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Best TTers past or present?

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Who is the best time trialist, past or present?

  • Fausto Coppi

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Cookster15

Cookster15

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Big Mig was the best I ever saw by miles. A big gap back to Jan Ulrich & Armstrong. Honourable mention to Tony Rominger who actually beat Indurain in the 2nd TT in 1993 TDF. Rominger is also a former world hour record holder - beating Indurain's record in the process. I doubt anyone who saw Indurain in action would have voted for anyone else before or after.
 
Walkman

Walkman

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Cookster15 said:
Big Mig was the best I ever saw by miles. A big gap back to Jan Ulrich & Armstrong. Honourable mention to Tony Rominger who actually beat Indurain in the 2nd TT in 1993 TDF. Rominger is also a former world hour record holder - beating Indurain's record in the process. I doubt anyone who saw Indurain in action would have voted for anyone else before or after.
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Without PED's Lemond would have crushed Indurain time and time again. Just my two cents.
 
Hugo Koblet

Hugo Koblet

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Cookster15 said:
Big Mig was the best I ever saw by miles. A big gap back to Jan Ulrich & Armstrong. Honourable mention to Tony Rominger who actually beat Indurain in the 2nd TT in 1993 TDF. Rominger is also a former world hour record holder - beating Indurain's record in the process. I doubt anyone who saw Indurain in action would have voted for anyone else before or after.
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Well, I grew up during the Indurain era. My first and best cycling memories include Indurain. He was and is my favorite rider by miles, noone comes even close. Yet I still probably wouldn't call him the best time trialist ever, although he's definitely among the best.

Watching him ride against the clock was like watching art in motion. The way he could ride straight as an arrow, I've never seen anyone else being able to.
 
Cookster15

Cookster15

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Walkman said:
Because you actually agree with me or because you think I am an delusional fanboy?
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I agree with you. I remember that era too. 1993 was the first year I followed the TDF and anyone who's been watching cycling that long knows what was going on then. I feel sorry for Lemond but he was just before my time. He still won 3 Tours and two after the hunting accident so all was not lost.
 
Walkman

Walkman

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Cookster15 said:
I agree with you. I remember that era too. 1993 was the first year I followed the TDF and anyone who's been watching cycling that long knows what was going on then. I feel sorry for Lemond but he was just before my time. He still won 3 Tours and two after the hunting accident so all was not lost.
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Ok, just checking, your smiley made me think you were sarcastic which isn't always so easily detected on the internet.

I sort of think all these threads are kind of difficult to answer. Take Lance for an example, he was dominant due to a highly advanced doping program, so people will say: "Lance was a great TT:er". Sure, he was truly dominant in the ITT's (save 2003) but not because of his naturally talent. And I wonder if this has been the case for other cyclists as well.

Did Indurain win due to a sophisticated program and Spain's tolerant doping stance or because of his real talent? Did Merckx triumphed because he pushed his "program" (I don't know if they really had programs back then, perhaps more of "casual doping") further than his opponents?
 
Cookster15

Cookster15

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Walkman said:
Did Indurain win due to a sophisticated program and Spain's tolerant doping stance or because of his real talent? Did Merckx triumphed because he pushed his "program" (I don't know if they really had programs back then, perhaps more of "casual doping") further than his opponents?
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Hard to say how much of Indurain's record was due to doping and how much was natural talent. Apparently his lung capacity was 8 litres. If so not sure PEDs had anything to do with that!
 
Walkman

Walkman

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Cookster15 said:
Hard to say how much of Indurain's record was due to doping and how much was natural talent. Apparently his lung capacity was 8 litres. If so not sure PEDs had anything to do with that!
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First of all, is that actually true? I mean, do you have a good source backing this statement? Because it's sort of like Lance "Lazer Focus".

Being a good time trialist is so much more than your lung capacity. VO2 Max? I've heard the number 88 ml/kg connected to Indurain. As a comparison Gunde Svan had a lung capacity of 7.08 litre but a VO2 Max of 91. I have no idea if and what that tells us (assuming the values are correct) but if someone could give an explanation, that would be great!

My point is, can I believe that Indurains capacity was 8 litres and what does that really mean in terms of him being a such a dominant TT:er?
 
Cookster15

Cookster15

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Walkman said:
My point is, can I believe that Indurains capacity was 8 litres and what does that really mean in terms of him being a such a dominant TT:er?
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It can't hurt to have bigger lungs for TTs. I mean the lungs are the front end of your cardiovascular system. This is where oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream. Bigger Lungs = more oxygen available to the bloodstream. Genetics + Training improves the heart and most importantly the back end , how efficiently the oxygenated blood is turned into power when combined with glucose in the Mitochondria cells. The back end is usually where PEDs come in.

But who knows what is the truth? This is the tragedy of the sport. Noone can know for sure. I voted for Indurain based on what I have witnessed in cycling since 1993 - leaving doping aside. At end of the day all these polls are kinda silly in light of cycling's well known problems past & present. But it's still nice to reminisce about one's favourite riders in eras gone by.
 
hiero2

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Cookster15 said:
. . . I doubt anyone who saw Indurain in action would have voted for anyone else before or after.
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Doubt all you want to - you would be wrong. Sorry to disappoint, but I was racing, and following races, before Indurain. I do not agree.

;)
 
Avoriaz

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Daniel Gisiger.

I believe all of his wins, or nearly all, outside of six day races came in TTs.

Just to throw another name in.

The real answer is still Beryl Burton - she won the Road Time Trials Council’s British Best All-Rounder Competition for 25 consecutive years from 1959 to 1983

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_Burton

In 1967, she set a new 12-hour time trial record of 277.25 miles[3] – a mark that surpassed the men’s record of the time by 0.73 miles and was not superseded by a man until 1969.[4] While setting the record she caught and passed Mike McNamara who was on his way to setting the men's record at 276.52 miles and winning that year's men's British Best All-Rounder. She is reputed to have given him a liquorice allsort as she passed him.
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Hugo Koblet

Hugo Koblet

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Bavarianrider said:
Indurain is vastly overrated. He was very good, but he wasn't the one and only god people make him.
He simply benefitted of incredibly long TTes and rather poor competition.
And it's not like he was unbeaten all the time, too.
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Poor competition? I don't agree with that at all.

And to write off Indurain because he didn't win all his time trials seems wrong when you then hail Ullrich, who was constantly beaten in time trials, as the best.
 
Bavarianrider

Bavarianrider

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Hugo Koblet said:
Poor competition? I don't agree with that at all.

And to write off Indurain because he didn't win all his time trials seems wrong when you then hail Ullrich, who was constantly beaten in time trials, as the best.
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Again, i just say that Indurain isn't the undisputed god. Of course he was great, maybe the ebst. but not the godlike status he has.
 
Afrank

Afrank

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Sanitiser said:
Like seriously who's voting for Cancellara- he has too many votes.
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This poll is from 2011, when Canc had only had one bad year. So people thought he could still come back strong in 2012.
 
T

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Bavarianrider said:
How do people explain Indurains miraclous performance increase in TTes after turning 26?
Before that, he didn't even have Top 10 finishes in Tour TTes. At age 26 he then got a Top 10 rider. With 27 he became a winner and dominant.
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he got a new bike for his birthday?? ;)

but seriously, you can ask that about a lot of riders and most of the answers are probably more clinic related..
 
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