What does Italy do better than France? Coffee, gelati and grand tour bike races.
It’s often asked which specific cycling event deserves the title of being the best.
The world championships, one of the classics, or one of the grand tours? Naturally, most people gravitate to the French end of the spectrum.
For most people, the sheer enormity of Paris-Roubaix or Le Tour itself means they take the cake, easily.
For me, however, it’s all about the Giro. It’s a three week affair packed with individual stages that themselves are so engrossing that they could easily rival a classic for entertainment value. It’s like a test match comprised of Twenty20 games.
It possesses remarkable flair from day to day such that one can view an individual stage without knowledge of the ongoing battles but loose nothing. Meanwhile the Giro still rewards the patient observers as each day presents a challenge to the narratives of our favourite protagonists.
Depressing days in the teaming rain. Summit ascensions surrounded by snow. Daring descents in the dry contrasted with absolutely edge of the seat fingernail ‘chewingly’ terrifying descents in the wet.
The 2013 version saw Bradley Wiggins battling the media, illness, his bike, the twitter sphere and his own teammates. We saw Mark Cavendish fighting tooth and nail to make it over elevated obstacles towards stage sprints. Riders crashing, getting back up and fighting for another day. Whole teams of staff, exhausted by long transfers yet still plugging on as the flotilla of fun snowballs onward.
Entire regions of Italy brought to a standstill as this once in a lifetime sporting armada passes through town. The Giro is grand on every level and that’s why I love it.
We tend to see two things at Le Tour: Either a routine flat stage smothered to death by the sprinters trains, or a hill top finish held to ransom by the deathly python squeeze of Teams such as Sky. It’s formulaic.
There’s no doubt that that in recent years the Tour has begun to diversify its offerings, but on the whole it’s still got a way to go.
Perhaps it says something for our expectations when the most anticipated battle of this years tour is that of impending twitter stoush between the world’s most famous cycling WAGs. It is social media handbags at ten paces and let Cathy Wiggins and Michelle Cound have at it.
I applaud the two for simply calling a spade a spade rather than hiding behind diplomatic nomenclature but that’s another debate for another day. Right now it’s Giro versus the tour and the Giro has come out swinging.
It’s the ample opportunities for the opportunists that make the Giro more exciting than the Tour.
Amongst the standard flat and mountain stages the Giro has taken to including a variety of stages that still force the riders to race.
These stages tend to be an eclectic mix of flat, narrow, technical and undulating roads that don’t really suit climbers or sprinters.
Finally by placing crucial climbs and descents very close to stage finishes they force the General Classification contenders to race whether they like it or not.
Even if GC teams choose to let a break go, these technical finales force the GC contenders to fight for position at the front of the peloton. In turn this forces the pace of the peloton upward, which then means the early break never gets too far out of sight.
And thus the scene is set, every team and every rider has a whiff of victory in their nostrils. White line fever sets in the race literally explodes.
The local teams and the one day specialists are looking to light it up, catch the breakaway and cross the line first with their local livery prominent on display.
Other teams are looking to defend or defeat their rivals as vital king of the mountain points are near. If they get a decent gap over the top of the hill, heck, they’ll have a crack at the stage too.
Sprinters’ teams are looking to keep the pace steady and not allow the whippets amongst them too much leeway in the hope of remaining in contact. This also sews the seeds for a scintilating descent.
Then the teams with GC contenders are all sweating nervously as they face yet another ‘banana peel’ stage. On paper the stage looks easy, but someone is going to slip up, they always do. Each contender just hopes it won’t be him.
After the bomb has gone off and there are riders everywhere it’s equivalent to taking the top twenty riders of the Giro and throwing them in a club race.
No teams to buffer them, no sprint trains to hide behind, just the big names with nothing to prop them up but their own legs, and that’s bloody fantastic.
It’s just so refreshing to observe the GC contenders in these tactical stoushes as well as the regular wars of attrition upon craggy mountain peaks.
Throw in these regular mountaintop finishes along with a few stock standard sprint days and you have the perfect grand tour.
With this impeccable selection of stages the Giro will captivate and consume you to a degree that no race can ever match. So when it comes around again next year, make sure you don’t miss out.
Lee Rodgers
Expert
The thing about the Tour though is that for the riders, it is still the greatest. Maybe the roads aren't as thrilling, maybe the food isn;t as good, and maybe the media is more like a circus than anywhere else, but it's the Tour! It's the race these guys grew up watching and obsessed over, it's the race that just about everyone in the world knows. But as a fan, I am the same, the Giro all the way. I think this one was fascinating partly in the we were witnessing the coming of a real champion. In hindsight we can say that we knew he would win from the beginning of Week 2 but he might have cracked, might have miscalculated - but no, he really grew into the race, and into himself, in this one. Awesome stuff. And a cracking article too Jono ;-)
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
All very good points Tricky. My only small disagreement would be regarding 2; although i agree that those areas i mentioned earlier are quite isolated and full of tiny villages who couldnt buy let alone host an arrival/departure for many reasons you mention in your 3 pts, there are small towns (20-50000) in all these departements which could easily accomodate arrivals/departures. Stages are on average 200km in grand tours and you have plenty of these average towns in the Vosges, Alsace, Tarn etc. Actually some tours have been through these parts of France, but not consistantly though as it seems tour organisers like to 'garantee' stages for sprinters only (we are lucky this year, plenty of diversity and not many flat stages.) Plus 'departements and conseils regionaux' (regions) are the biggest contributors to 'buying' arrivals/departures rather than the councils of these small towns (mairies) which could not afford such an expensive race anyway. Again, I think the Tour is victim of its success and worldwide exposure. Its a big PR coup for the country and all regions want to show the best they have to offer. Terrain difficulty comes second (or 3rd).
