Good post. And it's not all about the GC.
The sprint finishes, daily breakaways that succeed and other great climbers not in the GC who starred, make it as good a spectacle as ever.
This. The others teams, many backed by huge continental conglomerates and with a wealth of cycling knowledge, have had many years now to follow and usurp Sky.
Shirley the many great sporting and management brains on the continent, can challenge the non-secret genius of Brailsford & co?
Most countries have xenophobic morons, whether it be a few thousand England fans in Germany or French wishing Froome ill.
Still needs to be mentioned. The ITV4 team have at times, rather than going for a BBC style sugar coating.
Noticeable booing of all Sky riders at key points such as time checks, and when Froome was in the Velodrome. The ITV team not yet mentioning it.
No doubt from a small but noisy section of the French public convicting Sky riders as cheats, whilst historically always exonerating their convicted...
Many French and Italian fans simply hate most Irish, British and American riders winning the grand tours. Lemond, Roche snr and Armstrong were all spat at, had urine thrown over them, you name it. A sniff of a drugs story, and they're relentless, forever. Whereas Virenque, Jalabert and Pantani...
Gutted that Cav and Sagan are out. Love or hate them, I'm a big fan of Cav's and I like Sagan's crazy persona, this has removed two immense 'characters'.
Silver lining, at least the green jersey has become competitive.
How dumb by Sagan, in full view of an array of cameras from every angle.
Brave of the tour management to kick out the star, as his deliberate act was incredibly dangerous.