"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Best bike handling skills in the pro peleton

Who do you think has the best:
Accident avoidance skill,
Bike tricks skill,
Smoothest spin,
Best out of saddle technique,
Best overall?

Please don't tell me it's LA

Not sure about overall, but as for sprinters I would say Robbie needs consideration. He has a better ability to weave through high speed traffic at the end of races than anyone I have seen. That surely takes some excellent handling skills.

Rassmussen?

Rassmussen?
Why him?

Flandis can wheelie on a road bike. THAT is commendable.

Rassmussen?

:lol:

Flat ground:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/flandis2.jpg

Steeeeep ground:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/flandis.jpg

No hander:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/flandis3.jpg

Flat ground:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/flandis2.jpg

Steeeeep ground:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/flandis.jpg

No hander:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/flandis3.jpg
Kinda hard to beat that. Floyd wins.:)

I can just imagine the team rides:

Team rider #1: "OK guys, let's go, go, go!!"

Floyd: "Naw, naw, wait! Check this out! *does wheelie*

Team rider #1: "Yes, Floyd, that's great, but it won't win you the Tour de France."

Floyd: "Yeah, I know, we have drugs for that! Plus, it'll win me Cypress' undying respect."

Team rider #1: "Damn, you win again!"

:D:D:D:D

McEwen comes from a BMX Backgroud, Floyd from a Mtn Bike Background. Robbies does wheelies too, usually as he crosses the top of the mountains. tough to say, but McEwen mixes it up head to head, banging bodies with guys much bigger than him at 45mph. and i can;t ever remember him falling either. IM sure he has, we all have, i just dont remember ever seeing it.

I know you don't want to hear LA, but he was pretty fearless.

Stephen Roche could go from the back of the peloton to the front, just by weaving his way through holes and never having to push a bit of wind. Cool as ice he was.

Descenders include Yates and Salvodelli.

McEwen is tops for sprinters at the moment.

Why him?


He was the world mountain biking champion. Takes some handling skills. These guys like Floyd, Rasmussen and McEwen really are showing how valuable skills from other styles of riding can be.

He was the world mountain biking champion. Takes some handling skills. These guys like Floyd, Rasmussen and McEwen really are showing how valuable skills from other styles of riding can be.

Yeah, but i think the Peng was making fun of his atrocious TT in stage 20 of the 2005 TdF, the guy crashed like 4 times, and lost his podium spot, which I think he would have lost anyways, but he did keep the KoM jersey.

It can be very difficult to tell who has handling skills. They are only on display when you are close to the limit and in general this is something to avoid. Tricks like Floyd doing wheelies means little.

That said, don't forget that when he needed the time Floyd put time into everyone on the final downhill on stage 17 in the last TDF.

Armstrong did show some pretty good skills when needed. He displayed them rarely, he did an excellent job in avoiding situations where he was at the edge. But in that crash where he cut across a switchback he showed he has the skills in the rare cases that he did need them.

Flat ground:
Steeeeep ground:
No hander:

Great pix, Cypress! The LA/Floyd mtb (Leadville 100) should be quite a showdown!

McEwen comes from a BMX Backgroud, Floyd from a Mtn Bike Background. Robbies does wheelies too, usually as he crosses the top of the mountains.

Ridley had a pic of Robbie doing a wheelie after the last TdF stage and holding up three fingers in a late summer ad campaign. Saw it on the back of CycleSport, but can't find an image.

Here's one from the Lotto/Domo days. Note the bandage on his left shin. We all fall sometime, for sure.

http://www.sdbc.org/photos/albums/userpics/10002/normal_mcewen_wheelie.jpg

McEwen comes from a BMX Backgroud, Floyd from a Mtn Bike Background. Robbies does wheelies too, usually as he crosses the top of the mountains. tough to say, but McEwen mixes it up head to head, banging bodies with guys much bigger than him at 45mph. and i can;t ever remember him falling either. IM sure he has, we all have, i just dont remember ever seeing it.


http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/mcewen.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/mcewen2.jpg

One handed:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/normal_mcewen_wheelie.jpg

My vote goes out to either McEwen or Landis.

I lose. lol

It can be very difficult to tell who has handling skills. They are only on display when you are close to the limit and in general this is something to avoid. Tricks like Floyd doing wheelies means little.

That said, don't forget that when he needed the time Floyd put time into everyone on the final downhill on stage 17 in the last TDF.

