For me its always staggering to see how some guys can ride their heart out. You cannot narrow it down to one or a few riders.
A stand out performance though was Amets Txurruka in that stage in the 2009(?) Tour, the stage won by Haussler. It was a miserable day, no chance of actually catching the group and no one felt like riding as it was cold and rainy. Amets broke away with some French guy who wasn't able to follow after a while and I still remember Txurruka riding like crazy in the last corner (and nearly crashing...) even though he already gained minutes on the peloton and Haussler finished 3 minutes before.
As if he knew that would be the closest he'd ever get to a victory...
A stand out performance though was Amets Txurruka in that stage in the 2009(?) Tour, the stage won by Haussler. It was a miserable day, no chance of actually catching the group and no one felt like riding as it was cold and rainy. Amets broke away with some French guy who wasn't able to follow after a while and I still remember Txurruka riding like crazy in the last corner (and nearly crashing...) even though he already gained minutes on the peloton and Haussler finished 3 minutes before.
As if he knew that would be the closest he'd ever get to a victory...