another great edit by CN - happy birthday Hinault - the best ever ?

[just some guy]

There are two figures who transcend the sport of cycling - giants of the road whose names are known all over the world and whose fame isn’t limited to dedicated followers of the sport. Household names, if you will. But some will argue that the greatest cyclist of all time isn’t Eddy Merckx or Lance Armstrong. Instead they’ll tell you that it’s a man who celebrates his 57th birthday today; a man who dominated cycling in the late 1970s and early 1980s; a man who remains the last Frenchman to win the Tour de France - Bernard ‘The Badger’ Hinault.

There are 2

but the article is about Hinault

and mention Merckx and Armstrong as people who have become house hold name

1 - Hinault plus 1 Merckx plus Armstrong = 3

anyway happy birthday Mr Badger Sir

IMO The 2nd best cyclist ever -

 

[hrotha]

There are 2

but the article is about Hinault

and mention Merckx and Armstrong as people who have become house hold name

1 - Hinault plus 1 Merckx plus Armstrong = 3

anyway happy birthday Mr Badger Sir

IMO The 2nd best cyclist ever -

Hinault's name doesn't transcend the sport of cycling as the names of Merckx and Armstrong do, honestly I don't think you can say that's a wrong statement.

 

[just some guy]

Hinault's name doesn't transcend the sport of cycling as the names of Merckx and Armstrong do, honestly I don't think you can say that's a wrong statement.

perhaps it it me then - but i just don't think it reads that way -

 

[ustabe]

Hinault's name doesn't transcend the sport of cycling as the names of Merckx and Armstrong do, honestly I don't think you can say that's a wrong statement.

Who cares about transcendence? Transcendence is superficial.

I care about Hinault because he was the best all-around rider who isn't Merckx and because he did it in his own inimitably obstinate and substantial manner.

 

[shalgo]

It's pretty clear that the author means that only Merckx and Armstrong transcend the sport but that Hinault might have been even better. I don't see any error in the writing.

 

[hfer07]

I have the privilege of being a witness of the golden era of cycling-which was the 80's & Bernard Hinault has always been my hero & the reference point of what a champion should be like on the bike: fearless & aggressive, always riding on the front of the peloton-even when wearing the GC jersey & without relying on his teammates, with the stamina to ride all year round, & always eager to try new races, as he did in North & South America to promote them. Even at this time, his opinion is very respected, precise & direct-without compromising or hesitation-which Is always a good opinion to have nowadays with all the commentator & writers being so biased. he's a very rare character in cycling-sadly there aren't like him anymore.
Happy Birthday Mr Bernard Hinault.

 

[Mr. Gipsy]

Since 1986, there has not been a rider as dominant as Hinault. There have been some incredibly talented cyclists, but no other rider has had a dominance over the sport, such as Hinault did. Winning all three grand Tours, the rainbow jersey, and a handfull of classics (including Paris-Roubaix the same season he won his 3rd TdF) makes him the greatest (just below Merckx of course...but way ahead of Armstrong).
Bonne Fête B.H.!

 

[c&cfan]

Since 1986, there has not been a rider as dominant as Hinault. There have been some incredibly talented cyclists, but no other rider has had a dominance over the sport, such as Hinault did. Winning all three grand Tours, the rainbow jersey, and a handfull of classics (including Paris-Roubaix the same season he won his 3rd TdF) makes him the greatest (just below Merckx of course...but way ahead of Armstrong).
Bonne Fête B.H.!

at what??

for me hinault, lemond, indurain and maybe lance are better than eddy. please, there's no logical reason to say otherwise. just because he was winning against farmers in and endurance contest he is the best cyclist ever? let's forget evolution and specialization, let's forget the fact that the medium cyclist can go up down left right faster than eddy.

 

[maltiv]

at what??

for me hinault, lemond, indurain and maybe lance are better than eddy. please, there's no logical reason to say otherwise. just because he was winning against farmers in and endurance contest he is the best cyclist ever? let's forget evolution and specialization, let's forget the fact that the medium cyclist can go up down left right faster than eddy.

 

[jordan5000]

at what??

for me hinault, lemond, indurain and maybe lance are better than eddy. please, there's no logical reason to say otherwise. just because he was winning against farmers in and endurance contest he is the best cyclist ever? let's forget evolution and specialization, let's forget the fact that the medium cyclist can go up down left right faster than eddy.

