2021 Race Ratings Write Up

The 2021 WT/WWT Season is done & dusted, and it's high time to present how you felt about it!

Not through an end of season survey of course, because memories get a little hazy - instead it's worth looking at the immediate reactions to the day, the stage, the monument, the prologue - and that's where Race Ratings come in at the bottom of each and every* results post.

^^^^* ^^^^Unless ^^^^the ^^^^mods ^^^^forget ^^^^or ^^^^post ^^^^the ^^^^wrong ^^^^poll.

Usual rules apply, whereby anything with less than three responses is discarded in the overall list, but mentioned if particularly of note!

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For the TL;DR edition, here are **the top 25** best one-day WT/WWT races/stages of 2021 (including at least three responses).

| Race/Stage | Responses | Av. Rating | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Roubaix ME | 173 | **9.93** | Full Broadcast |
| Vuelta a Espana - Stage 20 | 54 | 9.74 | Two hours |
| WC RR ME | 87 | 9.70 | Full Broadcast |
| Olympic ITT ME | 24 | 9.67 | Full Broadcast |
| Itzulia Basque Country - Stage 6 | 68 | 9.59 | Full Broadcast |
| Tour de France - Stage 7 | 51 | 9.57 | Full Broadcast |
| Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 5 | 78 | 9.44 | Two hours |
| Giro d'Italia - Stage 11 | 53 | 9.42 | Two hours |
| Bretagne Classic - Ouest France | 6 | 9.33 | Two hours |
| Oxyclean Classic Brugge-De Panne WE | 3 | 9.33 | 45 minutes |
| Vuelta a Espana - Stage 17 | 59 | 9.24 | Two hours |
| WC ITT ME | 12 | 9.17 | Hour |
| Tour de Romandie - Stage 4 | 30 | 9.07 | Hour |
| Strade Bianche | 139 | 9.04 | Two hours |
| Tour de France - Stage 21 | 6 | 9.00 | 30 minutes |
| Olympic RR ME | 46 | 8.98 | Two hours |
| Giro d'Italia - Stage 17 | 38 | 8.95 | Hour |
| Ronde van Vlaanderen ME | 71 | 8.92 | Two hours |
| Vuelta a Espana - Stage 6 | 15 | 8.87 | Hour |
| Vuelta a Espana - Stage 10 | 9 | 8.78 | Hour |
| Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 4 | 17 | 8.76 | Hour |
| Giro d'Italia - Stage 20 | 26 | 8.73 | Two hours |
| Olympic RR WE | 25 | 8.68 | Full Broadcast |
| Critérium du Dauphiné - Stage 6 | 8 | 8.63 | 45 minutes |
| Tour de Suisse - Stage 8 | 5 | 8.60 | Full Broadcast |

Those wet cobbles got us going it seems.

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###Grand Tours

**Tour de France**

A slightly earlier timeslot for the Tour due to the 20~~20~~21 Olympics in Tokyo this year, and whilst on paper it was the ultimate rematch between Pogacar and Roglic, it ended up being the ultimate rematch between Pogacar's hair and the helmet attempting to contain it, with Roglic dropping out due to injury and the fight taken on by his young teammate Jonas Vingegaard.

Meanwhile, finally Cavendish returned to winning fortunes in the sprints whilst Wout van Aert demonstrated that he might as well be the man for every type of occasion on road.

[Here is shown the average rating for the stage against the viewcount from the subreddit stats, showing what type of stage it was, be it a Sprint/Medium/High/TT.](https://i.imgur.com/27A36Pi.png)

Pretty easy to see the day Pogacar rolled away from everyone in the rain, as well as the slightly tedious second week on show.

**Giro d'Italia**

A pretty miserable Giro this year, which dented the ability of the camera to capture Bernal's epic solo in the third week that netted him the overall.

[Here is shown the average rating for the stage against the viewcount from the subreddit stats, showing what type of stage it was, be it a Sprint/Medium/High/TT.](https://i.imgur.com/FRGpvdj.png)

You'd get the impression from the ratings that excitement was followed by tedium and more excitement for much of the first half of the race, and a sup-par second week was partially saved by the final days of guessing if Bernal's back had had enough.

**Vuelta a Espana**

The final GT of the year, Roglic the victor for the third time in succession, and producing one of the highest rated stages ever - the penultimate stage where Miguel Angel Lopez climbed off his bike and the stage victory somehow didn't fall to the GC group.

[Here is shown the average rating for the stage against the viewcount from the subreddit stats, showing what type of stage it was, be it a Sprint/Medium/High/TT.](https://i.imgur.com/dxQPL8I.png)

Also shout-out to stage five for being single-handedly the worst rated GT stage on record.

**Summary**

| GT | Av. Responses | Av. Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | 26.4 | 7.34 |
| Tour de France | 15.8 | 7.41 |
| Vuelta a Espana | 14.2 | 7.63 |

The Giro this year unusually netting more ratings than the Tour - whilst the Vuelta provides the best action by a small margin.

