Originally Posted by
chasm54
LOL. You're a tough crowd all on your own.
Back to Fausto, my ranking is the same as yours. Merckx, Coppi, Hinault. I'm so old that I can remember Merckx and Hinault. I wish I'd seen Coppi, but his palmares, and the awe of contemporary observers, brook very little argument.
Some of the pre-war guys must have been extraordinarily hard men, but the sport was so different then that comparisons become ridiculous.
Speaking of sprinters, Kelly, Maertens and de Vlaeminck were special, too.
Sounds like you are older or started watching younger that I did.
Good to find a kindred soul.
On a recent thread Sagan was compaerd to some very ordinary current riders after I compared him to Freddy (Maertins). People not having any understanding of just how good Maertins was.
Have you heard it said that de Vlaeminck actually knew every cobble on Paris-Roubaix?
EDIT: One interesting thing I found out recently is that Maertins won 13 stages in the Vuelta in 1977. I'd bet that is the most of any stage race. Only Binda comes close (In the Giro).