Was this the most boring Tour De France you've seen?

It may have been more interesting with Richie Porte, Geraint Thomas, Rafal Majka, Valverde, and Sagan for the whole tour (I didn't really miss Cavendish).

Mountaintop finishes are the best part of the tour. They don't have to have one every day, but more would make it interesting.

The Swimmer wrote:

Is it over yet?

Yes, swimmer. It is over. You no longer will be bored with men cycling up and down hills.

You can now return to the thrill seeking visions of men and women swimming back and fourth in an Olympic pool. Hope the excitement doesn't kill you.

I didn't think Le Tour could get any worse than it was last year, but somehow this 2017 race was 10x more boring. They have to make smaller teams. Froome isn't going to lose any of the next 5 tours if they don't make a rule change (barring injury of course).

The Tour needs more mountain stages with mountain top finishes. Also, things were more fun when riders were more doped.

Second most boring after the Nibali victory a few years ago.

Now this is getting old, it is time to toss out that "non-written" rule among riders to wait for the yellow Jersey when he gets a mechanical. It's a team sport? Then may the best equipped team win. You don't see marathon runners slowing down when a front runner has a shoe mishap. You don't see Nascar racers or F1 racers slowing down when an opponent has a mechanical, much less in Moto GP. Let's make cycling exciting, let the riders attack left and right. Had a mechanical? Tough luck! fire your mechanic or learn how to shift.

Bjørn Dæhlie wrote:

I didn't think Le Tour could get any worse than it was last year, but somehow this 2017 race was 10x more boring. They have to make smaller teams. Froome isn't going to lose any of the next 5 tours if they don't make a rule change (barring injury of course).

I disagree, I think that Froome has probably won his last tour. Possibly one more but one more max. He was weaker this year as you saw on the mountains. Porte would have beat him this year. He peaked 2 years ago.

Every Tour is the most boring ever.

kikKomen Soi sauce wrote:

The Tour needs more mountain stages with mountain top finishes. Also, things were more fun when riders were more doped.

Climbing records set by the "doping generation" were smashed by this year's riders.

DrugVampire wrote:

kikKomen Soi sauce wrote:

The Tour needs more mountain stages with mountain top finishes. Also, things were more fun when riders were more doped.

Climbing records set by the "doping generation" were smashed by this year's riders.

Err, no they weren't.

Bjørn Dæhlie wrote:

I didn't think Le Tour could get any worse than it was last year, but somehow this 2017 race was 10x more boring. They have to make smaller teams. Froome isn't going to lose any of the next 5 tours if they don't make a rule change (barring injury of course).

No. Or at least not if he can't replace Landa with someone of equal quality the next 5 years. Without Landa, Froome would not have made even the podium this year.

Barguil on Izoard:

http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/07/barguil-sets-tremendous-record-on-izoard.html

Two minutes faster than EPO lifetime-banned doping daddy - Riccardo Ricco.

and

TEN other riders this year climbed Izoard faster than Ricco.

and

Alberto Contador sets another new record on Croix de Fer beating the EPO-infested Festina team of 1997.

and

2017 is the third fastest tour in history according to Eurosport - only 2003 and 2005 were raced faster.

DrugVampire wrote:

Climbing records set by the "doping generation" were smashed by this year's riders.

Rayo. wrote:

Err, no they weren't.

I'm afraid "Drug Vampire" knows his/her cycling history...give that poster a hand! 👏. Several climbing records set during the pre-passport era were smashed this year. Something's going on here 🤔. Read this and you'll say WTF?

Forza Marco!!

Bring him back from the dead.

DrugVampire wrote:

Barguil on Izoard:

http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/07/barguil-sets-tremendous-record-on-izoard.html

Two minutes faster than EPO lifetime-banned doping daddy - Riccardo Ricco.

and

TEN other riders this year climbed Izoard faster than Ricco.

and

Alberto Contador sets another new record on Croix de Fer beating the EPO-infested Festina team of 1997.

and

2017 is the third fastest tour in history according to Eurosport - only 2003 and 2005 were raced faster.

Good resesrch Drug Vampire.👍Yeah...that Ricco was quite a character. First, he gets popped for using CERA in 08 (probably when he set the record on that climb back then), and after his ban, he ends up hospitalized for botching a at-home autologous blood transfusion. Lol. Talk about perseverance! 😁 And these guys nowadays are breaking climbing records held by these kind of dopers.

And the holy W/kg metric for cleanliness is a complete red herring unless riders divulge their correct bodyweight, which they obviously will never do - especially if they are at the natural threshold.

DrugVampire wrote:

Barguil on Izoard:

http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/07/barguil-sets-tremendous-record-on-izoard.html

Two minutes faster than EPO lifetime-banned doping daddy - Riccardo Ricco.

and

TEN other riders this year climbed Izoard faster than Ricco.

and

Alberto Contador sets another new record on Croix de Fer beating the EPO-infested Festina team of 1997.

and

2017 is the third fastest tour in history according to Eurosport - only 2003 and 2005 were raced faster.

Good research but not really good enough.

This year was the first time that Col D'Izoard was used as a summit finish. The previous years you mentioned it was in the middle of a stage.

All the more remarkable then, since the record was set midrace. Not all records are set during competition of course, which makes it that much easier to target.

DrugVampire wrote:

All the more remarkable then, since the record was set midrace. Not all records are set during competition of course, which makes it that much easier to target.

How is it more remarkable? Records on these mountains are all about context.

Riding full gas up a MTF is very different to the often more steady ascents of the earlier climbs.

It's more remarkable that the 2000/2006 times are even remotely close to this year's times.

I would like to have seen more mountaintop finishes but overall I thought this tour was a great product and as always a huge relief from the mid-summer sports doldrums. I thought the climb where froome lost yellow and the pros were weaving and trying to stay on their bikes at the end was very entertaining. And as long as Paul and Phil are talking I don't really care what's happening in the race. The GC title was pretty close this year, and up until the last final stage it seemed like their were about half a dozen riders with a legit shot. I don't ever remember it being that close during the Armstrong years.