Best Classics rider of the 21st Century

[mybikecoach.blogspot.com]

Voted for Gilbert not only bceause of his results, but also because of the fact that he is a resent guy. If you consider only the results I think that Merckx is a way ahead of everybody

 

[Parrulo]

bettini followed by boonen imo

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Until recently I would have said Bettini.

Now I'm going for Gilbert, what Bettini was on super days, Gilbert is most of the year. It's insane

 

[El Pistolero]

Until recently I would have said Bettini.

Now I'm going for Gilbert, what Bettini was on super days, Gilbert is most of the year. It's insane

I think he needs one more year like this to earn the title.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

as defined in the opening post 2000-2011 bettini.

Probably gilbert in a couple years.

 

[scullster46]

Bettini. 5 monument wins, 2 worlds, 1 olympics, 2 italian championships, 1 san sebastian, 3 time world cup champ. Not to mention 2 giro points jerseys, 8 gt stage wins and countless other wins in smaller races. Do I need to go on?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Bettini. 5 monument wins, 2 worlds, 1 olympics, 2 italian championships, 1 san sebastian, 3 time world cup champ. Not to mention 2 giro points jerseys, 8 gt stage wins and countless other wins in smaller races. Do I need to go on?

Are we using national championships, points jersey wins, gt stage wins as evidence that a rider is the best classics rider?

 

[scullster46]

national championships are one day wins, so yes. Also, classics specialists have always gone to gts with the aim of winning stages and/or points jerseys. Gts have classic type stages for these types of riders. Both Kelly and De Vlaeminck are well known for winning lots of points jerseys. Gilbert went for the points jersey and stage wins this year. So, yes, I believe that you can take these into account. To each his own though.

 

[greenedge]

I would go Bettini, Boonen, Cancellara, Oscar, Gilbert .Though Boonen could slide down those rankings, Cancellara and Gilbert could also go up it as well.

 

[ElChingon]

The poll question is who's the best and not who's the wining-est of the 21st century so I went with Fabian. He may have not won as much but his power cannot be denied, a few more riders (which he didn't get) for enough support and he's going to crush them all!

 

[gustienordic]

I had a really tough choice between Boonen, Fabian & Bettini; they each ride the classics in a quite different style, but I think Boonen is the most versatile.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Boonen is a good shout having 5 monuments compared to Fab's 4 and Gilberts 3, multiple monument podiums and a WC.

+1. Boonen has more monument podiums than any others on the list.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

II Grillo
1 million characters

 

[FignonLeGrand]

The poll question is who's the best and not who's the wining-est of the 21st century so I went with Fabian. He may have not won as much but his power cannot be denied, a few more riders (which he didn't get) for enough support and he's going to crush them all!

hhmm If Bettini had been there in 2010 and in his pomp he would have beaten Spartacus in the Ronde and Roubaix. Power will never overcome a real tactician specially an Italian one, there so sneaky

Also if fabian has more support, he also has more people for his foes to sit in on. He basically won in 2010 cos he was a bit better than boonen and the rest were rubbish.

Id go for Bettini just cos he sprinted to win, he atacked from long range to win and he was dam clever. Actually thinking about it he was pretty bloody awesome.

 

[Netserk]

Boonen!!! NO DOUBT!

Ronde, P-R and worlds in same year

 

[luckyboy]

Yeah I picked Boonen

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Vino!!!..............
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........................





anybody?

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Vino!!!..............
........................
........................





anybody?

No, not even close.

 

[rhubroma]

2 World Championships, would've won 5 World Cups if it wasn't for the introduction of the Pro Tour, there can be only one: Paolo Bettini.

Gilbert is well on his way to overtaking him though.

Well I'm biased of course, but Bettini as well.

Now I think Paolo would on his best day beat Gilbert on his best day in a races like Liege and Giro di Lombardia.

I bet he was faster than Gilbert too.

Where Gilbert is superior, however, is in using his head and not exaggerating. This is why Bettini didn't win more. They didn't call him il Grillo for nothing. He simply at times couldn't contain himself and his exuberance was to his own undoing on several occasions. In other words, if Bettini had saved all his effort for a one time devastating attack as Gilbert has learned to do, then he would have been unbeatable on days when he lost due to his generosity.

