#31
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
|
#32
|
||||
|
||||
Bernard Hinault mixed it up in the sprints. He was a fairly capable grand tour rider. Won them all. Sean Kelly won sprints and a grand tour and was often in the GC mix.
|
#33
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
The only cyclist to have won the general classification, points classification and mountains classification in the same Tour de France (1969). I like stats like that. I’d like to see an all around winner. Sagan is close? Can anyone be that in today’s “game”? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
#34
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
Anyone in todays game that can? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
#35
|
|||
|
|||
You can ask the question whether these riders of previous generations were really that much better or whether riders were just less specialized back then.
Would Mercx or Hinault have been as competitive at Sprinting if there there were guys training 100% to be sprinters? Would they have been as competitive as climbers if there had been more riders training/eating to be pure climbers? Some of this is just increasing training knowledge I think and teams tailoring & specializing the riders training plans to slot them more narrowly into specific roles. The old way was more interesting to watch! |
#36
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
Then there are the Monuments. Most riders would love to win one twice, Eddy won all 5 at least twice. Milan-San Remo - 7 victories Tour of Flanders - 2 victories Paris-Roubaix - 3 victories LBL - 5 victories Lombardia - 2 victories
__________________
"I am just a blacksmith" - Dario Pegoretti
|
#37
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
__________________
Chisholm's Custom Wheels Qui Si Parla Campagnolo |
#38
|
||||
|
||||
I think the judgement from Steve Tilford is relevant in this case:
Quote:
|
#39
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
|
#40
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
|
#41
|
||||
|
||||
Merckx and Hinault were competent sprinters, but that's not how they won the vast majority of their races. They weren't on the level of Maertens or Kelly. Likewise, there were other riders who were better pure climbers, e.g., Fuente and Van Impe.
__________________
It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi. --Peter Schickele |
#42
|
||||
|
||||
Some Jacques Anquetil quotes:
"Leave me in peace, everybody takes dope." "For 50 years bike racers have been taking stimulants. Obviously we can do without them in a race, but then we will pedal 15 miles an hour (instead of 25). Since we are constantly asked to go faster and to make even greater efforts, we are obliged to take stimulants" "You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water." "You'd have to be an imbecile or hypocrite to imagine that a professional cyclist who rides 235 days a year can hold himself together without stimulants." |
#43
|
||||
|
||||
is it fair to consider Eddy Merckx, who was caught doping three times in his career
Quote:
Wonder why? Too many specialists? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
#44
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
I don't think you will ever see a rider that can do what he did. Win something like Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Worlds, the TDF, the Grio in a single year and throw in another random 10-15 things! Just nuts. Can't believe we are even having this conversation. |
#45
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
Also, consider some of the talent he competed against - Gimondi, Poulidor, Maertens, DeVlaeminck, Goodefroot, Fuentes, certainly more than I can list. Plus, the way that he won, typically pure domination. I'm not saying there weren't other great riders, Hinault, Anquetil, once again a fairly long list, but I just can't see any possible way of arguing against Merckx being the best ever. |
|
|