Jono Lovelock
Expert
Or those right gits in the media who keep beating it up!! Oh wait... ;-)
Cameron
Guest
"Perhaps it says something for our expectations when the most anticipated battle of this years tour is that of impending twitter stoush between the world’s most famous cycling WAGs. It is social media handbags at ten paces and let Cathy Wiggins and Michelle Cound have at it." Nah, I think it says more about your average cycling fan and those on twitter.
Kate Smart
Expert
I was one of three children. My mother always claimed she loved us all equally, but for different reasons. We each had our own unique personalities and charms. The three Grand Tours, I suspect are little the same. We love them all but for different reasons. However, I always suspected my mother of loving one off spring a little more. In the same way that I love the Giro just that little bit more.
ed
Guest
A few weeks ago le tour director christan prudhomme was in town, I think sbs were renogiating their contract. Anyway he outlined how the logistics are requiring stage finishes in locations that have good access for the media entourage plus the bigger crowds as europeans are taking the summer holidays. These days le tour doesn't seem to go deep into the pyrenees, think superbagners, piau engaly or cauterates. The reason is its just too difficult to get the logistical support in and out so we will see more finishes in towns like foix, tarbes & pau - zzzz Also le tour is the event where sponsors want to get their coverage so the racing is more controlled. I still love le tour but the giro tends to be more exciting
Tricky Dicky
Guest
Aside from the "attitude" of the riders, there are are other extraneous parts to play in the Giro outgunning the Tour: (1) Italy has the benefit of geography in that pretty much any city or town is within riding distance of a decent set of hills and exciting terrain. France does not: you have to go across some fairly plain, flat geography to get to the spicy bits. (2) Each stage of the Giro can be run through areas with sufficient population. The medium mountains in France that you mention are all in fairly remote, unpopulated areas - those towns don't have the population, let alone the infrastructure, to "buy" the finish of a TdF stage. (3) One other thing is the logistics. The Tour has 10 times as many "hangers on" to transport and accommodate (the size of the mdeia village alone is mind-boggling), let alone the teams. The accommodation options just are not available in some of the out of the way gems of regional France. The Giro just doesn't have to face anything like the same logistical nightmare and that partly dictates its ability to be more flexible (eg. finishing at "smaller" mountain top towns and resorts). Celebrate the differences - the Tour is a nice entry point for the casual fan, the Giro and the Vuelta for the "cogniscenti"....
delbeato
Roar Guru
I agree that Le Tour is over-hyped. Teams mark out stages in advance and control them mercilessly, nullifying breakaway attempts and making the outcome predictable (bunch finish). Sky doing the same in the mountains. The Giro is more fun, being less predictable. I like the mountain TT (in this year's race), which is more mano-e-mano than Tour stages. Even though Le Tour has epic mountain stages, the big favorites nearly always wait until near the end to play their cards, not wanting to risk losing big time by attacking early.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
IMO one the errors made by Le tour organisers is the fact most difficulties are usually packed in the last 10 days and they aren't using France's 'middle-mountain' geography as much as they should. The Jura, Vosges, Massif Central or even Tarn region are rarely used yet they offer the kind of terrain punchers love. Le tour has built its legend on dinosaurs' battle, anquetil v poulidor, Hinault v Lemond, Indurain v X, Armstrong v Ullrich etc. They don't want the race to be THAT open IMO. The price to pay for those epic battles is that we know the 2 or 3 contenders beforehand.
Jono Lovelock
Expert
Maybe the issue is that we build the tour up so much as fans and in the media that it's hard for it to live up? I mean either way, having another 3 week race to watch in just over a month is certainly not a bad thing! Bring on the Dauphine in the meantime!
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Good read jono. Tbh, I think Le tour is victim of its own grandeur. Most teams, and all best riders build their season around it and there is an obligation or result other tours, giro included, dont have. All this means that top teams have to control the race and lock it as we say. The best race must have the best riders and Le tour has that, unlike the 2 neighbours. I love all 3 grand tours for different reasons. Like a good meal, you need at least 3 courses and for me the TdF remains the main course. Doesn't mean that the starter, Giro, or the dessert, the Vuelta, aren't good. the best football or rugby is rarely played during the world cup final. Same in cycling I would say. But the tension and buzz surrounding Le Tour is unmatched.
Jono Lovelock
Expert
Yeah I think you and doozel have both raised a good point. I sit the fence on this. I believe it's the parcours that creates the drama first and foremost. If anything if there were no time bonuses riders may be forced to attack more in these small finishes. Perhaps we would have seen Cadel lay it on the line moreso on some of these banana peel stages. As it was it seemed like he knew his best chance was to conserve at every chance and if he was able to rack up more bonuses he could have snatched the lead at some stage
David Baker
Guest
Totally agree with you, Jono. Despite Nibali dominating for at least the last 2 weeks, it was still an engrossing race to watch. I'd include a reference to another vital ingredient of the Giro magic: time bonuses. They really spice up the race - they increase the likelihood of the Maglia rosa ping-ponging between multiple riders early in the race, and they also force the GC guys to sprint to the line on intermediate and mountain stages. And sprinting, as we all know, is awesome.
doozel
Guest
Significant time bonuses for stage finishes also contributes to everyone "racing". Don't know why le tour got rid of the them.
Jono Lovelock
Expert
We'll just have to watch the Tour while we wait
Bas Simpson
Guest
Great article Jono, looking forward to next year already!