donrhummy

How would you all rate this year's giro among other giros? among other grand tours?

FrankBattle 

Boring.

Doping made it more interesting.

jrennie

Unfortunately +1 to ^^

It was ok but nothing special. GC guys did just enough to stay where they were, no major attacks or tactics to try and take the jersey from DiLuca. The only time attacks did occur from GC men was in the last 2-3k of an uphill finish which isnt enough to nail back the time deficits they had. At least when Basso "prepaired to dope" he stomped the field and earned the jersey and just smashing the other riders.

*edit* I really did like Tinkoff's never say die approach to the giro. It did bring life to the stages and really made you cheer for the underdog.

donrhummy

??? I don't get it. You enjoyed Basso's easy win versus the guys nearly killing themselves climbing the mountain, trading leads back and forth on that stage and barely making it across the finish line?!

Stallionforce

I thought it was very exciting. DiLuca did not dominate, he was just consistent. The others tried him as best they could, especially the trio from Saunier Duval. Right up to the Zoncolan, I felt that Simoni was capable of taking back the necessary time. Schleck had an amazing ride; Bruseghin and Mazzoleni suprised me. I loved the resurgence of Mayo and Garzelli. Savoldelli salvaged his Giro and surprised everyone with his formidable time trial.

Riders were human again; it was not possible for them to ride like robots day after day. Even DiLuca cracked on the Zoncolan; but he showed guts and strength in limiting his losses. Nor could one team control the race. The main drama between the strongest team in Saunier Duval and the strongest individual in DiLuca was very compelling.

I suppose the lead could have changed hands once or twice near the end of the race; that would have made it a great grand tour; but, as it is, it was very exciting -- a good grand tour. And the ratings were way up this year in Italy, by the by.

bdcheung

I loved this year's Giro, namely:
- Tinkoff
- Schleck

donrhummy

I'm interested in knowing: those who voted "ehhh..." did you watch the giro or just read about it?

mynameistom

The GC battle never really got going. Di Luca was just too strong and already had a over a minute after the TTT, but there were some great stages. Piepoli's win was a great stage, as was the stage to Briancon. Good to see Petacchi back in full flight as well. Tinkoff animated the first week which was great to see, and Schleck has been something of a revelation. All in all a good race, certainly better than last years, but not particularly exciting. Everyone expected Di Luca to crack but he just got stronger, there was no back and forth. The Vuelta last year on the other hand was tense right up until the closing mountain stages. You've got be pleased for Saunier Duval with 4 stage wins from 4 riders even if Gibo missed the podium.

bdcheung

Did they implement the TdF TTT rules in the Giro with respect to the amount of time teams could lose to the winning team?

GuitarWizard

Today's coverage on Versus was perhaps the most boring 2 hours of bike racing I've ever watched. They seriously need to put more effort into editing.

bdcheung

I gave up on Versus. I watched the Giro via RAI and Cycling.tv

donrhummy

I REALLY enjoyed the RAI Video + Eurosport Audio Feed! It's not only that it was free, it was actually a very good combination - both worked very well. And judging by the comments of people who used cycling.tv, it was the best online feed available (and did I mention it was free?)!

Also, I want to thank both steephill.tv and cyclingfans.com for both having fantastic websites that not only gave great info/updates but tookt the time to find us all the right feeds, pics, live text, etc! THANK YOU BOTH!

Lithuania

i voted ehhh it was ok because for one we dont know who tested positive and two while it was a good i dont know if i could label it as the best in any time frame. Its way to easy to label the current years version of anything as the best/greatest because its the freshest in the mind. I need a few years before I can label anything that highly.

I watched every stage except thursday and friday.

El Diablo Rojo

Liked it, I think it was relatively clean. Hated the coverage on VS, they should have given us at least three days a week. For my money I think the Giro is A) harder and B) more beautiful than the Tour.

bdcheung

Giro is definitely harder than the tour, but only because the climbs are steeper. What's DiLuca's best time on the Alpe d'Huez?

donrhummy

I agree. I really like the concentration on killer mountains in the Giro. I love both the TDF and the Giro, but I'm a huge mountain fan, so the Giro just goes a step above in my opinion. (I like sprint finishes too and TT's but no where near as exciting for me as watching a guy attack on a 22% gradient)

cmh

This was a great Giro. I have become a big Shleck fan, and my dislike for Simoni has faded some. DiLuca rode a strong and smart GT.

I didn't watch it, I just read live coverage on cyclingnews.

Ernesto Schwein

+1

. . .and I want my $24 back.

I'm talking to pay-pal about this issue if anyone else is interested. Cycling.tv basically swindled 1000s of people into paying to be beta testers.

I understand enough Italian to enjoy the RAI feed and I'm grateful for that.

roadwarrior

Liquigas, for the last couple of months has been the best team in the world.

Di Luca was totally on form for this race as he has been since the week before Liege.

Nice job guys. First rider to Milan wins.

bac

Yup, those were the highlights for me also. Tinkoff was very aggressive throughout the race - although no stage wins this year, they will be back in a big way. Schleck? I didn't even know Frank HAD a brother until this tour! This guy is going to be very fun to watch over the next few years. Will he be a hero, or just another young rider with great promise? I can't wait to find out.

... Brad

-VELOCITY-

This was the first Giro I ever watched. I didn't see alot of it though. So I really could only answer other.

vpiuva

Can't be the best because an American didn't win. Oh, that hasn't happened in a while, has it?

marqueemoon

More exciting than last year's blowout for sure. I am just not much of a Di Luca or Petacchi fan (though I am excited at the prospect of a full-on sprinters' showdown at the TDF).

Hipcycler

What's RAI.....should I look into it?

donrhummy

It's an italian tv station. During the Giro, you could go to www.rai.it (direct links were provided on steephill.tv and cyclingfans.com for the video) and watch the Giro. If you didn't understand Italian, you could mute the audio and listen to Eurosport's audio feed.