# Worst. Paris-Nice. Ever.



## Hiro11 (Dec 18, 2010)

Endless flat stages followed by a bunch sprint. No TT. No mountaintop finishes. This is a stupid parcours. Also, many of the top GC riders have dropped out. After the awesome start to this European racing season, P-N is a disappointment.

Bring on Tirreno.


----------



## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Hiro11 said:


> Endless flat stages followed by a bunch sprint. No TT. No mountaintop finishes. This is a stupid parcours. Also, many of the top GC riders have dropped out. After the awesome start to this European racing season, P-N is a disappointment.
> 
> Bring on Tirreno.


Don't let the door hit you.


----------



## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

No Jens


----------



## Fignon's Barber (Mar 2, 2004)

Strade Bianche,Roma Maxima... Italy has been the place to be this spring.


----------



## dnice (Jul 12, 2012)

Diversity is a good thing. Not every race should have a world tour parcours.


----------



## hawkeye1824 (Aug 5, 2013)

Honestly, I just would have loved to watch it! Where do you guys get to watch it? Satellite? Online?


----------



## t-dub (Jun 3, 2003)

Cycling Live Video Streaming, Videos, Streams, Photos, Results - Live Race Coverage - Watch Cycling TV Online | www.cyclingfans.com

bAM


----------



## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Really nice to see Geraint Thomas get a leader jersey.
The guy works like a dog for his team and gets little recognition because he is surrounded by bigger names.


----------



## aa.mclaren (Jun 25, 2008)

Perhaps not the most selective parcours ever seen at P-N, nor the most top-heavy field of Grand Tour contenders, but to call this edition the "worst ever" is nonsense. It's a fiercely contested race that would drop 99.99% of commentators here in the first 5km.

Riders like Boonen, Degenkolb, Fulgsang, Majka, and Thomas in form and on their game are what make the race, not the course profile. If it suits their strengths, they aren't going to take it easy. And indeed we see that it is becoming a selective race, and fortune still favours the brave. This is no charity ride. 

Does it follow that those racing on a more challenging course at T-A are necessarily riding at a higher level? Or are they going to be riding more conservatively and picking and choosing their stages? It's also worth remembering that earlier editions of both races back in the 60s or before, were often the first rides of the year for many racers, who just used them as glorified training miles, while the "regulars" like Merckx, Poulidor, Antequil etc. just did their predictable show of strength. Today's peloton is a lot more intensively prepared, most of the riders already have a couple of dozen racing days in their legs, and it's a lot more game than it used to be.


----------



## JackDaniels (Oct 4, 2011)

25 riders withing 30 seconds, crappy racing for sure.

Piss off.


----------



## Hiro11 (Dec 18, 2010)

JackDaniels said:


> 25 riders withing 30 seconds, crappy racing for sure.


... because there's zero chance to break away and no team has brought a particularly strong line up. You guys like watching Tour transition stages? Because that's what this is: one Tour transition stage after another.

No matter. The Omloop was a brutal epic, Strade Biache added yet another instant classic running of what is rapidly becoming one of the best spring races and the parcours and line-up at T-A both look amazing.


----------



## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Hiro11 said:


> ... because there's zero chance to break away and no team has brought a particularly strong line up. You guys like watching Tour transition stages? Because that's what this is: one Tour transition stage after another.
> 
> No matter. The Omloop was a brutal epic, Strade Biache added yet another instant classic running of what is rapidly becoming one of the best spring races and the parcours and line-up at T-A both look amazing.


remember flat stages in PN a few years ago?


----------



## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

Hiro11 said:


> ... because there's zero chance to break away and no team has brought a particularly strong line up. You guys like watching Tour transition stages? Because that's what this is: one Tour transition stage after another.
> 
> No matter. The Omloop was a brutal epic, Strade Biache added yet another instant classic running of what is rapidly becoming one of the best spring races and the parcours and line-up at T-A both look amazing.


It's truly a sign of a fairweather fan when they piss and moan about not every stage being a mountain top finish...


