The Greatest Of The Great Cyclists

[Wester]

Who was the greatest cyclist of all time ? Eddie Merckx , Bernard Hinault , Greg LeMond , Migual Indurain , Lance Armstrong , Alberto Contador ?

My vote goes to Lance Armstrong

 

[mr Mag00]

whoa! *dons tin hat and NBC suit* eyes open for the fallout1

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Who was that bloke who repaired his own forks in the 1920s, but was disqualified for accepting outside help as the blacksmith's boy worked the bellows in the forge? My vote goes to him; I'd like to see Armstrong do that and still come second in the tour.

 

[zacklaws]

You try repairing carbon forks in a forge, times have moved on and it would be a quick trip to the local Halfrauds to get a body repair kit now.

 

[mangaman]

Who was that bloke who repaired his own forks in the 1920s, but was disqualified for accepting outside help as the blacksmith's boy worked the bellows in the forge? My vote goes to him; I'd like to see Armstrong do that and still come second in the tour.

Eugene Christophe

The unluckiest cyclist ever.

Not only did his forks break and he was disqualified as RT says, they broke again in 1919 when he was leading the race and again when he was 3rd a few years later

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugène_Christophe

 

[Paulus]

Who was the greatest cyclist of all time ? Eddie Merckx , Bernard Hinault , Greg LeMond , Migual Indurain , Lance Armstrong , Alberto Contador ?

My vote goes to Lance Armstrong

Lance was a bit of a one trick pony, he raced more last year than in the last ten. My vote would go to my boyhood hero Jacques Anquetil. Closely followed by the one and only Eddie Merckx.

 

[mangaman]

To answer the OP Eddie Merckx of course

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Coppi? He was pretty good, I believe. Or Hinault, purely for his ability to clear the road ahead of striking dockers with only his fists.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

merckx, no-one else's palmares comes even close.

 

[accountantpete]

For entertainment value - The Pirate.

 

[ufkacbln]

Who was that bloke who repaired his own forks in the 1920s, but was disqualified for accepting outside help as the blacksmith's boy worked the bellows in the forge? My vote goes to him; I'd like to see Armstrong do that and still come second in the tour.

..and therein lies the problem.

Would Armstrong cope with this/

Would the winner of a 1920s Tour be able to perform better with a modern bike, race radio and the present level of technology and support?

 

[ufkacbln]

Howzabout some of these guys?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

..and therein lies the problem.

Would Armstrong cope with this/

Would the winner of a 1920s Tour be able to perform better with a modern bike, race radio and the present level of technology and support?

The great unanswerable question. How would Mike Tyson cope in a bareknuckle bout against Tom Crrbb or Jem Belcher? How would Michael Schumacher fare in a head to head with Fangio?

 

[4F]

For me it would have to be Eddie Merckx

 

[ACS]

George Berwick - Lemond, Merckx et al may be have been a bit rapid on a bike in their day but why does the title The Greatest Of The Great Cyclists have to come from the narrow world of professional road racing?


What about Dave Scott the 6 x world ironman triathlon champion he was a very accomplished cyclist, fast enough to scare most professional cyclists in his day.