What are your favourite riders? And why? What are your favourite moments from these riders? Share!
As I am the starter I will start. (Which is quite obvious)
Favourite rider: Domenico Pozzovivo.
Why: Because of his attacking riding and his love for Italian courses. And because he looks like a boss.
Favourite moments: The Trentino stage to Punta Veleno. He was so good. And the stage to Lago Laceno. When he powered away I started 'POPOPOPOPOZZOVIVO'-ing.
Just because he always had to fight for sole captancy in teams which heavily depended on Sprinting (Fassa Bortolo and T-Mobile) or Teams that were super stacked with Super Stars (Kathusha). Sadly he never got a chance to show his talent in a straight match up with Purrito over 3 weeks (a showdown he probably would have won. In the Tour definetly)...
Dominique Rollin -> Wins out of a seven-hour breakaway, ahead of Hincapie et al, in a ToC stage in 2008 under a heavy downpour from start to finish.
Marco Pinotti -> Just his entire career. Great rider, classy as hell. Definitely my favorite in the peloton.
Carlos Barredo, Amets Turruka, Jens Voigt -> The tripe-headed trio of insanity. Love fighters, always have, always will.
Honorable Mention -> Adrien Niyonshuti and Rahsaan Bahati. The first is mainly a mountain biker, the latter isn't a pro anymore, but big props to both of them, because of their backgrounds and what they've tried to do to give back.
Why: When I started watching cycling in 2008, I imediatelly fell in love with Valverde. He's great riding style and great all-round surprise to me, especially cause I didn't know what was 1 day classics, GT's, cobbles or sprinters. After his ban, I fell disapointed until last year where Rui Costa appeared. I already knew him and this year he become my top rider. He's great riding, he's smartness nad he's talent made me fall in love with him. Adding that to beeing Portuguese and riding for Movistar, he deserves a .
What a difficult question that is!
But I must say: Tom Boonen
Simply because he manages to be a superstar and still remain modest and friendly as ever. He made mistakes (like the coke) but he learned from them, admitted them and is back on the right track. He's the greatest classic-rider and rider personality ever, in my opinion.
Favorite moment: Well, I can't deny that seeing him win Paris-Roubaix this year, after a monstrous solo did make me extremely happy
by far LL sanchez,
simply becouse of his attacking style. and he can ride the TT quiete well (in my opinion one of the better parts in cycling)
and the favorite moment would obviously be his last san sebastian win close secound would be is tour etappe victory and the fact he saved the tour for the rabo team..
Edited by Abelbaba on 29-09-2012 22:41
Rui Costa, nationalism has a big bonus here, but I've followed his career since 2008, and I really like his riding style. I've got to say he's one of the riders in the peloton who reads the race better, knows exactly in which time to attack, saves energy for when the time to move arrives. This year was the confirmation of his talent, having won a World Tour stage race made me the happiest man
around. This year was a year full of record for the man from Povoa do Varzim, and I hope he continues to shine next year and can get a top-10 or two in the Ardennes, and fight for a top-10 in a Grand Tour in the near future.
Jens Voigt attack attack attack, at the age of 41, he's still around and showing no signs of aging. Since I began following cycling back in 2005, this man's got to be the all-time favourite, for his strenght, for his fighting capacity. Hope he's still around for 2013, I think he's got all the conditions to keep showing all of his abilities to race like he always did.
.
,
Rui Costa, nationalism has a big bonus here, but I've followed his career since 2008, and I really like his riding style. I've got to say he's one of the riders in the peloton who reads the race better, knows exactly in which time to attack, saves energy for when the time to move arrives. This year was the confirmation of his talent, having won a World Tour stage race made me the happiest man 
Jens Voigt attack attack attack, at the age of 41, he's still around and showing no signs of aging. Since I began following cycling back in 2005, this man's got to be the all-time favourite, for his strenght, for his fighting capacity. Hope he's still around for 2013, I think he's got all the conditions to keep showing all of his abilities to race like he always did. 