----------



## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

robdamanii said:


> It's truly a sign of a fairweather fan when they piss and moan about not every stage being a mountain top finish...


That is an ad hominem comment. N.G.


----------



## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

looigi said:


> That is an ad hominem comment. N.G.


----------



## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

looigi said:


> That is an ad hominem comment. N.G.


Wah.

If he can't appreciate a wide open race without a mountaintop finish, then he needs to GTFO of the race discussion forum.


----------



## aa.mclaren (Jun 25, 2008)

Chavanel, Nibali, Boonen, Betancur all played their hands today, and they were racing to win. Who said this was boring or second rate racing? Or a weak field? It's still anybody's game, sports fans.


----------



## Hiro11 (Dec 18, 2010)

robdamanii said:


> Wah.
> 
> If he can't appreciate a wide open race without a mountaintop finish, then he needs to GTFO of the race discussion forum.


Reductive argument, there's also no TT in P-N this year and little overall climbing. Clearly a stage race needs a balance of elements, there's no balance here. It's almost like the "watching paint dry" Tour of Dubai.



> It's truly a sign of a fairweather fan when they piss and moan about not every stage being a mountain top finish...


Yeah, that's exactly my point: "every stage needs to have a mountaintop finish". OK.


----------



## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

Hiro11 said:


> Reductive argument, there's also no TT in P-N this year and little overall climbing. Clearly a stage race needs a balance of elements, there's no balance here. It's almost like the "watching paint dry" Tour of Dubai.
> 
> Yeah, that's exactly my point: "every stage needs to have a mountaintop finish". OK.


You claim there's no TT or mountain top finish, and that there's no balance in PN. Yet your argument is that there's boring racing, with about 25 riders having the potential to win. WTF would you consider "exciting" racing then?

I'm guessing you're the type of fairweather fan who thinks the Tour is the pinnacle of cycle racing. Or maybe you're a Sky fan who's pissed off that ASO is on to your teams games.


----------



## hawkeye1824 (Aug 5, 2013)

Thanks t-dub!! Which outside vendor to you link to to watch the race itself? I went to one and it wanted a credit card ("you won't be charged", "trust me...", yada yada)...


----------



## Uprwstsdr (Jul 17, 2002)

This is exactly what ASO was looking for. Normally the TT and Mountain top finish would be the only stages that mattered to the overall and only a few riders would be contenders. There are now 50+ riders within 20 seconds of the lead and any of the top riders could win. No one knows what's going to happen. Doesn't sound boring to me.


----------



## dnice (Jul 12, 2012)

This race setup is really working for me. If Froome had done Tirreno, it would already be game over. Get big lead on TT, Team sky protects on sprint finishes, delivers him to the climb with only 5 GC guys left and he holds off the rest for victory. Not saying I wouldn't watch that, but P-N is quite interesting racing ATM.


----------



## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Well I enjoyed it. Good racing every day.


----------



## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

dnice said:


> This race setup is really working for me. If Froome had done Tirreno, it would already be game over. Get big lead on TT, Team sky protects on sprint finishes, delivers him to the climb with only 5 GC guys left and he holds off the rest for victory. Not saying I wouldn't watch that, but P-N is quite interesting racing ATM.


What about contador?


----------



## DZfan14 (Jul 6, 2009)

I liked it. I hate these 7-9 day races where everyone fiddles around until the decisive climb or mountain stage. It's just totally predictable.


----------



## dnice (Jul 12, 2012)

foto said:


> What about contador?


true! with THIS version of contador, we might have had quite an interesting contest. although, i wonder if bertie would have launched a 30k attack if he and froome were fighting for GC. i doubt it, though.