Armstrong did show some pretty good skills when needed. He displayed them rarely, he did an excellent job in avoiding situations where he was at the edge. But in that crash where he cut across a switchback he showed he has the skills in the rare cases that he did need them. LA's Awsome display yes, we have all seen the L.A. crash avoidance cut accross the switch back. :)

Floyd's downhill capabillities are tops, can anyone match it. His trick moves rock and they make him fast too:D

Track star moves and snaking up through the peleton in the sprint the way R.M. can is classic.

I lose. lol
don't worry. i'll get disqualified for high levels of IPA after they test me later this afternoon.

I think Salvodelli is a better descender than Floyd although neither of them
are anywhere near as good as JaJa was.

McEwan probably has the best handling skills of any rider in the peloton
currently.
Spin? I dunno Zabriski has to be pretty smooth, but LA was always smooth
no matter how stressed he appeared.

marty

I think Salvodelli is a better descender than Floyd although neither of them
are anywhere near as good as JaJa was.

McEwan probably has the best handling skills of any rider in the peloton
currently.
Spin? I dunno Zabriski has to be pretty smooth, but LA was always smooth
no matter how stressed he appeared.

marty

Eddy was also a pretty good decender. His epic stage 17 ride in 69 started when he put seconds on the rest of the lead group on the next to last climb and added a minute on the decent.

With some of the best riders decending skills get overlooked. They are seldom needed and also don't stand out from the other abilities.

Hell, Salvodelli won his second Giro on the strength of his descending skills. He had the race lost on the last climb, and came back to win by making up a minute or down on the way down to the finish.

I would say Robbie then Floyd but Robbie himself claims Frederic Moncasson could put his bike anywhere he wanted to (except in front of Robbie apparently)

Hell, Salvodelli won his second Giro on the strength of his descending skills. He had the race lost on the last climb, and came back to win by making up a minute or down on the way down to the finish.

Not true. He descended quickly, but so did Simoni, Rujano and Diluca ahead of him. He gained back time on the flats coming to the finish thanks to the two Lotto boys and a few others trying to keep their top ten on GC. Without the driving help of that group, the race would have been Simoni's.

Not true. He descended quickly, but so did Simoni, Rujano and Diluca ahead of him. He gained back time on the flats coming to the finish thanks to the two Lotto boys and a few others trying to keep their top ten on GC. Without the driving help of that group, the race would have been Simoni's.

Well that's not the entire story. Paulo recovered about 40sec on the descent. What really won the race was the Di Luca cracked and Simoni lost a valuble ally. It is true that Disco made a deal with Lotto and those two riders helped Paulo a great deal on the run to the finish. But had Di Luca not blown Simoni would have more than likely held his advantage.

Yeah, but i think the Peng was making fun of his atrocious TT in stage 20 of the 2005 TdF, the guy crashed like 4 times, and lost his podium spot, which I think he would have lost anyways, but he did keep the KoM jersey.
Yeah, in retrospect a bit unfair of me to make fun of him for that. Its obvious by the way he was able to roll out of falls that he's an excellent bike handler...his nerves just got the best of him.

definitely not Cadel "I've got an ass on my chin" Evans.

definitely not Cadel "I've got an ass on my chin" Evans.

What's up with Cadel Evans? I've heard a lot of people poo-pooing him. What's the deal? The only specifics that I've heard is that he likes to sit on peoples' wheels.

What's up with Cadel Evans? I've heard a lot of people poo-pooing him. What's the deal? The only specifics that I've heard is that he likes to sit on peoples' wheels.
Much like Levi he doesn't really have the horsepower to drop many real climbers so he gains time by sitting on wheels and "letting others do the work". Rather than make a balls out attack and risk exploding to move into a podium spot he's more likely to just follow others and get pulled into a top 10 placing.

You can either commend him for knowing his limits or denigrate him for not being more aggressive.

Much like Levi he doesn't really have the horsepower to drop many real climbers so he gains time by sitting on wheels and "letting others do the work". Rather than make a balls out attack and risk exploding to move into a podium spot he's more likely to just follow others and get pulled into a top 10 placing.

You can either commend him for knowing his limits or denigrate him for not being more aggressive.

I had heard that he was a halfway decent rider - off-road world champion or something like that...

What's HP in this sense? something to do with his threshold power? Or is he just no small enough to compensate for power/kg ratio

I had heard that he was a halfway decent rider - off-road world champion or something like that...

What's HP in this sense? something to do with his threshold power? Or is he just no small enough to compensate for power/kg ratio

Yep. Not enough pure w/kg to hang with the baddest of the bad @sses. So he loses 2 min on every mountain finish.

Cadel is multiple time MTB champion. But he's got weak collarbones and yes, and ass for a chin.

He's the typical MTBer. If things aren't going your way, stick to someone and make them work. I remember those days.

