First time I’ve ever become totally disinterested in the Tour. I think it was a huge mistake to have that long time trial as the prologue. On a normal year, maybe it would have been good. However, with Lance in the race - he just managed to gain so much time right from the start that except for one day when Rasmussen appeared to be a threat, the tour has been pretty much boring. Stage 14 was pretty cool, and I was thrilled to see Georgie boy grab a stage, but damn, it seems pretty lackluster to me.
edit…looks like today’s stage might have been interesting (17) but I won’t spoil it here.
The Giro was much better this year, to bad we only got to see a few stages (in the US on OLN). 2003 was the best Tour for me, I was not following cycling in 1989.
YEah, really boring, attacks on almost every day, great sprint finishes, breakaways making it and almost making it. This one is way more boring then any in the past.
Well they said they same when Indurain was on his winning streak. I enjoy every single tour I have followed on tv, even more so since I took up riding and road racing more seriously.
I, too, have become disinterested in the TdF. It is hard for me to get excited about the race. Nothing exciting to speak of except George’s stage win. It’s just sit back and cruise. Several posters have mentioned the '03 Tour – that was a race. Every day, there was excitement and drama. This one ended after the first day. Lance hasn’t even won a stage, has he? He’ll probably go for the TT win Saturday, but for all practical purposes, the race is over. Lance has won #7.
I guess it will be kind of interesting to see if Ullrich can make up enough time in the TT to move up on GC, but that’s the only thing left in the race that offers any sort of excitement.
Don’t get me wrong, the sprint finishes are good, and it’s good to see a break actually survive. But man, when no one besides Basso (who will also get his legs ripped off in the TT, P3C or not) is within even 3 minutes, it doesn’t offer much of a climax… (no, I didn’t forget ‘Chicken’, who will also get his legs ripped off in the TT).
Are you all possibly taking forgranted how much attacking and responding from Lance there has been? No real breakaways because he’s caught them. I don’t know how you can say it’s boring. You’re watching history in the making. Apparently somewhere along the lines, you’ve become uber elite and watching a guy perform a feat that has never been done, and may never be done again. I don’t think it was over after day 1, how could you possibly say that. That just rings ignorance in my ear.
I think one of the other reasons why this year’s tour is so boring is because of all the successful breaks in the mountain stages. Lance had a bigger lead last year but each stage was far more exciting because he was fighting it out with other GC contenders for stage wins.
I think it’s a lot more exciting that last year’s tour, where USPS just rode the wheels off of everyone else. I can’t honestly remember anyone attacking Lance in earnest in 2004, but they’ve at least tried, and have isolated him a few times this year.
Of course, 2003 was by far the best tour in recent years.
Hell, any cycling coverage is better than no cycling coverage!
i was watching the british open and the tour on sunday. in most major golf tournaments, the back nine on sunday can be an exciting two hours of golf. to me, the stages in the Pyrenees are comparable to the back nine of a major golf tournament… this is where it can get really close, and leads can be taken and lost.
tiger was never in trouble on the back nine at St. Andrews, and Lance was never in trouble in the Pyrenees.
that being said… the tour has been great (thank goodness for tivo due to the commercials), great sprint finishes, great breakaways, some getting caught, some not, but really,… the battle for the GC never quilte lived up to my hopes…
