texastwister

who's your favorite of all time?,mine has to be Robbie McEwen,the guy is aggresive & and a POWERHOUSE! plus he does a great one-handed wheelie on a roadbike no-less!

Suzie Green

1. Mario Cipollini. Love him or hate him, he sure is charismatic and always had that "in your face" aura while he trashed his competition

2. Eric Zabel. You can spot him a mile away with his head bobbing up and down.

3. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. AKA the Tashkent Terror, he threw his bike so wildly all over the place it seemed he'd take the front third of the pack down before the line. Still, exciting as hell.

FastFreddy

I'll have to agree with you, Twister. Here's one of my all-time favorite cycling photos -- from stage 3 of the 2005 TdF. I believe Robbie got penalized over this.



[photo from VeloNews]

texastwister

when i say ,"aggresive",that's the picture you have to think of !..with Ewen.

norsehabanero

thor because he is from norway
then eric zabel he has been one of the most consistent sprinters

Sangetsu

Cippollini, because he was just too cool. No one could match him for style and personality.

And Zabel, because he was simply the best. A super nice guy for a sprinter, not as full of himself as most of the others out there.

sagginwagin

Cipollini because he could back it all up. Recognized that its more than just sport its entertainment and he certainly delivered at both ends.

Freire because he can sprint with the best, win Milan-San Remo and still come in top ten in the Ardennes Classics.....plus deliver at the World's. He's as resourceful as McEwen but with class.
All generally without a long line of leadouts.

Thor because it's just brings me joy to see someone named "Thor" out there kicking a..! Plus he seems like a nice guy.

bac

I agree.

Robbie has done it over the years with little to no team support. He's done it will bike handling skills that are really unmatched in the group.

... Brad

DiabloScott

Freire. Sprints after 280km classic or WC are a lot different than sprints after a 150km stage.

Really sad that he won't make M-SR this year. That video of him sitting on the deck and feeling his ribs was hard to watch.

USAZorro

Hard to say. I like a lot of them. Not a big Petacchi, Haedo, or Forster fan though. Super Mario was one of a kind. Robbie is just as brash and is about the most quotable guy in the peloton. (by the way, if you watch what happened in the 3-4 seconds preceding that head move, you'll see that he had a legitimate gripe). Zabel never, ever, ever gave up, even after he lost his edge. Oscar could have so many more palmares if he wasn't so snakebitten, but he has a way of coming through in some big races. I liked Cricket because he was so crafty. Boonen is such a nice fellow he's hard not to like. Thor is a hero for laid-back big guys. Cavendish - what records won't this kid set by the time he's through? Amazing rider.

I guess that if I had to pick one to hang out with - I guess I'd go with Robbie - unless you'd still count Hincapie as a sprinter (which would be a big stretch at this point in his career).

Suzie Green

Yes, that would be like counting Laurent Jalabert as a sprinter at the end of his career too.

2wheeled

Let's go old school. How about Sean Kelly.

USAZorro

Good call. The only thing that ever defeated Sean was the English language.

silver bullet

Or older school: Freddy Maertens

texastwister

i really like him in the dvd "A SUNDAY IN HELL"when they are seating at a bar before the race and a old lady kisses him on the cheek,the look on his face is classic,i wish i knew what he said ,after she did that,but his language i don't understand

,,anybody know?

Keith99

My number 1, if for no ther reason than it was so much fun to have anouncers try to say his name while calling a sprint. And who can forget him walking his bike over the finish line to claim green after a crash that clearly was not his fault.

baj32161

Abdoujaparov was so much fun to watch. I was just getting into the sport then and, as with so many newbies, I was attracted to the sprinters and their balls out style. This is probably the reason for Robbie McEwen being my favourite sprinter of this era to watch. That being said I am a big fan of Boonen as well. At his height of 6'4" he looks like an animal unleashed as he roars to the finish line. Sprinters are just fun.

Cheers,

Brian

Suzie Green

I got to agree with you there Brian. Abdou was a pack animal. And Boonen is pretty fun to watch too. A few others that were always entertaining were Paolo Bettini because he had to rely more on tactics instead of pure speed, and Laurent Jalabert was a pretty mean sprinter when he first came up. I think George Hincapie was sort of in the Jalabert mold too. Nothing against George, I really like him but he just didn't seem to have the killer instinct that Ja Ja had when it came to crunch time.

2wheeled

That crash of Abdou in the '91 TDF was probably the worst I've ever seen.

Suzie Green

Didn't he slide down the road for some obscenely large distance? I think I recall Jalabert having a huge crash along the barriers once too, but the details escape me.

ednwireland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBtCa...eature=related
you mean this crash i will always remeber the overhead shot 4mins ins

my favourite sprinter btw

Allen H

I'll go totally "current shooting star" and say Mark Cavendish.

More b/c I got to follow this year's Tour of California every day including press conferences, than his great TdF success last year, I have great respect for his flat-out speed and confidence. He said, "when my teammates drop me off with 200m to go in a pack sprint finish, I believe there can be no other outcome than a stage win" - and he says it not to brag, or sound cocky, just completely matter-of-fact. And he photographs well, too:

ebeth

I've liked watching Boonen and Hushovd. Can't say I'm much of a fan, but Cavendish is impressive to watch.

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov - love the name, will have to try to find some video.

2wheeled

What exactly is Cavindish trying to tell us

luxroadie

That he's taken up ballet and he has been told to practice at various times throughout the day?