Woah, woah, woah! I am one of Lance's biggest supporters and even I don't believe he is as good. 5 giros + 5 tours + 1 Vuelta + 18 monuments + 3 WC easily beats 7 tours + 1 classic + 1 WC. Merckx still has the most stage wins in the tour and in grand tours in general. It's true it is harder to do what Merckx did today because of specialization but still Merckx won tours by more than 15 minutes! That is absolutely ridiculous! If Merckx had competed in 1973 he probably would have won 6 consecutive tours, he also won the giro-tour double, what 3 times? I'm sorry but there is no comparison to Armstrong.

Edit "the medium cyclist can go faster than Eddy" -Merckx set the hour record and won many TTs, if he did the hour record with modern equipment I have no doubt that he could hit 50km/h which would put him as one of the, if not the best TTers in the world.

 

[Le breton]

meditation on transcend

Hinault's name doesn't transcend the sport of cycling as the names of Merckx and Armstrong do, honestly I don't think you can say that's a wrong statement.

In my part of the world, I can only think of ONE cyclist who transcends his sport, if you give that word the meaning given by the CN article.

That cyclist is POULIDOR, whose name has become synonymous with second best. Someone who is almost there, but doesn't quite make it to the top.

Virenque also is transcendental according to that definition, his most famous French language mistake at the time of the Festina affair is now part of French language and very often used in spoken and even written French : A l'insu de mon plein gré

PS : I just looked on google
465000 occurences for : A l'insu de son plein gré
287000 for : A l'insu de mon plein gré

 

[Mambo95]

at what??

for me hinault, lemond, indurain and maybe lance are better than eddy. please, there's no logical reason to say otherwise. just because he was winning against farmers in and endurance contest he is the best cyclist ever? let's forget evolution and specialization, let's forget the fact that the medium cyclist can go up down left right faster than eddy.

Winning against farmers? Hinault and Indurain actually were farmers. Kelly too. And Coppi.

 

[c&cfan]

Winning against farmers? Hinault and Indurain actually were farmers. Kelly too. And Coppi.

but they started training as professional much earlier. are you kidding me? agostinho learned how to cycle in war! he was a mail guy until 28. he never took cycling seriously.. he abandoned a race once because someone was able to steal one of those cows.

you jordan, you proved my point and you showed your ignorance.

 

[Mambo95]

but they started training as professional much earlier. are you kidding me? agostinho learned how to cycle in war! he was a mail guy until 28. he never took cycling seriously.. he abandoned a race once because someone was able to steal one of those cows.

you jordan, you proved my point and you showed your ignorance.

Who on earth is Jordan? (Don't answer that British people)

I think Merckx had other riders to beat than Agostinho. Your argument isn't without merit, but the presentation is somewhat lacking.

 

[El Pistolero]

but they started training as professional much earlier. are you kidding me? agostinho learned how to cycle in war! he was a mail guy until 28. he never took cycling seriously.. he abandoned a race once because someone was able to steal one of those cows.

you jordan, you proved my point and you showed your ignorance.

Greg van Avermaet was a football player and started cycling very late. Let's just throw away all his results now because they're meaningless!

You don't make a lot of sense lol.

So according to you Johan Museeuw is worse than Boonen... There's only 1 generation between them, like with Hinault and Merckx...

Agostinho never was competition for Merckx so there's that. His competition was José Manuel Fuente, Luis Ocana, Roger de Vlaeminck, Gimondi, Zoetemelk, Lucien van Impe, etc.

All cycling greats. Despite living in the same era as the best ever.

 

[jordan5000]

I believe he was referring to me, please dont try to compare lance to merckx ever again. Then again you could try, it gave me a good laugh the first time you said lance was superior.

 

[c&cfan]

]Greg van Avermaet was a football player [/B]and started cycling very late. Let's just throw away all his results now because they're meaningless!

You don't make a lot of sense lol.

So according to you Johan Museeuw is worse than Boonen... There's only 1 generation between them, like with Hinault and Merckx...

Agostinho never was competition for Merckx so there's that. His competition was José Manuel Fuente, Luis Ocana, Roger de Vlaeminck, Gimondi, Zoetemelk, Lucien van Impe, etc.

All cycling greats. Despite living in the same era as the best ever.

can i call you stupid without being banned? he was already an athlete you moron. not an untrained peasant. yes, untrained peasants that when starting their training were able to top3 at le tour.

no one was competition for merckx because he was the only real pro, with the best endurance when endurance decided who was the winner in any stage.

when pros appeared, he was beaten and quit cycling. the normal cyclist was becoming stronger and stronger... same happened to hinault, but in his time the field was already much better. then, in the nineties, cyclists had to choose between GT and classics, GT and sprints, etc.

overall velocities can prove my point, just like the difference between the strongest and the second strongest in any race. each season it becomes harder to gain that little advantage, in any sport. if you guys are blind, that's your problem. merckx was great, but not the best ever.

