Best sprinter ever?

[Michielveedeebee]

As I see a lot of these lists popping up lately I thought it was time for one of my own. Sorry if this one already existed but I didn't feel like going through the whole forum.
So who's the best sprinter ever up till now?
SuperMario; Ale Jet; Cavendish; Hoban; Freddy Maertens or someone else?

I'd go for Maertens right now. Depending on what Cavendish will win as a sprinter in the next couple of years he might top him. Although he'll very highly probably won't ever win 13 Gt stages in 1 Gt.

EDIT: This is indeed about road sprinters as it is hard to compare racers from different categories
EDIT 2: Honorable mentions are most appreciated! what about Steels as mentioned on page 4 who beat cipo a couple of times, McEwen who was and is able to get in the front of the peloton without any help or maybe even Boonen who also has 5 succeeding years with 15+ wins

 

[davidg]

I dont know if you mean road sprinter, since you posted in that sub-forum, but Koichi Nakano won the World Track Champs 10 times. For anyone to be at the top of their game for that long is fairly impressive.

For the road I will put Maertens up as the benchmark with 16TDF stages, 13 Vuelta, 3 green jerseys and 2 world champs. Can't thin who would top that.

 

[Oldman]

You could catagorize sprinters:
Maertens for all-round sprinter
Abdu for insane pack sprinter
Cipo for latter day dominant pack sprinter
Cav for current day dominant pack sprinter

 

[Jamsque]

No love for Zabel? 4 M-SRs and six consecutive green jerseys?

 

[ingsve]

Another question is by what criteria we judge what best sprinter entails. The person with the best palmares, the rider with the biggest acceleration and sprinter speed, the rider that most consistently maneuvered in a sprint to always be up there in the end etc. Dependong on what we mean there will be different answers.

 

[sashimono]

Koichi Nakano.

 

[brianf7]

Super Mario was best in his day also the best show pony.

 

[Mambo95]

Another question is by what criteria we judge what best sprinter entails. The person with the best palmares, the rider with the biggest acceleration and sprinter speed, the rider that most consistently maneuvered in a sprint to always be up there in the end etc. Dependong on what we mean there will be different answers.

I don't see how winning, for example, a monument from a group of three or four is an indication of sprinting ability, so.....

My criteria is, put all the candidates in a random road race ending a bunch sprint, with equivalent teammates and who wins?

I reckon Cavendish over 50% of the time. And unlike the others, he probably hasn't peaked yet.

 

[Mambo95]

I dont know if you mean road sprinter, since you posted in that sub-forum, but Koichi Nakano won the World Track Champs 10 times. For anyone to be at the top of their game for that long is fairly impressive.

This is the Pro Road Racing forum, so take a guess if he's including trackies.

 

[erader]

fastest are cipo and cavendish.

erader

 

[Ryaguas]

I would take:

SuperMario
Zabel
Alejet --------- He has won the points classifications in the 3GTs tho...

Manxman is really fast but He needs more green jerseys...

 

[Mambo95]

I would take:

SuperMario
Zabel
Alejet --------- He has won the points classifications in the 3GTs tho...

Manxman is really fast but He needs more green jerseys...

This the problem of comparing the palmares of a rider still not far into his career with those who have finished or have nearly finished.

At the same age as Cavendish (results up to the end of the year when they turned 25), here's how they match up:

Grand Tour wins:
Cavendish 20
Cipollini 10 (plus 1 Giro points jersey)
Zabel 2
Petacchi 0

Total wins:
Cavendish 61
Cipollini 38
Zabel 23
Petacchi 1 (no typo - one win)

 

[Old School]

Jean Paul Van Poppel gets no respect...dude was lighting...straight up saw him beat what was probably the best group of sprinters for one year in a stage of the TDF....he PULLED away from Jalabert, Museuuw, Ludwig and Abdu...no train....name me a sprinter who could do that...Cav is too well taken care of...and this year's sprinters were WEAK in the Tour...Thor was not up to par, Farrar was hurt, Alejet is mad old...

Van Popple baby!

I posted this same question about 6/7 weeks ago, check it out and you'll see some great pics folks posted of the old tymers, Abdu trying to kill himself, a You Tube post of his horrific Champs Ellyse (I can't spell) crash...nasty stuff.