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### One-Day Races

**ME**

The WT Circuit plus the World Championships & Olympics.

| Date | Race | Responses | Rating | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27/2/21 | Omloop het Nieuwsblad Elite | 40 | 6.35 | Hour |
| 6/3/21 | Strade Bianche | 139 | 9.04 | Two hours |
| 20/3/21 | MSR | 80 | 7.83 | 20 minutes |
| 24/3/21 | Oxyclean Classic Brugge-De Panne | 7 | 5.86 | Final 5 minutes |
| 26/3/21 | E3 Saxo Bank Classic | 114 | 8.46 | Two hours |
| 28/3/21 | Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields | 37 | 8.00 | Full Broadcast |
| 31/3/21 | Dwars door Vlaanderen | 19 | 5.26 | Hour |
| 4/4/21 | Ronde van Vlaanderen | 71 | 8.92 | Two hours |
| 18/4/21 | Amstel Gold Race | 42 | 8.26 | Hour |
| 21/4/21 | La Flèche Wallonne | 32 | 8.25 | 10 minutes |
| 25/4/21 | Liege-Bastogne-Liege | 41 | 7.98 | Hour |
| 24/7/21 | Olympics RR | 46 | 8.98 | Two hours |
| 28/7/21 | Olympics ITT | 24 | 9.67 | Full Broadcast |
| 31/7/21 | Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa | 3 | 5.33 | Hour |
| 29/8/21 | Bretagne Classic - Ouest France | 6 | 9.33 | Two hours |
| 19/9/21 | Eschborn- Frankfurt | 4 | 7.00 | Two hours |
| 19/9/21 | WC ITT | 12 | 9.17 | Hour |
| 26/9/21 | WC RR | 87 | 9.70 | Full Broadcast |
| 3/10/21 | **Paris Roubaix** | **173** | **9.93** | Full Broadcast |
| 9/10/21 | Il Lombardia | 20 | 6.10 | Hour |

Roubaix whilst being out of sync with the usual spring calendar due to covid shenanigans, delivered a fantastic race in an unusual timeslot.

**WE**

The WWT Circuit plus the World Championships & Olympics.

| Date | Race | Responses | Rating | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/3/21 | Strade Bianche | 22 | 7.82 | Full Broadcast |
| 21/3/21 | Trofeo Alfredo Binda | 1 | 6.00 | Final 5 Minutes |
| 25/3/21 | Oxyclean Classic Brugge-De Panne | 3 | 9.33 | 45 minutes |
| 28/3/21 | Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields | 8 | 8.25 | Full Broadcast |
| 4/4/21 | Ronde van Vlaanderen | 11 | 6.36 | No Consensus |
| 18/4/21 | Amstel Gold Race |  |  |  |
| 21/4/21 | La Flèche Wallonne | 9 | 7.67 | 45 minutes |
| 25/4/21 | Liege-Bastogne-Liege | 10 | 8.10 | Hour |
| 26/6/21 | La Course by Le Tour de France | 2 | 7.00 | No Consensus |
| 25/7/21 | Olympics RR | 25 | 8.68 | Full Broadcast |
| 28/7/21 | Olympics ITT | 2 | 8.50 | Full Broadcast |
| 31/7/21 | Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa | 4 | 6.25 | 20 minutes |
| 30/8/21 | GP de Plouay - Lorient - Agglomeration Trophee Ceratizit | 2 | 8.50 | No Consensus |
| 20/9/21 | WC ITT | 0 |  |  |
| 25/9/21 | WC RR | 6 | 7.17 | Hour |
| 2/10/21 | Paris Roubaix Femme | 25 | 8.04 | Full Broadcast |
| 23/10/21 | Ronde van Drenthe | 2 | 9.00 | Full Broadcast |

Standout race with over three votes was clearly the stunning result of the Olympics RR, won by Anna Kiesenhoffer, in the break from the flag drop, else De-Panne clearly was worth a look too.

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###Stage Races

First off, a chart comparing [the average rating of the races by using the individual stages & responses to them](https://i.imgur.com/vEZ9770.png).

Long story short, Itzulia & Tirreno-Adriatico are always excellent value for money.

Individual stages wise:

| Stage | Responses | Av. Rating | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Itzulia Basque Country - Stage 6 | 68 | 9.59 | Full Broadcast |
| Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 5 | 78 | 9.44 | Two hours |
| Tour de Romandie - Stage 4 | 30 | 9.07 | Hour |
| Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 4 | 17 | 8.76 | Hour |
| Critérium du Dauphiné - Stage 6 | 8 | 8.63 | 45 minutes |
| Tour de Suisse - Stage 8 | 5 | 8.60 | Full Broadcast |
| Paris-Nice - Stage 8 | 30 | 8.37 | Hour |
| Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 2 | 16 | 8.38 | Hour |
| Tour de Suisse - Stage 3 | 7 | 8.29 | 30 minutes |
| Critérium du Dauphiné - Stage 7 | 5 | 8.20 | 45 minutes |
| Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Stage 3 | 22 | 8.18 | 30 minutes |
| Itzulia Basque Country - Stage 3 | 18 | 8.17 | 30 minutes |
| Tour de Suisse - Stage 2 | 13 | 8.08 | 20 minutes |

These are all the individual stages above 8 average for the year