Sincitycycler

After watching the FitTV documentary on George Hincapie, it would be tough finding anybody nicer with his impressive credentials in the sport of pro bike riding.

Who are the others?

Note from the dark side: Cippo showed an azzhole side of himself when he threw not one but two water bottles at the motorbiker that passed between ol' Pretty Boy and his team car on my "Crash" DVD.

The 2nd bottle was definitely uncalled for...

waltergodefroot

Just like in every walk of life, you never know who the real good guys are cause they don't advertise.

redal

Antonio Cruz, Erik Saunders, Jason Bausch, Fred Rodriguez, Burke Swindlehurst. Those are a few that I know, I'm sure there are more.

DannoXYZ 

I would venture to say that most of them are "good guys". It's the bad apples that draws the attention and gives all the wrong impressions of the sport overall.

caloso

Jens Voigt. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?...y05/may04news2

(Scroll down to the story and picture about Jens on a tandem with a blind fan.)

roadgator

jens has also been know to work the side lines handing out feed-bags when he's injured and cant ride.

patentcad

Ah, but the good guys are dull. It's the total *******s that make it fun to watch the sport. What would the sportswriters do without them??

Warblade

Chris Horner, end of story.

race-me22

I would agree with that one

HigherGround

Retired pros: Andy Hampsten, Sean Yates.

Snicklefritz

That was Jens?? Wow! He looked completely different compared with a photo I saw of him taken during the TDF this past year. This one makes him look normal. The other made him (almost) look as gaunt as Rasmussen.

HigherGround

Wow, I don't know how I missed this article when I read through the thread earlier. Very cool story, thanks for posting the link. There's a good article on Jens in the February 2006 issue of Procycling magazine too. Don't mess with that guy's cereal!

Warblade

My coach used to race with him on prim alliance too. quite the guy I must say [refering to horner that is]

Sincitycycler

Really? Hampsten took a swing at several guy at a TDF mountain stage one year...

HigherGround

I assume you're talking about the day Andy won the Alpe d'Huez stage at the Tour de France. There is a shot of him pushing a kid away who darted out of the crowd like a missile, right at his bike. Perhaps it was the camera angle, but his reflexes actually seemed pretty amazing. Considering the way photographers have knocked riders off their bikes (think of Gianni Bugno on the Col d'Izoard in the early 90's or Guiseppe Guerini on Alpe d'Huez around 2001), I really don't blame any rider from protecting "his space" from the crowds. If I remember correctly, Andy once said that fans don't realize how painful it could be when they slapped riders on the back while they're climbing at full speed during a mountain stage. I also think Bernard Hinault once said he wanted to wear a jersey with thumb tacks pointed outwards for people who slapped him on the back during races!

At the end of the stage, Andy also pushed a Tour worker away when he was being swarmed at the finish. Once again, I think any rider would simply want a minute to get off the bike, rest, and compose himself at the end of a mountain stage, rather than being in the center of a rugby scrum.

Through out his career, Andy was know for being exceptionally polite and down to earth. He would usually talk about what "our team" won or accomplished, rather than saying, "I won..." When Stephen Roche won the Giro in 1987, the joke was that he won the race by riding on pancakes because that was the only thing that could be slid under his hotel door. The tifosi didn't like the idea of a foreign winner, and he was subject to a lot of abuse from the Italian fans. However, just a year later, Hampsten was a very popular winner of the Giro. He took the lead during an epic stage that crossed the Gavia pass in a snowstorm (picture).

HigherGround

I assume you're talking about the day Andy won the Alpe d'Huez stage at the Tour de France. There is a shot of him pushing a kid away who darted out of the crowd like a missile, right at his bike. Perhaps it was the camera angle, but his reflexes actually seemed pretty amazing. Considering the way photographers have knocked riders off their bikes (think of Gianni Bugno on the Col d'Izoard in the early 90's or Guiseppe Guerini on Alpe d'Huez around 2001), I really don't blame any rider from protecting "his space" from the crowds. If I remember correctly, Andy once said that fans don't realize how painful it could be when they slapped riders on the back while they're climbing at full speed during a mountain stage. I also think Bernard Hinault once said he wanted to wear a jersey with thumb tacks pointed outwards for people who slapped him on the back during races!

At the end of the stage, Andy also pushed a Tour worker away when he was being swarmed at the finish. Once again, I think any rider would simply want a minute to get off the bike, rest, and compose himself at the end of a mountain stage, rather than being in the center of a rugby scrum.

Through out his career, Andy was know for being exceptionally polite and down to earth. He would usually talk about what "our team" won or accomplished, rather than saying, "I won..." When Stephen Roche won the Giro in 1987, the joke was that he won the race by riding on pancakes because that was the only thing that could be slid under his hotel door. The tifosi didn't like the idea of a foreign winner, and he (Roche) was subject to a lot of abuse from the Italian fans. However, just a year later, Hampsten was a very popular winner of the Giro. He took the lead during an epic stage that crossed the Gavia pass in a snowstorm (picture).

HigherGround

Some other highlights of Hampsten's career include:
* Winning a satge of the Giro in 1985.
* Becoming the first American man to win a European national tour when he won the Tour of Switzerland as a member of the La Vie Claire team in 1986.
* Later that same year he helped Greg LeMond win the Tour de France, while finishing 4th and winning the White Jersey for the best young rider.
* In 1987 he won the Tour of Switzerland again, this time riding for the 7-Eleven team. He won by 1 second, despite a very determined effort from the Panasonic team.
* Winning the Giro d'Italia in 1988, along with the mountains competition and combined classification. He also finished third in the 1989 Giro.
* Later victories included: The Tour of Romandy, the Tour of Galicia (in Spain), the Alpe d'Huez stage at the Tour, as well as finishing 4th at the Tour again.