Best Consecutive GT Performance Since Pantani??

[Merckx index]

Froome trying (again) for the Tour-Vuelta double makes this an opportune time to ask this question. And with Contador already starting to disappoint, maybe it’s a little consolation to his fans to suggest his 2011 as the best of all the failed attempts at a double—even if his finishes are no longer official. He dominated the Giro, then despite the tired legs, and losing time and maybe some fitness in several early crashes, finished fifth. Take away the crashes, and he might have podiumed, though to be fair, quite a few contenders were taken out by crashes.

Froome in 2012 also deserves strong consideration. He might have won the TDF if he had been team leader, and he finished fourth in the Vuelta, though ten minutes down. And of course last year Contador had another first/fifth, with the Tour last year featuring tougher competition than in 2011.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Carlos Sastre, 1st 2008 Tour, 3rd 2008 Vuelta, 4th (2nd) 2009 Giro. Assuming we're talking GC riders here, otherwise somebody like Cavendish would obviously be worth mentioning.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Alejandro will also have something to say, rather, he already has at this point. 3rd TdF 2015 - 7th Vuelta 2015 - 3rd Giro 2016 - 6th TdF 2016 - ? Vuelta 2016.

I must admit that it looks much better with a win somewhere in between tho.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Adam Hansen.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Adam Hansen.

Please god, no. PR all the way at this point.

 

[Gigs_98]

Since the tour has a way better competition I'd say that a giro-tour double attempt is clearly more difficult than tour-vuelta. Therefore I'd say Contador, although I have to admit I didn't watch any other grand tour besides the tdf before 2010 so maybe I missed a lot since pantani.
I think Quintana last year deserves a mention too. He would have won the vuelta without his one bad day in andorra, and was 2nd in the tdf, which he also might have won if had raced more cleverly. Who knows, maybe in a parallel universe he even won the double
And although I think a Vuelta-giro double over two seasons doesn't mean anything it would ofc be awsome if Valverde could get a top 10 in 5 gt's in a row.

 

[TMP402]

Since the tour has a way better competition I'd say that a giro-tour double attempt is clearly more difficult than tour-vuelta. Therefore I'd say Contador, although I have to admit I didn't watch any other grand tour besides the tdf before 2010 so maybe I missed a lot since pantani.
I think Quintana last year deserves a mention too. He would have won the vuelta without his one bad day in andorra, and was 2nd in the tdf, which he also might have won if had raced more cleverly. Who knows, maybe in a parallel universe he even won the double
And although I think a Vuelta-giro double over two seasons doesn't mean anything it would ofc be awsome if Valverde could get a top 10 in 5 gt's in a row.

In the alternative 2014 in which Froome stayed upright, he might have had 1st in the Tour and 2nd in the Vuelta.

 

[Nick C.]

Doesn't Contador 2008 qualify? Giro - win, Tour - team not invited, Vuelta - win. Those are bookended by Tour wins in 2007 and 2009. Then he "wins on the road" in the 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro. That is 6 straight GT wins, or 4 depending on how you want to look at things.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Doesn't Contador 2008 qualify? Giro - win, Tour - team not invited, Vuelta - win. Those are bookended by Tour wins in 2007 and 2009. Then he "wins on the road" in the 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro. That is 6 straight GT wins, or 4 depending on how you want to look at things.

Those aren't consecutive GTs, though.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Not dealing in hypotheticals, it's Sastre. If you want to argue that the lesser competition at the Vuelta means his 3rd at the Vuelta is worth less than Contador's 5th at the Tour, then fine, but I'll then argue that if the competition at the Tour counts for more, then Sastre's Tour win is worth more than Contador's Giro win, and regardless, Contador's results were stripped from him, whether or not you agree with that decision.

In terms of the quality of rides needed to get those results, we can debate. But looking at GC results in isolation nobody can beat Sastre in the timeframe.

 

[jsem94]

Carlos Sastre 2008 is the obvious answer. Other close contenders are Contador 2011 and Contador 2015. At least when it comes to GC.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

and regardless, Contador's results were stripped from him, whether or not you agree with that decision.

But this is a discussion about the performance, no? Or are those performances magically removed from history?

 

[carton]

Re: Re:

and regardless, Contador's results were stripped from him, whether or not you agree with that decision.

But this is a discussion about the performance, no? Or are those performances magically removed from history?

If we're talking about stripped results and pushing the definition of consecutive grand tours then I nominate Landis for winning the 4th Grand Tour™ and the Tour de France back-to-back.

 

[Billie]

Ivan Basso in 2005.

Started the Giro as one of the favourites and proved himself as topfavourite with a very strong TT. Then on the first real hard mountain stage he went for it and dropped Simoni, Rujano, Savoldelli and Di Luca multiple times only to be outfoxed by Savoldelli on the descents. Still he took over the maglia rosa.

But then disaster struck and Basso get sick. He could limit his losses on the way to Ortisei but it got worse and on the Stelvio, his Stelvio, those thousands of hairpins he had climbed so many times as a little boy, he completely cracked with the telling image of him getting off his bike at the top cause he no longer had the strength to put his rain jacket on himself.

He continued though and showed why later on as he won both a MTF and a timetrial during the closing days of il Giro.

He went to France where he was the one who ultimately would come closest to Lance Armstrong.

 

[portugal11]

Sastre only won le tour because astana was stripped. Contador would put 5 minutes in sastre.

 

[robin440]

RICCO

 

[carton]

Re:

Sastre only won le tour because astana was stripped. Contador would put 5 minutes in sastre.

Well, Femke Van den Driessche could put 15 minutes on peak Contador on today's stage alone. What's that got to do with the price of beans?

 

[Billie]

Re:

Sastre only won le tour because astana was stripped. Contador would put 5 minutes in sastre.

Contador wouldn't have ridden Giro or Vuelta though had he ridden the Tour that year so no idea what your point is

 

[SeriousSam]

Any double not involving a Tour victory is out. It's Sastre with Froome potentially unseating him this year.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Contador won the 2014 Vuelta and then the 2015 Giro which is technically two consecutive GT wins.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Contador did win consecutive GTs, albeit in different seasons. Does that not count?

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Contador did win consecutive GTs, albeit in different seasons. Does that not count?

Well the gap between the end of the Vuelta to start of Giro following year is 8 months, compared to one apiece between the GTs in a given year

 

[deValtos]

Yea the point of the double GT win is that they're right next to each other which is what makes it so hard and prestigious.

Winning a Vuelta and then the Giro next year isn't in the same league though obviously you're probably still an insane GT rider just to do that.

 

[Thepirateisgood]

Re: Re:

Adam Hansen.

Please god, no. PR all the way at this point.

Yes, because what he's doing is no performance at all.. (or did you mean he's going to Roubaix next spring?)

Sastre, if not GC-only - Sagan or Cav.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Re:

Yea the point of the double GT win is that they're right next to each other which is what makes it so hard and prestigious.

Winning a Vuelta and then the Giro next year isn't in the same league though obviously you're probably still an insane GT rider just to do that.

Of course: I was taking the title of the thread more literally than the OP had probably intended (but that's the title he gave it).

It was however interesting to read this week that Froome's participation in the Vuelta has been suggested by Sky to be a tool for maintaining his condition for next season: is this a prep race for the tour now?