So the 100 th Giro d'Italia is over, have you enjoy it and do you think it is the hardest proffessional bike race ?

given that less than a minute on the gc separated the podium and two very good riders approached greatness Dumoulin and Gaviria and the white and pink jersey were changed on the final day what was not to like?

As far as hard each Gran Tour is very difficult because they race for 21 stages. Certainly if you are a sprinter the Giro is harder because of the climbing and if you are a pure climber the tour is harder because the pace in the flats

Bottom line is they are all extremely hard and winning a stage in any Gran Tour is an accomplishment that goes on your resume from that day forward.

I prefer the Giro because as an American it was our first win in a Gran Tour and who can forget the snow covered 86 Gavia stage with Andy Hampstead covered in snow suffering on the summit. Still one of the iconic photos of cycling. You get allot more mountain duels on the Giro as well which I enjoy.

The Tour normally has bigger names but not this year. The Giro line up was arguably more elite. Not since Pantani in 98 has a rider won the Giro and the tour. It tires out the legs and often because of it prestige riders prefer the tour over the Giro In the past the Giro has been more prestigious but no so for decades now

I do very much enjoy the Tour as well and look forward to watching it again

I enjoyed it even though the cheap Australian TV channels this year declined to show it. The several time trial stages favored Tom Dumoulin greatly of course. Good win though. I think France is tougher.

I did enjoy it, but I was disappointed when Geraint Thomas crashed and lost 5 minutes through no fault of his own, he was in second place at the time and was shaping up for a good finish.

Yeah it's a tough race but then they all are, but you really can't go flat out and expect to perform well in TdF which is why a lot of the big stars don't enter.

The big tours are Always interesting to Watch. The strategy, the confusion when a critical rider drops out, the sprints and the climbs.

As for being the hardest, I don't know. There's maybe a bit more media for TdF, but I don't think any rider was taking it easy, thinking "heck it's ONLY the Giro".

An overall win here is still instant stardom and a good step to financial independence.

A stage win is pretty much next year's employment guaranteed. probably a decent raise.