Best TdF ever?
 

I think this is probably the best tour that I've ever watched. Even before it started there was high drama and disappointment. The early flat stages had exciting group sprints with Robbie McEwen battling with World Champion Tom Boonen. The mountain stages have been crazy. Pereiro going out on an inexplicable 30 minute break. An Epic ride by Rasmussen to get into the polka dots. CSC and T-Mobile showing true professional team cycling by charging on despite losing their leader before it all started. Landis completley falling apart. Landis putting in a ride for the ages. Pereiro steadfastly refusing to give up the yellow. And its not done yet. High drama...

And for the record, I'm not really a big Landis fan. But the guy's got huge stones.

What do you think? If not which one did you prefer.

1969 - Merckx takes all three jerseys.

1989 - nothing much to say. Best TDF ever.

Good call on '89. But I wasn't really into cycling then. Only watched. But I do remember it.

Can't say much about '69. I was 2 years old. That might be the greatest individual performance.

eddy would have won white too; if they had that back then

Makes me wonder if they had the most aggressive rider award then. He'd won that one too.

I concur on both counts!

I don't remember the '69 TdF but I DO remember '89 and I don't think I will ever see another Tour like that. That being said, this year's version is the stuff legends are made of.

Cheers,

Brian

No contest, these were the best, too bad there was no coverage in 69 and only replay coverage in 89.

Well this is my first year watching so for me it is the best TdF I've ever seen.

Actually he did win the white! At that time the white was the combo jersey.

They did, he did.

He also won the final stage.

Oh Faema also won the team championship.

Poor Eddy, the awards the final day must have really drained him.

68 wasn't half bad either. If I recall correctly there were at least 4 riders at the top within a minute of eachother going into the final stage, an individual time trial. Final difference 38 seconds, the closest ever (until 89). On and with a Belgian losing the Yellow on the final stage it was just one more case of a run of bad luck. A run that Eddy broke big time in 69.

86 wasn't a half bad tour either. With the title of this thread being Best TDF ever it is worth pointing out just what La Vie Claire did that year since many recent teams get called 'best team ever'.

G.C. 1st 2nd and 4th
KOM
Most aggressive
Team Championship

That would also make that year the best results for America ever.

Of course I enjoyed the Lance years. I also enjoyed seeing Jan Ulrich take over for Riis. Loved it when Riis threw his bike. I was also pumped when the Pirate won it.

Yeah...after all of those miles, climbing the steps to the podium all those times had to put him over the edge of endurance:D :D :D .

Cheers,

Brian

He had to be paced to the top of the podium.

The problem with the poll is none of the options capture the right answer. I'd say better than any of the last 7. But you link this option with best ever. The Lance years are not the best TDFs. 1999 was neat because of the comeback, and 2003 was a suspensful race, probably the best of the 7. But 1969, and 1989 clearly surpass the last 7. Heck I'd argue that 1985 did also, with the battle between Lemond and Hinault. And there are a number of other good ones before my time, such as the battles between Anquetil and Poulidor, and Gaul's big comeback set out in another thread, then back to Coppi.
,and his fellow italian rival. The TDF has a very long storied history, and I'm afraid the frame of reference for most americans is very narrow.

Merlin don't dispair. I think it is like that for all sports not just cycling in the US. It is hard for someone born in 1969 such as myself to reflect on the tour in 1969. Humans are visual creatures, so what they see is what they know. This is the best tour I have seen, but I have to admit ignorance to tours in the 60's. I think the 2003 & 2004 series between the Yanks and Sox along with the 86 world series was the best baseball I have seen. I am sure there were epic battles in the 1920, 30, ect, but I wasn't around then.

The good news is I continue to learn more about the history of the tour by reading post from you and guys like Laggard and Devil.

Richard

I'll tell you when it's over.

The reference in the first answer isn't necessarily to say that the Lance years were the best. Its more of a tongue and cheek statement. I could have easily said better than the Merckx years or Indurain ones. Based one what you're saying then option 2 or 3 might fit you best. Basically, it was a flip statement that most people can identify with. Not that the Lance years were the best years. Some were rather boring once he had a grip on the yellow.

Well in response to the actual poll question ("best you've ever seen") I had to vote yes for that. I'm not sure it's the best in all the history of the TdF 'cause I think that's pretty difficult. They're all different for various reasons. I would have to guess it's one of the stranger ones, lots of surprises and unexpected stuff.

This is a very good point. Of those that site the Merckx years, I wonder how many actually followed that tour. Or are they going off of what they've read about afterwards.

I haven't had access to televised tours until the Lance Armstrong era. I used to read about some of the tours in the paper, though, during the Mercxx era. The Cannibal did a lot of attacking and solo riding for wins in his day. He was just plain faster than every one else. He was a superpower among powers. I don't know that he did anything as spectacular as Landis did on any particular day, but he did a lot of spectacular things and he did them many many times over. I remember seeing pictures of him with his hands in the air after winning a stage with nobody else around. I think any pro racing fan will concede to Mercxx the title of best pro cyclist ever.

Hinault was an aggressive rider. So were Indurain and Le Monde. I do remember seeing news clips of Indurain doing his incredible feats on the TT stages. He was really an amazing TT rider. Remember, these guys won a few Tours as well. Both Mercxx and Indurain won 5 each. Lance Armstrong did plenty of spectacular these things as well. The tour is full of examples of outstanding personal effort and achievement. Go back and read about Charlie Gaul or Fausto Coppi. These guys terrorized the field as well in their day. It's great stuff.

Let's give credit to Rasmussen and Pereiro for over-the-top personal performances in this tour. We'll all remember Landis' stage 17 but these other two were pretty spectacular as well.

+1
You could even throw Levi in there for some greats rides. He was won left for dead early on.

I think what sets this tour apart for me is that there have been great performances by other riders as well. There's been more to watch than just a couple of favorites.

Best win of the post Mercxx era bar none - no hip, no team, recovering 8 minutes on the final Alp stage? Hollywood couldn't have come up with this ending.

83, 86, 87, 89, 91, 96 were all exciting Tours IMO.