Giro d'Italia 2014

I kind of agree about the really steep climbs taking the 'racing' element out of stages, as it just comes down to survival and power / weight. I think 'smaller' tours put them on for commercial and spectator interest more than anything else.

Good blog on the subject here (where I stole all my opinions from): http://inrng.com/2014/05/giro-zoncolan-gradient-power-weight-contest/

I thought the Mountain ITT was even more of a farce for the same reasons. I suppose the do-you-do-you-not change bikes thing added a dash of interest.