Who was the last pure climber

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Steve Austin

The Marmalade Kid
Location
Mlehworld
to win the tour and how many have?

I want pure climbers, not the sort who can hang on in the hills and blitz the TT. The sort who can ride up the Ventoux whilst making it look like they are pootling to the shops.
 

Tim Bennet.

Entirely Average Member
Location
S of Kendal
Pantani?
 

Monty Dog

New Member
Location
Fleet
Delgado and then prior to that, Lucien Van Impe - I'd nominate Van Impe as he was probably the last that wasn't chemically assisted.
 

Monty Dog

New Member
Location
Fleet
Well Delgado gave a positive sample for a well-known masking agent which was on the IOC list but not on the UCI one. We all know the story about Panatani - do I need to elaborate? As Van Impe's victory was in 1976, it was prior to all the EPO and blood-doping shenanigans we can assume he was relatively 'clean' by today's standards.
 
U

User169

Guest
Rob S said:
Pantani was the last...before that Herrera.


[Pedant mode on] Herrera didn't win GC, although he did win KOM in all three grand tours. [Pedant mode off]

There's an interesting quote in Matt Rendell's "Kings of the Mountains" where Herrera is asked why he retired seemingly prematurely. He says something along the lines of "I got tired of chasing fat arses up mountains".

Although it is probably fair to say that doping has always been a feature of pro-cycling, I can't help feeling that the early '90s onwards saw a levelling of the playing field to an extent greater than had previously been the case. That was at least what I took Herrera to be saying.

Anyway, a great clip of Herrera in action here..



Terrible footage, but fantastic commentary! Colombia! Colombia! Colombia!
 

gbyers

New Member
Location
Leeds
Delftse Post][quote=Rob S said:
Pantani was the last...before that Herrera.


[Pedant mode on] Herrera didn't win GC, although he did win KOM in all three grand tours. [Pedant mode off]

There's an interesting quote in Matt Rendell's "Kings of the Mountains" where Herrera is asked why he retired seemingly prematurely. He says something along the lines of "I got tired of chasing fat arses up mountains".

Although it is probably fair to say that doping has always been a feature of pro-cycling, I can't help feeling that the early '90s onwards saw a levelling of the playing field to an extent greater than had previously been the case. That was at least what I took Herrera to be saying.

Anyway, a great clip of Herrera in action here..



Terrible footage, but fantastic commentary! Colombia! Colombia! Colombia![/quote]

No I don't think he meant the field was levelling. I think this quote is taken to mean he couldn't catch the fat arses because they were doping which made them faster than him - a natural climber.
 
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