Top 10 Pro Cyclist of all time

Mott the Hoople

Mott the Hoople

Sweet Jane
Today is a classic in the Tour de France. Le Alpe D'Huez.

In honor here is my list of top ten cyclist ever.

#1. Eddy "The Cannibal" Merkx. 5 Tour wins. 5 Giro wins. 1 Vuelta win and 3 World Championships.
#2. Fausto "The Champion" Coppi* - 2 Tour wins. 5 Giro wins. 1 World Championship.
#3. Bernard "The Badger" Hinault - 5 Tour wins. 3 Giro wins. 2 Vuelta wins. 1 World Championship.
#4. Lance "The Boss" Armstrong** - 7 Tour wins. 1 World Championship
#5. Jaque "Mr. Time" Anquetil - 5 Tour wins. 2 Giro wins. 1 Vuela win.
#6. Miguel "Big Mig" Indurain - 5 Tours wins. 2 Giro wins.
#7. Alberto Contador*** - 3 Tour wins, 2 Giro wins, 1 Vuelta win.
#8. Greg Lemond**** - 3 Tour wins, 2 World Championships
#9. Gino Bartoli - 2 Tour wins, 3 Giro wins.
#10. Louison Bobet - 2 Tour wins, 2 Giro wins, 1 world Championship.

I rated some riders above others with comparable numbers due to extenuating circumstances.

* Coppi lost 4 years of his prime to WWII
** Lance lost 2 years of his prime to illness (cancer).
*** Contador is still active and may move up this list.
**** Lemond lost 2 years in his prime to being shot in a hunting accident.
 
lance, eddy, Hinault, Indurain, Lemond (special consideration due for turning a whole country on to the tour) and the cat who would have had 3 or 4 save for lance
 
Mott the Hoople said:
LOL Oh that would be so freaken kewl if a Harley Club ran in support. They would have taken care of that idiot who ran those two riders off the road! LOL
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Team cars should have to keep a minimum distance
I love the landscape of the tour, I'm not sure I can handle 125 on my harley and these cats do it at 30mph up hill
 
Topspin said:
lance, eddy, Hinault, Indurain, Lemond (special consideration due for turning a whole country on to the tour) and the cat who would have had 3 or 4 save for lance
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You must be thinking of Jan Ulrich. Naaa, great champs find a way to win.....he didn't. He won 1 tour and 1 Giro. A supestar in the sport but not one of the 10 best. I'd rate the late Laurent Fignon ahead of Ulrich. Fignon beat Hinault in his prime and came within 8 seconds of beating LeMond at his best. You put Lance if front of Merckx and Hinault? Sorry, you migh have an argument with Copi, but not those two. Besides winning more grand tours they one a hell of a lot more single day races at Division I then Lance did.

I'd rate the 3 most important cyclist in terms of growing the sport internationally were Hinault, LeMond and Armstrong. LeMond did introduce the Tour and pro cycling to main stream America but most people were pretty "meh" about it until all the drama that fell out between Hinault and LeMond in the 85 and 86 tours. Pro cycling grew exponentially in popularity around the world because of them two and then it grew exponentially again when Lance came along with his compelling story.
 
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Lance is king son, 7 thimes in a row
at a time when everybody but him tested positive
Ok, I thought you were a commie now I know
 
The Dude said:
Team cars should have to keep a minimum distance
I love the landscape of the tour, I'm not sure I can handle 125 on my harley and these cats do it at 30mph up hill
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30 mph up hill? Man dude, those guys are good....but not that good. More like 15 mph. The great climbers, like Marco Pantani can do around 17mph. Hell when I was a cat 3 I could only do about 12 to 13 on a 6% grade and I was considered an above average climber. To put things in perspective, the average person can probably ride about 50 yards up a 6% grade on a road bike, run out of gears, and then have to get off the bike and walk.
 
Nobody in America but you and me would know Merck's name without lance.

I'll stick with the greatest champion ever, you can have your faux in the know guy.

7x after cancer, Jan would have been better than Contador save for lance
 
Just to piss everyone off...

Bicycle = Bike
Motorcycle = Mike

So this thread should be about Bikers... :D

Anyway, Lance Armstrong is the only biker I can name at all, so he gets my vote for the gold.
 
Hope Solo said:
Just to piss everyone off...Bicycle = Bike Motorcycle = Mike So this thread should be about Bikers... :D Anyway, Lance Armstrong is the only biker I can name at all, so he gets my vote for the gold.
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We've seen the kind of loser you vote for.








18soccer3-articleLarge.jpg
Thomas Bohlen/Reuters​


Saki Kumagai of Japan scored the winning goal against the American goalkeeper, Hope Solo.​




LOSER LOSER LOSER
 
The Dude said:
Nobody in America but you and me would know Merck's name without lance.

I'll stick with the greatest champion ever, you can have your faux in the know guy.

7x after cancer, Jan would have been better than Contador save for lance
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I don't know about that. Ulrich was certainly a better time trialist then Contador but Contador is a much better climber than Ulrich. The problem I also have with Armstrong is that his biggest competitor during his career was not Ulrich or Contador, it was Indurain and Armstrong never beat Indurain. If you go down my list. Merkx unseated Anquitel, Hinault unseated Merkx, LeMond unseated Hinault and Indurain unseated Lemond but Armstrong never beat Indurain and did not win a major tour until after Indurain retired.

As for Merckx, you may be right concerning the American publics knowledge of him and Armstrongs impact on cycling with the American public, but dude, cycling is an international sport and that has nothing to do with what Merckx accomplished on the bike. Merckx won 445 races/stages as a pro. To put that in perspective the #2 rider on my list, Hinault has won the second most races as a pro at 250 and Jaque Anquitel won 200. Armstrong won 85.

Armstrong was a great Champion....but was not even in the same league as Eddie Merckx.
 
Crikey Cadel!

The Schleck brothers will never win a Tour unless they dedicate them selves to dominating in the time trial. If Contador wants to win the next tour he had probably better forgo riding in the Giro. I think he could have won this year in the Tour had he not ridden in the Giro and won it.
 
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