Road Cycling - favorite cyclist past and present?

Who is your favorite cyclist past and present? I find these types of questions interesting, don't ask why cause I don't really know! My all time favorite is Miguel Indurain, and the active rider I cheer for is Robbie McEwen.

Cheers!

Leyton

Andrea Tafi captivates me. The way he just powers the bike along. Not the greatest spin rate and he crouches down with his hands on the hoods instead of the drops, which is odd...

His wins are so memorable though. When he hammered the field at Paris-Roubaix (he has been on all three steps of that podium) and last year's Ronde was amazing. He caught some great riders with their "pants down" on that day.

My favorite past rider is eddy merckx, and my favorite rider right now is "Lance Armstrong"!

past riders? just one? can't do it! Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Greg Lemond. Merckx was just a bad mamma-jamma. Coppi was a hoss and suave at the same time. Lemond barreling down the champs-elysees to take the yellow jersey in the 89 tdf was just breath taking.

as for present day riders, I like watching Cippolini and Zabel. And of course Lance! as well as Roberto Heras and George Hincapie.

Past, without a doubt Nelson Vails. Hands down no question!!

Present, Super Mario.

I agree...Nelson Vails. 36 inch thighs. The Cheetah.
Not Dave Stohler!
Where is Nelson nowadays? Any sightings?

Bhraman Bull, like the sprinters huh?

Past riders? Merckx (maybe coppi, anquentil, Giomondi,
Poulidor) tough question.

Current? I kind of like Tyler he seems a class act.
Cadel Evans is interesting too, as is Robbie Hunter.
Single answer? see my tagline.

Marty

Laurent Jalabert. Kind of past and present as I think he retired, or is he just not doing the tour anymore (I say he is my favorite but I don't even know his current status, silly me). Him and Mario you gotta love him lol.

My favorite past rider was Marshall "Major" Taylor- a great black cyclist back in the late 1800s from Indianapolis who was a world champion cyclist, and a wonderful role model. To read his story is very inspirational. I accidentally stumbled upon the history of this fascinating cyclist, and was impressed by the obstacles he overcame to become a world champion. I read stories about how clubs would pass rules to ban black people from joining their clubs so that Major Taylor couldn't compete there. I also read about how other cyclists sabotaged his races and ganged up on him to the point where he had to leave the country and go to Europe and Australia to race professionally. I also read about how he ended up losing everything, and he died in the 1930s during the Great Depression at Cook County Hospital here in Chicago. They buried him in an unmarked grave in Chicago, and he remained buried there until Schwinn came along and found his body and re-buried it in a proper grave, complete with a memorial service. The Indianapolis velodrome is also named after him too.

A story like that is to be admired. I have this link saved in my favorites, so I'll pass it on in case anyone else is interested in reading up on this guy.

http://www.africanpubs.com/Apps/bios/1089TaylorMarshall.asp?pic=none

Koffee

P.S. No particular favorite cyclists presently.... well, maybe myself! ;)

Originally posted by tokus
Laurent Jalabert. Kind of past and present as I think he retired, or is he just not doing the tour anymore (I say he is my favorite but I don't even know his current status, silly me). Him and Mario you gotta love him lol.

He had better be retired. Believing that he isn't pulling a Cipo-style fake retirement, CycleSport magazine dedicated darn near a whole issue to his career. If he comes back and rides they will probably feel a little perturbed. I do believe he is done though. I think he has too much honor to reneg.

I too have enjoyed watching Jalabert transform his career. However, his claiming the polka-dot jersey in the Tour revealed some fault with that scoring process, in my opinion. To kill yourself over the first few climbs each day only to lose massive amounts of time on the last climb (like 18 minutes) doesn't strike me as the intent of the competition. I had a hard time considering him to be the true King of the Mountains considering when the racing got real the leaders shot him out the back like poop through a goose.

Thanks for mentioning Major Taylor, Koffee. ;)

I keep his biography next to my bed to read and inspire me.

BTW it's Major Taylor: The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer by Andrew Ritchie. Published by Bicycle books.

My current favorite cyclist is my wife. I love being behind her in a paceline.:love:

Every single person I have ever rode with.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lotek
[B]Bhraman Bull, like the sprinters huh?

Yeah, I think sprinters are amazing athletes. Plus, they are the only cyclists in which I can relate b/c I have a massive lower body. Long Live the Sprinters!

My favs are guys who can TT like a beast. I say, if you can't TT, you ain't a cyclist. LOL

Past - Greg Lemond, Steve Bauer (Oh Canada ya right), Fausto CoppiLaurent Jalabert
Present - Lance, Santiago Botero, Joseba Beloki, Zabel, Cipo......but Lance will be my all time fav......the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be....especially after Tdf 5 & 6

There is always someone better, so Lance isn't the best there will ever be. He may be the only to survive cancer and then return to dominate, but that doesn't mean he'll be the best ever. What if he loses the fifth? He'll go down as a has-been( atl least in the French books, lol). Plus, in my mind, Lemond's wins were more amazing than Lance's wins. Lance is on an American team, with good sponsors, a top coach, and a top notch team who are all there to support him and nobody questions whether he should be the one to lead or not. That said, Lance is awesome.

Bob Roll, how come nobody has mentioned Bob??? I'll mention him, Bob Roll.

Lance??? The greatest cyclist EVER???

Compare his palmares to Merckx and it is laughable.