----------



## TehYoyo (Sep 16, 2012)

aa.mclaren said:


> Perhaps not the most selective parcours ever seen at P-N, nor the most top-heavy field of Grand Tour contenders, but to call this edition the "worst ever" is nonsense. It's a fiercely contested race that would drop 99.99% of commentators here in the first 5km.
> 
> Riders like Boonen, Degenkolb, Fulgsang, Majka, and Thomas in form and on their game are what make the race, not the course profile. If it suits their strengths, they aren't going to take it easy. And indeed we see that it is becoming a selective race, and fortune still favours the brave. This is no charity ride.
> 
> Does it follow that those racing on a more challenging course at T-A are necessarily riding at a higher level? Or are they going to be riding more conservatively and picking and choosing their stages? It's also worth remembering that earlier editions of both races back in the 60s or before, were often the first rides of the year for many racers, who just used them as glorified training miles, while the "regulars" like Merckx, Poulidor, Antequil etc. just did their predictable show of strength. Today's peloton is a lot more intensively prepared, most of the riders already have a couple of dozen racing days in their legs, and it's a lot more game than it used to be.


I wouldn't really call Boonen "in form" this past week...


----------



## aa.mclaren (Jun 25, 2008)

Given that Boonen did win Kuurne Bruxelles Kurne a couple of weeks ago he is not wholly deficient in terms of fitness. Though that was a bit of a TTT with five Omega Pharma QS's and four Belkin riders capped off by the narrowest of sprinting margins. 5th on stage five at P-N might not seem stellar although he was counting on everything coming together for the bunch and got 2nd in the pack.

So I'd agree that this wasn't the dominant "Tornado Tom" as he was called in his prime, but he does seem to be building up for his favoured Classics. Whether he can live up to his epic wins of the past this year, is always a guessing game barring injury or other mishaps.


----------



## TehYoyo (Sep 16, 2012)

aa.mclaren said:


> Given that Boonen did win Kuurne Bruxelles Kurne a couple of weeks ago he is not wholly deficient in terms of fitness. Though that was a bit of a TTT with five Omega Pharma QS's and four Belkin riders capped off by the narrowest of sprinting margins. 5th on stage five at P-N might not seem stellar although he was counting on everything coming together for the bunch and got 2nd in the pack.
> 
> So I'd agree that this wasn't the dominant "Tornado Tom" as he was called in his prime, but he does seem to be building up for his favoured Classics. Whether he can live up to his epic wins of the past this year, is always a guessing game barring injury or other mishaps.


No, he's certainly not in bad shape (as you pointed out). But it's not true to say that he was in "top form." Maybe he was sick or something (although if you watch Cosmo's HTRWW, you'll see that he gave up on two of them, partly due to botched leadouts (not that Bouhanni ever has a particularly good leadout).


----------



## Hiro11 (Dec 18, 2010)

Uprwstsdr said:


> This is exactly what ASO was looking for. Normally the TT and Mountain top finish would be the only stages that mattered to the overall and only a few riders would be contenders. There are now 50+ riders within 20 seconds of the lead and any of the top riders could win. No one knows what's going to happen. Doesn't sound boring to me.


Jeez, you guys are acting like I'm the only one saying that this parcours was weak... My opinion is hardly in the minority.

As I said before, 50+ riders were in contention because no one took any risks, there were no decisive breaks and no TTs to show who actually had form. This is not the sign of a good parcours, it's a sign of a weak, non-discriminatory one. The peloton knew it and the reaction was a lot of half-hearted racing.

Again, my point is not that every stage needs to be a TT or mountaintop finish. My point is that by deliberately not including those elements this race discouraged risk taking, did not demonstrate to the fans who in the peloton truly had early season form and did not result in an exciting race. The one bright spot was actually the last stage.

Also, "Worst. Paris-Nice. Ever." is a deliberately-used played-out internet cliche. It's tongue in cheek guys, a lot of you seem to be taking this a little too personally.


----------



## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

it was pretty boring and even cosmo's race analysis failed to add anything deep or interesting, and he is pretty good at finding the tactical nuance.


----------



## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

It may not have been the most exciting race ever...but who really thinks ITTs are exciting? 

I can't remember the last time I watched an ITT highlight on the youtubes.


----------

