Best Tour De France riders in history?
- Thread starter Cyclisme
- Start date
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NickM
Veteran
- Location
- Darwin's birthplace
Not forgetting that he also had outstandingly fine medical support.
NickM
Veteran
- Location
- Darwin's birthplace
Oh, I don't know - you might like to look at the careers of
Charly Mottet
Edwig van Hooydonck
Lucho Herrera
Greg Lemond
Chris Boardman
Although if I were you, I wouldn't bother at all with the period from 1991 to 2010. There wasn't much real racing taking place then; it was more a spectacle than a sport.
Noodley
Guest
True.
I thought Greg Lemond was stabbed in the back by Bernard Hinault.
I'd go for Kelly as well. Didn't he win the Green Jersey four times? You can't knock a man who throws up on the rider next to him before attacking......and his 'back pocket' was one of the sharpest tools in the business.
Louison Bobet is a good one. His brother's book is worth a read. http://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-We-Ride-Jean-Bobet/dp/187473951X
threebikesmcginty
Corn Fed Hick...
- Location
- ...on the slake
Massive lung capacity too.
Sir Humphrey Appleby
New Member
I'd say Jens Voigt, 39(?) and still dominating the Tour and also one of the most likeable riders around.
You have to base it on who they were up against and what their team was like, Armstrong was against weaker riders with a dominant team. Perhaps try LeMond and Hinault?
[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZMkZN-PGCo[/media]
Also Coppi was pretty good, lost a few years to the war, had Bartali and was still pretty successful. In a POW camp too.
You have to base it on who they were up against and what their team was like, Armstrong was against weaker riders with a dominant team. Perhaps try LeMond and Hinault?
[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZMkZN-PGCo[/media]
Also Coppi was pretty good, lost a few years to the war, had Bartali and was still pretty successful. In a POW camp too.
HonestMan1910
Über Member
- Location
- Winchburgh
No nominations for Robert Millar - KOTM 1984 and 4th overall, not bad for a scrawny wee boy from Glasgow
http://en.wikipedia....i/Robert_Millar
http://en.wikipedia....i/Robert_Millar
andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
Somebody wins the mountains jersey every year, and most of them don't qualify for "greatest tour rider" consideration unless you are looking for a list somewhere over the hundred rider mark.
Being Scottish doesn't get you any extra points.
Being Scottish doesn't get you any extra points.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
If it is greatest winners then the OP's list has 'em covered.
Of the current crew....
Jens Voight would be on my list (even if he was involved with a certain Dr back in the day)
Big George Hincapie has had an 'interesting' career
and the psychology behind Mark Renshaw's participation with HTC is fascinating
Of the current crew....
Jens Voight would be on my list (even if he was involved with a certain Dr back in the day)
Big George Hincapie has had an 'interesting' career
and the psychology behind Mark Renshaw's participation with HTC is fascinating
hairingtons
New Member
- Location
- Manchester
I'd plump for Lemond as his story has absolutely everything. It was just a few years before I got into cycling, but it's the best story out there in my opinion.
He is certainly the greatest American rider there's ever been. I say that as someone who's first poster of a cyclist on their wall was Lance Armstrong winning the World Championships when I was 16. I discount Armstrong now though as I find it unthinkable that he didn't dope his way through his career. (Read 'From Lance To Landis').
Anyway, Lemond was the darling of American cycling as youngster. Sports Science was in it's infancy, but when tested by American Scientists he gave remarkable results. He showed the highest VO2 max ever recorded by a cyclist (bigger than Indurain later recorded with his huge lung capacity!) and it was thought that Lemond could dominate the Tour. He was simply off the scale.
He won his first Tour in 86, though could have won the year before but was ordered to ride for his captain Hinault, dropping back on a mountain stage to ride for Hinault, who won that year. Then in 86 Lemond was made co-leader with Hinault, but the duo raced mainly against each other as Hinault constantly attacked - even when Lemond was in yellow, and he had to be chased down by his own team mates.
He was the first American to win the Tour.
In 87 he was shot in a hunting accident. It took him two years to recover and he carried shotgun pellets around in his body ever since. This would later impact on his ability, as the lead from the pellets took its toll.
However this did not stop him winning the Tour two more times, most famously by only 8 seconds over Laurent Fignon on the final time trial stage of the race in 89 - he was riding for a small team with barely any team strength and was not expected to challenge. This race is also interesting because Lemond used TT bars in the final time trial, no one had really done this before.
I think you could go on and on with his story. But he's interesting because he was clean, he was the first American, he was a unique physical specimen, he brought Srort Science and new technology to the fore of cycling and he even became an expert in Sport Science himself later in his career; helping him as a leading voice against dopers in the sport.
In the world of could ofs and should ofs, Lemond could have won 6 or 7 TdFs himself easily, if there is such a thing as an easy Tdf victory!
He is certainly the greatest American rider there's ever been. I say that as someone who's first poster of a cyclist on their wall was Lance Armstrong winning the World Championships when I was 16. I discount Armstrong now though as I find it unthinkable that he didn't dope his way through his career. (Read 'From Lance To Landis').
Anyway, Lemond was the darling of American cycling as youngster. Sports Science was in it's infancy, but when tested by American Scientists he gave remarkable results. He showed the highest VO2 max ever recorded by a cyclist (bigger than Indurain later recorded with his huge lung capacity!) and it was thought that Lemond could dominate the Tour. He was simply off the scale.
He won his first Tour in 86, though could have won the year before but was ordered to ride for his captain Hinault, dropping back on a mountain stage to ride for Hinault, who won that year. Then in 86 Lemond was made co-leader with Hinault, but the duo raced mainly against each other as Hinault constantly attacked - even when Lemond was in yellow, and he had to be chased down by his own team mates.
He was the first American to win the Tour.
In 87 he was shot in a hunting accident. It took him two years to recover and he carried shotgun pellets around in his body ever since. This would later impact on his ability, as the lead from the pellets took its toll.
However this did not stop him winning the Tour two more times, most famously by only 8 seconds over Laurent Fignon on the final time trial stage of the race in 89 - he was riding for a small team with barely any team strength and was not expected to challenge. This race is also interesting because Lemond used TT bars in the final time trial, no one had really done this before.
I think you could go on and on with his story. But he's interesting because he was clean, he was the first American, he was a unique physical specimen, he brought Srort Science and new technology to the fore of cycling and he even became an expert in Sport Science himself later in his career; helping him as a leading voice against dopers in the sport.
In the world of could ofs and should ofs, Lemond could have won 6 or 7 TdFs himself easily, if there is such a thing as an easy Tdf victory!
Smokin Joe
Squire
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Some odd choices on this thread, considering it is for the best TdF rider in history.