Deciding on a favorite is a matter of opinion and I will respect everyone's but to claim the title of "greatest ever" requires some empirical data.

www.cyclinghalloffame.com has such data compiled and I will guarantee that Merckx firmly wears the crown of greatest ever.

Now, back to the "favorites" list...

1 Eddy Merckx, BEL 21100
2 Bernard Hinault, FRA 12490
3 Fausto Coppi, ITA 10720
4 Gino Bartali, ITA 10400
5 Jacques Anquetil, FRA 8940
6 Miguel Indurain, ESP 7480
7 Felice Gimondi, ITA 7260
8 Francesco Moser, ITA 6880
9 Sean Kelly, IRE 6770
10 Rik Van Looy, BEL 6740
11 Louison Bobet, FRA 6630
12 Alfredo Binda, ITA 6580
13 Joop Zoetemelk, HOL 6470
14 Lucien Van Impe, BEL 5580
15 Raymond Poulidor, FRA 5570
16 Roger De Vlaeminck, BEL 5550
17 Greg Lemond, USA 5460
18 Federico Bahamontes, ESP 5030
19 Jan Janssen, HOL 5000
20 Laurent Jalabert, FRA 4960
21 Lance Armstrong, USA

As far as greatest cyclist in history goes, Merckx by a long shot with Armstrong currently in 21st (and climbing like a rocket).

This isn't to take anything away from LA, but there is an historical perspective that we should respect. And we must remember that le Tour de France is not the alpha and omega of cycling.

The list is from www.cyclinghalloffame.com, by the way. Check there to see how points are assigned.

I know he is a mtb'er and not a roadie but I gotta go with Ned Overend.

There's something about a 40 year old whipping a bunch of young pups the way he used too (and probably still does).

Blake

Past-Lemond, present-LA in the tdf and Johan Museeuw in the classics as watching him in paris roubaix is amazing. Also honorable mention to Allison Dunlap as she is about the only rider I have ever heard of who can do it all (MTB, Road, Cross,)

Among the riders of the past, I admire Bernard Hinault both for his riding and his writing. His book, Road Racing. Technique & Training, is filled with useful information, inspiration, and wisdom. Eddy Merckx was amazing and I won't let his role in creating the Lotto-Domo merger mar my admiration for him as a racer.

Among the riders of the present, Michael Boogerd is so filled with good cheer, he just radiates a love for racing. You can see it in way he spends his birthday (which is the same as mine :) ): He leads a ride with his fan club! Any race with Judith Arndt and Lyne Bessette is sure to be fun to watch.

Rich

past: followed andy hampsten and davis phinney
present: Christian VandeVelde

By a coincidence, I want to add a name missing up till now.

Having recently read the book " Put me back on my bike".
I refer to "Tom Simpson". the rider who collapsed and died near the finish of the "Mont Ventoux" stage of the TDF.

A famous monument stands on the side of the road where it happened.

Although his record was not brilliant compared to all those mentioned, apart from a World championship.
He was a young man when he died and possesed the will and obsessive intensity to have matured into one of the greats.
He died because he refused to give up on chasing down the leaders on the final couple of kilometres to the finish on one of the hottest days imaginable.
Twice he collapsed, and despite his backup imploring him to stop,he demanded to continue until he could continue no longer and paid the ultimate price.
Hence a "legend" was born.

Originally posted by willic

He died because he refused to give up on chasing down the leaders on the final couple of kilometres to the finish on one of the hottest days imaginable.


He died because he was doped to the gills. Beyond that I know little about him and he certainly may have had admirable characteristics that I don't know about BUT we can't revise history. He did die because he was doped.

I'm thinking to Marco Pantani without all the problems he has (and everybody know how is the "truth" in pro-cycling),for me he Was the last "fuoriclasse" now lance is good, bat a real champion is the best all the season not only at the tdf.
for the next future: Popovic, Basso

Miguel Indurain, Pavel Tonkov, Sean Kelly and Lance and I hope Lance makes it 5 in row,

Raymond Poulidor the heart break kid of the Tour de France, I also would count him as my favorite,

Past would prob be Bernard Hinault. Not that I was watching him then, but based on what I've read since. I like the idea of how one guy can dominate the entire peleton & tell them each day how things will go.

Current I do like Brad McGee. World track champ & Tour de France stage winner in the same year. Met him at a function in Sydney a few weeks ago. Really nice guy. 26 but looks like a schoolboy.

Greg LeMond. Without him Le Tour would have been some bike race in France for this MN native.

Luke Warmwater gets my vote for the greatest cyclist ever, closely followed by Goober Sosebee and Nero Steptoe. Great racers all! :D

Stephen Roche. Tdf Giro and World Champ and a real gentleman.

Present, can't go for Lance, good as he is, because he doesn't ride the classics. Cippo probably.

As for best ever, Mercx did it when I think it was more difficult, and at the best of their form I think Mercx, Hinault, Indurain or Anquetil would eat Lance for breakfast.

Laurent Jalabert's amazing break aways last year in the tour had me cheering for him the whole way. Even though he retired I will be a fan of his just on those performances alone. And of course the Americans Lance and Tyler.

(QUOTE)
As for best ever, Mercx did it when I think it was more difficult, and at the best of their form I think Mercx, Hinault, Indurain or Anquetil would eat Lance for breakfast.

I agree with you chewa!!!