Best Rider to never wear the rainbow jersey on the road

[Taxus4a]

Of course Valverde is very close to Kelly in talent, but maybe people dont understand Kelly is one of the best palmares in cycling HIstory, maybe 5th.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Of course Valverde is very close to Kelly in talent, but maybe people dont understand Kelly is one of the best palmares in cycling HIstory, maybe 5th.

It's the same argument as always though about different eras. A palmares from the 80s can't be compared with one from the 00s+

I think from a physiological viewpoint, Valverde is probably more talented than Kelly. Anaerobically pretty similar for their respective builds, but Valverde stronger aerobically. Tactically though, Kelly wins hands down; which makes it even more surprising he could never win a Worlds - even with a generally weak team.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Polls working.

Thanks!

I'm the only person that voted for Cance?

Wow, I thought there would be more.

 

[trevim]

Re:

Of course Valverde is very close to Kelly in talent, but maybe people dont understand Kelly is one of the best palmares in cycling HIstory, maybe 5th.

The variety in Kelly's palmares is probably only second to Merckx or Hinault; amazing all rounder

 

[Angliru]

It's "Indurain" by the way, not Indurian. If we're talking about the best to not ever win WCRR, regardless of their classic palmares then I say Indurain because he essentially gifted the WCRR in Colombia, having already won the WCITT that year and dominated the road race to ensure that Olano would win. Otherwise it's Sean Kelly/Valverde for me.

 

[Carols]

Indurain

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Kelly or De Vlaeminck are the only serious answers out of those on the list.

 

[greenedge]

Simon Gerrans
I voted Anquetil.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Kelly or De Vlaeminck are the only serious answers out of those on the list.

Yep. De Vlaeminck then Kelly. They are the two best one day riders listed by a long way.

What De Vlaeminck achieved is even more amazing when you consider that he had to do it against riders like Van Looy, Merckx, Poulidor and Hinault as well. Apart from Cancellara, the others are better stage racers (although he was certainly no slouch himself) but he's the best classics rider to never wear the rainbow jersey on the road IMO and the best after Merckx.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

Considering there were no World Championships to win between 1938 and 1946, Gino isn't an option?

That's a tricky one. If he's "eligible", Gino is definitely the best rider who has never won.

 

[orangerider]

I'd say Piti. If he had just one WC gold and a Tour win he'd go down in the history books even if he only won each once. Good palmares nonetheless, just not legendary.

 

[WildspokeJoe]

Really excellent question. I went with De Vlaeminck. Then Indurain. Then Kelly. As my podium.

1-2 were real close but since it's a one-day race I leaned toward RDV although Indurain had two seconds and a third. And now I am slightly regretting my choice. Valverde was taken out of consideration because he chose his trade team over his country. Kelly's best shot was in '89. That was an awesome, awesome race and the perfect course. If you haven't seen it, youtube it.

 

[Kwibus]

Vino.

 

[fauniera]

Girardengo should also be considered.

I voted Kelly. It's really quite weird and a bit sad that he never won the Ronde and the Worlds, the two races he seemed to be made for (and probably were his biggest goals).

 

[happytramp]

Re: Re:

Of course Valverde is very close to Kelly in talent, but maybe people dont understand Kelly is one of the best palmares in cycling HIstory, maybe 5th.

It's the same argument as always though about different eras. A palmares from the 80s can't be compared with one from the 00s+

In this instance no comparison is necessary. Even with differences in era's etc Kelly's palmares are light years ahead of Valverde's. Were talking one of the all time greats against here, his Palmares would probably compare favorably to Valverde's+Cancelera's+Sagan's+Some rider who's one 15+ week long races.

 

[doperhopper]

Armstrong. Oooops, he still has his jersey... ;-)

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

Of course Valverde is very close to Kelly in talent, but maybe people dont understand Kelly is one of the best palmares in cycling HIstory, maybe 5th.

