one4smoke

Pound for pound, who's the best pro cyclist in the business?? Obviously, there's different disciplines and its subjective, but no matter if you you like sprinters, climbers, TTs, or allrounders ...all things considered, who overall brings the most to the road?

MinnMan

As indicated in the OP, there's really no such thing. Pogacar and MvdP are different animals excelling in different types of races.. So what's the point?

one4smoke

Ah well (as Sagan says), for fun ...to answer your question. Even though there are "different animals" there's still a king of the jungle.

Like I said, its subjective no doubt, but no matter the discipline ..there are studs in all. Who's the studliest of the studs (to put it in perspective)?

MinnMan

Well, if you put it that way, my answer is Marianne Vos

Edit: https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mar...n-verschueren/

KJ43

So, since it's subjective, isn't this really about who is your favorite cyclist?

For me that changes, currently I was really impressed with MVDP and his impact on the early part of the tour this year.

USAZorro

As fans, we have an embarrassment of riches as of today. There's a distinct generational passage that's about to occur as many of the riders who have been the "big names" are in their twilight, or beyond.

I see Pogacar as someone who is going to be the rider to beat in any Grand Tour he participates in over the next 10 years.
Alaphilippe, van der Poel, and van Aert are forces to be reckoned with in any single day race, and the current crop of sprinters are awfully impressive as well.

This said, given his ability to excel in multiple disciplines, I have to vote for van der Poel.

Am a bit surprised to see Fuglsang on the ballot. He's a very strong rider, but despite several years of opportunities, just hasn't quite made it to the top of the list. Also, as much as I love Peter, I get the sense that he's gotten beyond his best years. Perhaps a change of scene would breathe some life back into his racing. Five years ago though, I might have cast a vote for him.

GrainBrain

Egan's performance at strade bianche and the Giro was really impressive.

Another rider is Lachlan Morton, who seems to be making a career of alternative racing. https://alttour.ef.com/

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dmanthree

I voted for Alaphillipe. I just like say his name. ALLA-FillEEP!

But that's just me.

Iride01 

I can't stand questions that try to make best apply to one person or thing.

For me it's always going to be.... it depends.

slcbob

^ so are you saying that's the best answer?

philbob57

What happens when someone develops races that aren't on the road?

MinnMan

Cyclocross dates from 1902. It's older than the Tour.

Marianne Vos has won the UCI cyclocross championship 7 times.

I've heard MvdP also dabbles in it.

surak

Everyone has their days, it's not easy to compare riders based on results because a one-day format is so different from Grand Tour overall or even individual stages, and that's just in road racing. Multi-disciplined riders like MvdP, WvA, and Vos are impressive but there are times when others can still beat them (mountains in the case of all three).

Then there's Pogacar, who has looked unbeatable uphill and even in TdF time trials, establishing himself with authority as the new Grant Tour top dog. I just read that he has never lost a stage race where he's taken the GC lead at any point.

In the pantheon of top riders, how about reigning World Road Race and Time Trial champion Anna van der Breggen singlehandedly eliminating 12 riders yesterday? She's out-Pogacaring Pogacar. Granted the women's field isn't as deep with the Giro having been demoted and some looking to peak for the Olympics, but daa-yum.

Iride01 

Yep! You got it.

But it wasn't an answer selection in the poll.

canklecat

Merckx. Although my favorite has always been Anquetil.

Of the current crop, unfortunately some names on that list are past their primes. The current style of grand tour racing favors the younger riders, which Sagan has said before. There are no more veteran bosses or patrons of the peloton. With every stage a hammerfest from start to finish and lots of crashes, it favors the younger riders who can recover quickly.

Among the grand tour overall winners, the future, for now, is Pogacar, Bernal, maybe Evenepoel depending on how he develops. Subject to change at the drop of a blood test.

But the other jersey competitions are at least as exciting as ever, perhaps more so. Who'd have guessed Cavendish would be doing so well?

And the one day races and classics are arguably better races. The TdF is increasingly a grotesque spectacle, less a serious series of well planned road races.

MinnMan

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mar...absolute-goat/

ZHVelo

Ummmm

slcbob

^ that would have been better with Nibali. Or an ill-tempered sea bass.

Doge

In context of his quote [females] of all TIME, Jeanie Longo should be considered.
In context of this thread being the current time and unqualified, I think the poll is pretty accurate.

one4smoke

In all honesty, I threw Fuglsang in there as the last addition to make 10, thinking I had already added Wout van Aert.

Obviously, I had not.

Doge

Remco might be up there. Certainly one of the best starts. Cracking a hip is not good. We shall see.

79pmooney

I'll second that. She wins sprints (on a rather regular basis). She wins from breakaways. She's the rider you do not want to see with you at the end of a hard mountain stage. She completely ruled cyclo-cross. (No she didn't race full seasons of 'cross but no-one could touch her at the Worlds.) Took Gold medals in both road and track at the Olympics.

The rider Mark Cavendish calls the greatest of all time.

jim_pridx

Cavendish was indeed a surprise this year, but yet, he's currently at #143 out of the 147 remaining in the current overall standings. Although, it's still quite possible for him to win another stage or two. It's certainly a different era of racing these days!

MinnMan

I'm not sure I understand your point. Sprinters aren't concerned with GC rankings.

jim_pridx

Oh, I agree with what you're saying when it comes to today's standards! Not to take anything away from Cavendish, but I was only pointing out that the race has changed dramatically over the years. Tour leaders like Merckx and others of the day weren't as concerned with specialized skills as they are today. Rarely did you see the top sprint winners sitting near the bottom of the overall standings. For the most part, those guys just did it all and did it very well!