On the other hand, the Italian wasn't good on the pave as the Belgian undoubtedly is.

So it's close. And I like both riders. But at the level of just being entertaining to watch, when il Grillo was on his day and he made repeated attacks that probably killed himself first and then everyone else, then he was just awesome. And who could ever forget his first Worlds win when he latched himself on to a final move by taking that final curve at unbelievable speed, to then out-sprint the guys he caught. Phenomenal!

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

No, not even close.

well **** you then

 

[Panda Claws]

Well I'm biased of course, but Bettini as well.

Now I think Paolo would on his best day beat Gilbert on his best day in a races like Liege and Giro di Lombardia.

I bet he was faster than Gilbert too.

Where Gilbert is superior, however, is in using his head and not exaggerating. This is why Bettini didn't win more. They didn't call him il Grillo for nothing. He simply at times couldn't contain himself and his exuberance was to his own undoing on several occasions. In other words, if Bettini had saved all his effort for a one time devastating attack as Gilbert has learned to do, then he would have been unbeatable on days when he lost due to his generosity.

On the other hand, the Italian wasn't good on the pave as the Belgian undoubtedly is.

So it's close. And I like both riders. But at the level of just being entertaining to watch, when il Grillo was on his day and he made repeated attacks that probably killed himself first and then everyone else, then he was just awesome. And who could ever forget his first Worlds win when he latched himself on to a final move by taking that final curve at unbelievable speed, to then out-sprint the guys he caught. Phenomenal!

He was undoubtly a faster sprinter than Gilbert yes but when it comes to accelerating on a slope I do think Gilbert is better.

 

[markene2]

Vino!!!..............
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........................





anybody?

Even though i am a Vino fan, he is not even close. Paolo, Gilbert, Bonen etc. Is all above.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Well I'm biased of course, but Bettini as well.

Now I think Paolo would on his best day beat Gilbert on his best day in a races like Liege and Giro di Lombardia.

I bet he was faster than Gilbert too.

Where Gilbert is superior, however, is in using his head and not exaggerating. This is why Bettini didn't win more. They didn't call him il Grillo for nothing. He simply at times couldn't contain himself and his exuberance was to his own undoing on several occasions. In other words, if Bettini had saved all his effort for a one time devastating attack as Gilbert has learned to do, then he would have been unbeatable on days when he lost due to his generosity.

On the other hand, the Italian wasn't good on the pave as the Belgian undoubtedly is.

So it's close. And I like both riders. But at the level of just being entertaining to watch, when il Grillo was on his day and he made repeated attacks that probably killed himself first and then everyone else, then he was just awesome. And who could ever forget his first Worlds win when he latched himself on to a final move by taking that final curve at unbelievable speed, to then out-sprint the guys he caught. Phenomenal!

post of the week says me

 

[El Pistolero]

He was undoubtly a faster sprinter than Gilbert yes but when it comes to accelerating on a slope I do think Gilbert is better.

Obviously, just compare their palmares.

Paolo Bettini never won the Amstel Gold Race or La Flèche Wallonne while Phil has already won those races. In his first win at AGR he attacked and responded to a lot of attacks before the final ascend of the Cauberg. This year he was chasing behind Andy him self before the Cauberg. So you can't really use the "he uses all his strength for one decisive attack" argument here.

I don't think even Bettini could hold this Phil's wheel if he attacked on a hill. He was faster though, but Phil is without a doubt the better cobbled rider of the two with his 2 victories at the Omloop het Volk, his podium at a tough Gent-Wevelgem and 2 podiums at the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

So overall Phil is definitely the more complete classics rider of the two. He's the Michele Bartoli of his generation.

 

[El Pistolero]

+1. Boonen has more monument podiums than any others on the list.

Not true. Davide Rebellin and Philippe Gilbert both have 5 podiums at Monuments. The exact same number as Tom Boonen. Fabian Cancellara is at 4 at the moment.

Before you go on and say that one of Phil's podiums belongs to Valverde instead let me remind you of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN319Fzo5DE