Cadel Evans is one of the greatest talents in cycling, according to Cadel Evans.

Bettini was pretty impressive in that quick 'n dirty descent in Lombardia... there was a section where he approached a turn too hot and actually clipped the side fairings, but managed to keep himself from flying loose off the road. Dunno if he can wheelie though. :)

Much like Levi he doesn't really have the horsepower to drop many real climbers so he gains time by sitting on wheels and "letting others do the work". Rather than make a balls out attack and risk exploding to move into a podium spot he's more likely to just follow others and get pulled into a top 10 placing.

You can either commend him for knowing his limits or denigrate him for not being more aggressive.

Let's not start this again :rolleyes:

Bettini was pretty impressive in that quick 'n dirty descent in Lombardia... there was a section where he approached a turn too hot and actually clipped the side fairings, but managed to keep himself from flying loose off the road. Dunno if he can wheelie though. :)


That was awesome!!! Running on adrenalin in memory of his brother. My wife was on the edge of her seat watching that descent.

Spin? I dunno Zabriski has to be pretty smooth....

Zabriskie is known for crashing almost as much as Hamilton. Remember when he went down due to no apparent reason in the TDF TTT 2 years ago? We're all still scratching our heads and trying to figure that one out.

Bob

I had heard that he was a halfway decent rider - off-road world champion or something like that...

What's HP in this sense? something to do with his threshold power? Or is he just no small enough to compensate for power/kg ratio
He's a great rider. I'm just saying that in a race where all the usual favorites are there you won't often see him in the top 5.

Zabriskie is known for crashing almost as much as Hamilton. Remember when he went down due to no apparent reason in the TDF TTT 2 years ago? We're all still scratching our heads and trying to figure that one out.

Bob

I watched that crash frame by frame, and although Z has been quoted a few different ways about the reason behind the crash here is my armchair opinion.

Its the end of the TTT. CSC knows its going to be close. As all good TTers do they save the most power for the end. My guess is that they are all putting out CP6 or even higher at that point (2km to go) which for the pro peloton is a LOT of watts. They go into the corner and then accelerate coming out of it accelerating hard. It is at that point that one of two things happens. Either Z shifts to maintain the wheel in front of him or just his raw power to accelerate out of the corner cause the crucial problem. If you look at it frame by frame, there is an even distribution in positioning of the crank arm as her turns it over, until in one frame his right crank arm goes from the one o'clock position to the 5:30 position in ONE FRAME. This could only happen if he slipped the chain. Suddenly all of the power he is putting into the pedals meets no resistance until the bottom of the pedal stroke where it tosses his bike out from under him and he goes down hard. Why not say anything about this?? Because it looks bad for the sponsors (Cervelo, FSA) if a mechanical causes him to lose the yellow jersey.

My humble opinion.

Michael Schumacher

Past riders such as Anquetil, Roche and Thurau have the smoothest spin I've seen.

Currently, probably Jakob Piil, 'Pippo' Pozzato, Brad Wiggins or Brad McGee (who hopefully has sorted his position out - he lost the plot on it IMO). You may notice three of them have extensive track backgrounds. Most endurance trackies are very smooth on the bike.

Wheelie schmeelie. Seems that everyone has overlooked one important measurement of bike handling skills. Mind you I don't race (never have) but I do watch a lot of bike races (bring on the flames). Seems to me than anyone who can navigate the wet, muddy, slippery, pot hole laden, jarring cobbles on the "Hell of the North" HAS to be considered a great bike handler. So looking at current racers how about Boonen? A first, second and third in PR. Plus can maneuver in the pack for sprint wins. Or how about Van Petegem - a first and a second? Finally how about Zabel? A third in PR and MULTIPLE sprint wins fighting off the pack.

I noticed Floyd's spin on climbs was smooth as glass. His upper body never rocked at all. NO CHAIN! NO CHAIN!

Flat ground:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/flandis2.jpg

Steeeeep ground:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/flandis.jpg

No hander:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/flandis3.jpg
http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/04tourSt20/$file/15.jpg

Michael Schumacher

Although I love the guy...to many wheels...Valintino Rossi ;)

this came up a while ago, but i felt obligated to post.

oscar freire's escape for the victory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-araCVvDmWU

also, a quick clip of bettini's brush with guardrail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P4iBEHqxSI

this came up a while ago, but i felt obligated to post.

oscar freire's escape for the victory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-araCVvDmWU

also, a quick clip of bettini's brush with guardrail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P4iBEHqxSI

What is up with that music

http://grahamwatson.com/gw/imagedocs.nsf/images/04tourSt20/$file/15.jpg

Im diggin those cycling shoes