enormous pressure from the start gun to the end. Only a handful, if that, of riders are capable of winning the race overall so most of the peloton and quite a few entire teams are effectively racing purely for stage wins. The Giro doesn't have that kind of pressure due to the TdF's position in the media's perspective of race value.
But in terms of course difficulty, for a number of years now the Giro has been the tougher race if the degree of difficulty is defined by mountain stages. Those guys have been tackling some of the toughest climbs found in Europe, climbs that make the TdF climbs look moderate. Also weather conditions during the Giro are frequently way more challenging than during the TdF. Late spring conditions in the Alps can be winter conditions.
Which brings up the date factor. The TdF is during the summer and that means for a good part of the western world, during the holiday season. Attracting huge crowds along the routes becomes that much easier plus there are enormous numbers of people who plan their summer holiday around the TdF. That summer schedule also works well for the media since (or at least it used to be the case in the states but maybe that's changed since I left some 15 years ago nevertheless that is definitely the case in Europe) summer tv schedules usually mean repeats. And the bigger the crowds, the more important winning individual stages becomes and voila, speeds increase, pressure increases, etc.
All of that can be seen simply by following part of either race on the ground. The Giro is way more relaxed than the TdF. Rider comments have consistently said the same thing.
Probably in the end, winning either race is equally hard, despite Armstrong's numerous comments that the Giro isn't in the same league as the TdF, or words to that effect as I recall. The pressure factor in the TdF is apparently way greater but the big climbs always come down to the individual and lately it's the Giro that has bragging rights to the toughest climbs.

[Elefantino]

Better, no. Tour climbs are harder and stages are tougher, the riders say.

More exciting? Many times, yes.

And the fans? The best of the GTs. Except if you're Wladamir Belli. He punched one once (a pink-shirted Simoni supporter) and was yanked from the race. :no:

[Spicoli]

Make it longer and harder than the French race and in a couple years it would be. I like it better anyway even as is.

[saab2000]

The Giro is the best race of the year. When I lived in Europe I loved watching it. It frequently provides equal-to or better racing than the Tour and the scenery is no less spectacular.

That said, the Tour is also great.

But the Giro makes for better racing in my eyes. Less scripted, less predictable.

I think the 2009 Giro will be a great race and Lance Armstrong's presence will make it even better. I am glad to see him finally riding it.

[Bill Bove]

Giro=Pink :banana:
Tour=Yellow :p

[Viper]

It will be better for cycling when people either remember or learn how pertinent the Spring Classics are for the sport. Used to be a day when terms like The Triple Crown meant something, used to be a day when a cyclist pushed himself to improve his weaknesses in order be able to climb, sprint and time trial. Americans can't get what they don't see; it's imperative the Spring Classics receive the media attention and thanks to Lance Armstrong, they will again atmo. I'm built for Paris Roubaix, I regret skipping it :D

atmo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhvA9i6xsiw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRKnW6I0RqI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQojh-wqL04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uCgkpVdt4U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Wj6P2hyic

[JMerring]

i think if you gave the pros a choice of winning 1 of the 3 grand tours, 99% would choose the tour; if you gave golfing pros a choice of winning any 1 of the 4 majors, better than 75% would choose the masters; so no, the giro is not the masters of the cycling world.

[johnnymossville]

Better food around the Giro. :)

[Ti Designs]

Personally, I think the tdf is way over hyped.....great race, but what really makes it so great?? When the same guy wins it 7 consecutive times....it gets a tad boring.


I've heard know-it-alls talk about races that I was in, they clearly don't know much. Years back there was the Stow road race in Vermont. I was there when they extended it to two laps, so we got to climb both Smuggler's notch and West hill twice. On the second lap big George attacked going up the notch. I heard someone say "big deal, George can't climb". Really? 'cause I was right next to him just before the notch and I got dropped like a rock.

You can say the tour is boaring, I can watch a local rider bridge a 45 second gap and think it's impressive as hell. It's all about perspective.

[Michael Maddox]

The Giro is amazing. The fans are crazy, and the riders are doped to the gills. I've chosen to go the Giro rather than le Tour. It seems a much better race for the cycling enthusiast to see.

[Bill Bove]

I heard someone say "big deal, George can't climb". Really? 'cause I was right next to him just before the notch and I got dropped like a rock.


Yes, but weren't you technichally dead at the time?

I hear stuff like that all the time about so and so just being a sprinter, guys got to get there to win the sprint.

[Viper]

I've heard know-it-alls talk about races that I was in, they clearly don't know much. Years back there was the Stow road race in Vermont. I was there when they extended it to two laps, so we got to climb both Smuggler's notch and West hill twice. On the second lap big George attacked going up the notch. I heard someone say "big deal, George can't climb". Really? 'cause I was right next to him just before the notch and I got dropped like a rock.

