Men's Road Cycling UCI World Tour 2023 (Tour de France) Road to Paris 2024

[Olympian1010 7,479]

It’s a shame to see some of the podium contenders continuing to find trouble in the peloton (O’Connor today), but these two stages have been great. The Grand Tours need more “rolling” terrain stages like this. It’s definitely more entertaining than those pan flat sprint stages that really could just be a 20km town to town sprint. 

[dodge 705]

Grand Tours need sprint stages too. They have to have everything. The giro showed you can have boring hilly and mountain stages too 

 

Very enjoyable racing this weekend though. 

[heywoodu 13,560]

5 hours ago, dodge said:

Grand Tours need sprint stages too. They have to have everything. The giro showed you can have boring hilly and mountain stages too 

 

Very enjoyable racing this weekend though. 

Yeah, sprint stages (especially the long ones) always have entertaining endings, because after 180km of not much happening, suddenly things explode  Plus those kilometers get into the legs as well later on.

 

All in all this opening weekend was already more enjoyable and saw more attacking than the entire Giro d'Italia this year, which is interesting to see considering some years ago it was usually the exact opposite.

[AsensioWillemsen 123]

They already shorten the races more and more. The longest stage at, what, 200 km? Pretty bland.

 

Also, the Belgian meltdown yesterday was just great. I completely don't mind van Aert but yesterday was childlike and there is no reason one of the potential winners should work for a stage win, definitely at this moment in the race.

 

Although I would rather see Pogacar win anyway.

[frantic13poland 55]

Stage 3

[frantic13poland 55]

[frantic13poland 55]

[frantic13poland 55]

[frantic13poland 55]

[Grassmarket 2,757]

Tour leaves Spain today.