 

[The Hitch]

Bon Aniverse (or however its spelt) to the Badger.

2nd greatest cyclist ever without doubt, and by some margin over the next (probably Coppi).

I obviously love the Indurain approach, where the top riders occasionaly let someone else feel some glory, but I do laugh with admiration at Hinaults, no gifts approach.

He truly is a special character.

Like the antagonist in a book, who you can't help but admire.

I think the most impressive thing he did (though maybe winning PR on his first attempt, or so I thought I heard) was when he attacked 90k from the end of Champs Elysee with Zoetelmek, even though he already had the GC lead, just to win the stage and won by 2 minutes.,

Insane.

Would that perhaps be the last time (maybe the only time, what about Martens) someone has won the last stage of a GT in the leaders jersey? Menchov might have managed it in 09 but fell.

 

[El Pistolero]

can i call you stupid without being banned? he was already an athlete you moron. not an untrained peasant. yes, untrained peasants that when starting their training were able to top3 at le tour.

no one was competition for merckx because he was the only real pro, with the best endurance when endurance decided who was the winner in any stage.

when pros appeared, he was beaten and quit cycling. the normal cyclist was becoming stronger and stronger... same happened to hinault, but in his time the field was already much better. then, in the nineties, cyclists had to choose between GT and classics, GT and sprints, etc.

overall velocities can prove my point, just like the difference between the strongest and the second strongest in any race. each season it becomes harder to gain that little advantage, in any sport. if you guys are blind, that's your problem. merckx was great, but not the best ever.

First of all, he was a goalkeeper for a small team. Hardly has anything to do with cycling. Eddy Merckx was the only pro? Yeah, tell that to Roger the Vlaeminck, Ocana, Fuente and Lucien van Impe lol. You're so clueless it's not even funny anymore.

Eddy Merckx didn't stop winning because better cyclists appeared lol. Joopke Zoetemelk, who Merckx beat every single time with lot's of minutes, won the Tour in 1980. 6 years after Merckx won his first Tour. Is Zoetemelk a better cyclist now?

 

[El Pistolero]

Bon Aniverse (or however its spelt) to the Badger.

2nd greatest cyclist ever without doubt, and by some margin over the next (probably Coppi).

I obviously love the Indurain approach, where the top riders occasionaly let someone else feel some glory, but I do laugh with admiration at Hinaults, no gifts approach.

He truly is a special character.

Like the antagonist in a book, who you can't help but admire.

I think the most impressive thing he did (though maybe winning PR on his first attempt) was when he attacked 90k from the end of Champs Elysee with Zoetelmek, even though he already had the GC lead, just to win the stage and won by 2 minutes.,

Insane.

Would that perhaps be the last time (maybe the only time, what about Martens) someone has won the last stage of a GT in the leaders jersey? Menchov might have managed it in 09 but fell.

Anniversaire. And Hinault never won Roubaix at his first attempt.

 

[Mambo95]

First of all, he was a goalkeeper for a small team.

He was the youth team keeper for KSK Beveren, who were in the Belgian top division at the time and runners-up in the Belgian Cup final in 2004 (about when he would have left them). Hardly a small team (by Belgian standards)

 

[El Pistolero]

He was the youth team keeper for KSK Beveren, who were in the Belgian top division at the time and runners-up in the Belgian Cup final in 2004 (about when he would have left them). Hardly a small team (by Belgian standards)

You hit the nail on the head. The best Belgian teams of the Premier division even manage to lose against second class English teams. It's peanuts.

I think these untrained peasants had to work out harder for their job alone lol.

Belgian cup is worth nothing. Anderlecht lost this season against a team from the Third Division. It's laughable.

 

[Mambo95]

You hit the nail on the head. The best Belgian teams of the Premier division even manage to lose against second class English teams. It's peanuts.

I think these untrained peasants had to work out harder for their job alone lol.

Belgian cup is worth nothing. Anderlecht lost this season against a team from the Third Division. It's laughable.

Fair enough. I'm old enough to remember when Belgian teams had some status in Europe. I've probably not paid attention to their decline.

 

[hfer07]

the landmark of the greatest(at least to me)

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

the landmark of the greatest(at least to me)

... that is an epic picture of toughness.


Here, broken nose and black eyes:

Just another slog in the mud:

And he's still at it these days (pushes imposter off podium at le Tour 2009):

Cycling was (and is) definately better with him.