It's the same argument as always though about different eras. A palmares from the 80s can't be compared with one from the 00s+

In this instance no comparison is necessary. Even with differences in era's etc Kelly's palmares are light years ahead of Valverde's. Were talking one of the all time greats against here, his Palmares would probably compare favorably to Valverde's+Cancelera's+Sagan's+Some rider who's one 15+ week long races.

Kelly's CQ ranking is almost the same as Valverde and Cancellara combined.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Of course Valverde is very close to Kelly in talent, but maybe people dont understand Kelly is one of the best palmares in cycling HIstory, maybe 5th.

It's the same argument as always though about different eras. A palmares from the 80s can't be compared with one from the 00s+

In this instance no comparison is necessary. Even with differences in era's etc Kelly's palmares are light years ahead of Valverde's. Were talking one of the all time greats against here, his Palmares would probably compare favorably to Valverde's+Cancelera's+Sagan's+Some rider who's one 15+ week long races.

Kelly's CQ ranking is almost the same as Valverde and Cancellara combined.

Which shows exactly why you can't compare riders from different eras by palmares alone.

Stronger domestiques, more specialisation, greater emphasis on peaking for certain events, clinic reasons etc... all make it much harder to be so dominant in the last 20 years.

 

[grizzlee]

Re: Re:

Of course Valverde is very close to Kelly in talent, but maybe people dont understand Kelly is one of the best palmares in cycling HIstory, maybe 5th.

It's the same argument as always though about different eras. A palmares from the 80s can't be compared with one from the 00s+

In this instance no comparison is necessary. Even with differences in era's etc Kelly's palmares are light years ahead of Valverde's. Were talking one of the all time greats against here, his Palmares would probably compare favorably to Valverde's+Cancelera's+Sagan's+Some rider who's one 15+ week long races.

Kelly's CQ ranking is almost the same as Valverde and Cancellara combined.

Which shows exactly why you can't compare riders from different eras by palmares alone.

Stronger domestiques, more specialisation, greater emphasis on peaking for certain events, clinic reasons etc... all make it much harder to be so dominant in the last 20 years.

ahahahaha the last 20 years? Where have you been Armstrong and indurain were utterly dominant in the last 20 years.
edit, well indurains last of 5 tours was 20 years ago exactly

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

ahahahaha the last 20 years? Where have you been Armstrong and indurain were utterly dominant in the last 20 years.
edit, well indurains last of 5 tours was 20 years ago exactly

You've missed the point. Armstrong and Indurain were dominant in Grand Tours only. Both did very little in any other discipline (although Armstrong was a pretty decent one day racer before his cancer and before he switched his attention to the GTs - he never did well in both concurrently).

The point is that in the last 25 or so years no rider has even got close to competing for the win at all five monuments, let alone throwing GT's in as well. In the 70s and 80s, the top riders routinely challenged for every major event. It's just not possible nowadays for one rider to beat five different top riders who have each peaked specifically for their main event and are backed by a super strong team of domestiques to control the race. Cycling is fundementally different now; though Valverde is clearly the closest we have to a throwback - given his insanely rounded power profile.

 

[Flat Out]

Gino Bartali could be the best choice here if i remember well, ha had several GTs and classics but never a rainbow jersey

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Gino Bartali could be the best choice here if i remember well, ha had several GTs and classics but never a rainbow jersey

Excellent choice! That's a huge oversight there. Bartali had a massive palmares.

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

Gino Bartali could be the best choice here if i remember well, ha had several GTs and classics but never a rainbow jersey

Excellent choice! That's a huge oversight there. Bartali had a massive palmares.

and he missed his best years due to the war, was recognised for his efforts to aid jews during the war, and staved off a potential revolution.

 

[Billie]

Constante Girardengo and Henri Pélisier

edit: fauniera already mentioned Girardengo

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

De Vlaeminck is the best one-day-racer of this list. Jut take a look at his palmares. And then, when you think this is impressive, start realizing this was during the Merckx era!