Let’s Rank the Most Fun Tours De France of the 2000s!

Everyone is loving this Tour de France. It has been chock-full of suspense and action, with a (current) result that doesn’t match what we all expected. Each stage has been pretty-to-extremely intriguing. It’s gotten to the point where people are starting to ask if we need a break from all of the good times so fans and riders alike can catch their breath.

Is this the funnest Tour ever? Maybe if you’re under 30 you could think so — the 1980s were completely LIT though, so let’s not bother going there. And the 1990s aren’t the anythingest years for cycling, unless we want to do a corruption ranking, which I can assure you we do not. We don’t really want to get into the cross-off years either, which is all of the Lance Era, the Riis/Ullrich/Pantani Tours, and even the Landis Tour, though it still pains me to this day to dismiss what I saw. Anyway, let’s go from 2007 on, even though things were still problematic then. You have to start somewhere.

Before we get started, let’s parse through what makes for a fun Tour. I can think of a few things but feel free to add.

• A robust GC competition. We haven’t had a lot of really close competitions at the Tour in the last 15 years, but there’s usually at least one credible alternative contender. Multiple threats to win takes the intrigue up significantly, but those scenarios are pretty rare.
• A respectable winner. Usually just winning the Tour is enough to make you respectable, in the post-free-for-all-doping era, but there are a few levels to this.
• Lively racing. This is more subjective, and my memory of exactly how many attacks occurred at which Tour is not very reliable, so I’ll definitely rely on you guys to fill in some blanks. Generally, though, a close race isn’t fun if it’s just a series of dull marches up mountains. We want action and suspense!
• Some fun sub-plots. These come in all shapes and sizes, from yellow jersey surprises to charismatic stage wins or minor jersey campaigns. Is it mostly about yellow in the end? Maybe, but there is plenty of space to talk about other things.
• An appropriately magnificent route. The Tour has gotten pretty good at varying the route these days, so I am not sure how much of a distinction we can draw from year to year. There have been a couple duds though.

The Contenders — based on these criteria, I am eliminating just a few editions from consideration. 2009 — the moronic Lance/Astana stuff, I am confident that nobody is voting for that….