You can say the tour is boaring, I can watch a local rider bridge a 45 second gap and think it's impressive as hell. It's all about perspective.

Infomercials work, but they work best when they contain someone with a British accent screaming about how great the product is. Michael Ware is on CNN right now, the cat is uglier than the bottom of my shoe, when he looks at you his nose is pointing at the wall to your right, at 39 he looks like he's in his 50's, but he's got that Australian-outback accent, which works really well if you have a nature show on tv too. I'm so much better looking than Ware, smarter too, but he's got that dang accent. :D

Perspective:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ware

:beer:

[johnnymossville]

...Michael Ware is on CNN right now, the cat is uglier than the bottom of my shoe, when he looks at you his nose is pointing at the wall to your right...

You forgot to add he says exactly the kind of things CNN likes to hear. :p

[Viper]

You forgot to add he says exactly the kind of things CNN likes to hear. :p

I was going to say it looks like someone threw their shoes at him and didn't miss, hit his nose! :beer: He's coming out with a book you know, gonna make some big bucks off the war (the war he sat at the front lines while having an affair with Lara Logan) with his Between Me and The Dead tale. I just hope he can afford a shower, shave and maybe a nosejob or twelve. :D

[Bill Bove]

I'd break my nose a half dozen times to get it to like that if it would make Lara Logan ( :banana: ) give me a second look :crap:

[Waldo]

Now that Vs. channel's fave Lance Armstrong is riding the Giro, does it mean that Giro will be back on live TV?

[Erik.Lazdins]

Now that Vs. channel's fave Lance Armstrong is riding the Giro, does it mean that Giro will be back on live TV?

I hope so! - and if thats true I really want Lance to ride Paris-Roubaix!

[soulspinner]

The giros ruins are beautiful, but cant the Italians get folks to move their cars off the route? Every year these guys go flying through turns only to have the riders scatter because of an unforseen parked car....maybe Lances ride in 09 will bring the Giro prestige.

[Elefantino]

Now that Vs. channel's fave Lance Armstrong is riding the Giro, does it mean that Giro will be back on live TV?
I hope so, too. Back in 2001, it was great. We were a Nielsen family for two week and the Giro was on, all the time, on all of our TVs.

[velotel]

The giros ruins are beautiful, but cant the Italians get folks to move their cars off the route? Every year these guys go flying through turns only to have the riders scatter because of an unforseen parked car....maybe Lances ride in 09 will bring the Giro prestige.
That's Italy. It's chaos in lots of respects but it works for them and if one relaxes and stops fighting the chaos italian style, it can become perfectly normal. Which makes lots of anglo-saxons extremely nervous. I love Italy, italian food, italian women, the italian lifestyle, but every time I cross the frontier back into France, I can feel my body relaxing because compared to Italy, France is so calm.

[Birch]

It would be nice if the Triple Crown did mean something. Some kinda bonus or some organization within the three GT's. Or is there, and I'm just missing it?

[Elefantino]

Nobody's ever done it. Even Merckx, although he probably could have.

[Viper]

It would be nice if the Triple Crown did mean something. Some kinda bonus or some organization within the three GT's. Or is there, and I'm just missing it?

The Triple Crown and it's incentive sits in the laps of the cyclists. Should they want their names to be associated, linked in history with two men, Eddy Merckx and Stephen Roche, then they ought to pedal faster. In golf the goal is to sweep, win all four majors in the same year (not like the Tiger Slam where he won them, but not in the same calendar year) and in cycling, it would be nice to hear the words and see the actions of a small handful of riders who say, "I am going after the Triple Crown this year."

If you can do a Triple Crown, there's no paycheck large enough to overwhelm the winner, it's the $500.00 trophy itself which matters most.

The Triple Crown has only been achieved twice (both times by winning Giro/Tour/Worlds):

Belgian Eddy Merckx did it in 1974
Ireland's Stephen Roche in 1987.
Among those who came close are Italian Fausto Coppi, Frenchman Bernard Hinault and later Spaniard Miguel Indurain who finished second in the World Championships in 1993.

[soulspinner]

That's Italy. It's chaos in lots of respects but it works for them and if one relaxes and stops fighting the chaos italian style, it can become perfectly normal. Which makes lots of anglo-saxons extremely nervous. I love Italy, italian food, italian women, the italian lifestyle, but every time I cross the frontier back into France, I can feel my body relaxing because compared to Italy, France is so calm.

Thanks. Ive never been there.

[csm]

the tour..... shimano
the giro...... campy