 

[Big Doopie]

maertens.

hands down.

 

[danjo007]

i like mario, cause he looked good doing it... the opposite to abbu, who was a horror story on wheels.

modern day sprinting is different, and i dont think cav would have won as many if he were racing in the others day.

 

[forty four]

dont those two automatically have trouble if all is not perfect in the lead out? dont know whos best but i like the guys who dont need a whole team to make it happen. like say mcewen.

 

[tubularglue]

Best sprinter ever?

Merckx

In his Tour de France debut in 1969, Merckx won the yellow jersey (overall leader), the green jersey (best sprinter) and the red polka-dotted jersey (best climber in the mountain stages), No other cyclist has achieved this trifecta in the Tour de France

Best climber
Best TT specialist

no comparison

 

[il_fiammingo]

Maertens!!

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I don't see how winning, for example, a monument from a group of three or four is an indication of sprinting ability, so.....

My criteria is, put all the candidates in a random road race ending a bunch sprint, with equivalent teammates and who wins?

I reckon Cavendish over 50% of the time. And unlike the others, he probably hasn't peaked yet.

Well that's what I actually meant, if they would all race now against each other with equivalent teams; or if you let them start at 40kph and then let them sprint for 250 m. Who'd cross the line first?

And let's be honest, Merckx was the greatest cyclist ever, had a good sprint but he wasn't as fast as Maertens

 

[davidg]

This is the Pro Road Racing forum, so take a guess if he's including trackies.

Oooh! sarcasm. Since when did the forum have any relevance to the post topic. Maybe we could have a parallel thread in each of the other forums, best track sprinter, best mountain bike sprinter, best doped sprinter (Oh wait a sec)

 

[MAILLOT JAUNE]

Best sprinter ever?

Merckx

In his Tour de France debut in 1969, Merckx won the yellow jersey (overall leader), the green jersey (best sprinter) and the red polka-dotted jersey (best climber in the mountain stages), No other cyclist has achieved this trifecta in the Tour de France

Best climber
Best TT specialist

no comparison

I believe Alex Stieda captured all four jerseys - the yellow jersey, the pokadot, the green, and the white, on the second day of the 1986 Tour de France and was the first North American to lead the Tour de France. (Abridged from Wiki)

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I believe Alex Stieda captured all four jerseys - the yellow jersey, the pokadot, the green, and the white, on the second day of the 1986 Tour de France and was the first North American to lead the Tour de France. (Abridged from Wiki)

did he end up winning those?
And at Merckx time there wasn't yet a young riders jersey

 

[ingsve]

I don't see how winning, for example, a monument from a group of three or four is an indication of sprinting ability, so.....

My criteria is, put all the candidates in a random road race ending a bunch sprint, with equivalent teammates and who wins?

I reckon Cavendish over 50% of the time. And unlike the others, he probably hasn't peaked yet.

Perhaps I wasn't clear. With "rider with the best palmares" I mean with the most victories related to sprinting for example most bunch sprints won in GTs, most points jerseys, most prestigious sprint stages/sprint classics won etc.

 

[hrotha]

dont those two automatically have trouble if all is not perfect in the lead out? dont know whos best but i like the guys who dont need a whole team to make it happen. like say mcewen.

There's a difference between "needing a team around you" and "having a team around you because you've proven you're that good and it's a safe investment."

 

[Franklin]

This the problem of comparing the palmares of a rider still not far into his career with those who have finished or have nearly finished.

At the same age as Cavendish (results up to the end of the year when they turned 25), here's how they match up:

Grand Tour wins:
Cavendish 20
Cipollini 10 (plus 1 Giro points jersey)
Zabel 2
Petacchi 0

Total wins:
Cavendish 61
Cipollini 38
Zabel 23
Petacchi 1 (no typo - one win)

A completely idiotic and utterly futile comparison. Current palmares is the only guideline.

Or is a 19 year old pro who wins his first race "one of the greatest ever"? You know that is nonsense... and that immediately blows your argument out of the water. Who knows... maybe Cav never wins a GT stage again (I doubt it, but it's possible). So what does age have to do with it? The only thing that counts is the bottom line which is palmares.