Strydz wrote:
That's the problem when discussing naturally gifted riders from the 90's and well into the 2000's. Only rider I can 100% say was gifted in that era is Bassons
Depends on what you call gifted. Also sure as heck that despite the doping the talented guys eventually won things or at least showed potential to win things. After all, the average hematocrit of a man is 45% and the UCI allowed exceptions up to 50 and so most riders used EPO to get to 50. The basic difference in riders performance in terms of the effect of doping was no more than 3-4% and there were quite some time differences on mountain climbs to be solely based on better effect of doping. Eventually the results give us if not an 100% accurate, at least a basic idea of who was the most talented. They'll surely be someone who never lived up to the expectations because of laziness like Betancur nowadays. But the top guns then would surely be contenders if they rode today with the better bikes and advanced training methods.
Wilier wrote:
I still remember when Yaroslav Popovych was seen as the next big thing and Lance Armstrong's successor, after winning the white jersey in the TdF. Too bad his age decline stat was set at 24 in the real life DB... he only decreased and decreased.
*cough* *cough* doping *cough*
The teams Lance raced in were never the cleanest.
hanspetter61 wrote:
Maybe some off you also use CQ ranking from time to time. For those who dont they have ranking from all races not just world tour. Give a good indiation off the best overall rider.
Valverde stats are amazing
2015 Esp Movistar Team PRT 1 2142 All Points (rank 1)
2014 Esp Movistar Team PRT 1 3152 All Points (rank 1)
2013 Esp Movistar Team PRT 4 2403 All Points ( rank 4)
2012 Esp Movistar Team PRT 4 2013 All Points (rank 4)
2010 Esp Caisse d'Epargne PRT - 0 All Points
2009 Esp Caisse d'Epargne PRT 1 2494 All Points (rank 1)
2008 Esp Caisse d'Epargne PRT 1 2662 All Points (rank 1)
2007 Esp Caisse d'Epargne PRT 3 1897 All Points (rank 3)
2006 Esp Caisse d'Epargne - Illes Balears PRT 2 2469 All Points (rank 2)
2005 Esp Illes Balears - Caisse d'Epargne PRT 14 1100 All Points (rank 14)
2004 Esp Comunidad Valenciana - Kelme TT2 4 1892 All Points (rank 2)
Yup, I have lobbyed for Valverde for a good year now for being the best cyclist of this era. Unfortunately for me, most in here just laugh at me.
I agree with you. I simply love Valverde. He provided me the best moment in the tour on stage 14, when he just looked at Contador before he he accelerated and left Contador miles behind.
CountArach: Why are you astonished for people throwing out a name like Hagen? He had an incredible talent imo, I still remember being at the Tout de France i 2011 at the Pinerolo-stage and I was just like: Again? I cant catch a break from these amazing norwegians. From that point on, he pretty much just declined due to a limited role on Sky, not so much himself imo as it was with fx. Popovych.
Alexkr: You know, thats the beauty with it. Much of it comes down to assumptions. Schleck was insanely gifted imo and top-3 worthy. In 2007 when nobody expected jackshit in the Giro he nearly won, only losing to an peak-shape, peak-dope Di Luca. As a 22-year old! Anyways, my personal belief is still the one he could have prepared much better for the Tour, and also the ardennes: go check his Tour de Suisse results where he pretty much always sucked, 2 weeks away from the Tour, but simply had enough raw talent to not make it matter super much. Pretty much the same story as Ullrich minus the weight. His 2009 L-B-L was also a story for legends.
jt11: Look, thats were you are just wrong, it doesnt come down to opinions at that point. Valverde indeed HAS the best palmares in the present peloton (at least top-2), its just incredible from 2003-2015.
I think Freire should definitely be on this list. I read Boonens biography and in it he describes how he was on a training camp with his team. Not too far from where they stayed, Rabobank was also on a training camp. When Quick-Step and Rabobank came across each other while training, the Quick-Step riders always wondered where Freire was. Apparently he preferred not to train, just because of the simple fact that he didn't need to. In the book, Boonen says that Freire had one of the biggest natural talents for cycling ever, and he wonders what he might have achieved if he had actually trained more.
