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Biggest Upset in Cycling History

Feb 6, 2016
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Last night, we saw what was probably the greatest surprise in the modern history of sport; I don't think any other winners have come close to the 5000-1 odds offered on Leicester to win before the season started. So what do people think was the biggest surprise in the history of cycling? Obviously, a lot of this is inevitably tied up with clinic stuff, but I'd still be interested to see what people consider to be the biggest surprises in cycling's long history. Hayman's Roubaix is surely the most surprising monument win of the past decade; what about previous eras and other races?
 
Apr 15, 2013
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Walkowiak and Pereiro style tour winners come to mind. Walkowiak more though because he did really win it on the road, not after the other rider got DQed.
 
Apr 15, 2013
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Eshnar said:
Echoes said:
12 posts, 8 stage races mentioned.
Only stage races can compare with a league win. One-day races upsets are much more frequent, a bit like cup wins.

Exactly, wins like Jacky Durand's on the tour of Flanders 92 (?) for example happen and have happened before, whereas on a stage race there are 20+ stages and 8/10 big decisive ones (mountain or ITT) for the big bosses to assert themselves, that's what makes a Walkowiak/Pereiro win a lot more "upsetting".
 
Apr 15, 2013
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Re:

Echoes said:
At least some posters openly admit to despising the classics now. There's progress.

How stupid a comment is this ????

Sorry mate, I love classics but bein one day races they are more open to outcomes that deviate from the mean, ie upsets, than a race of 21 stages where one would thing the mean would reassert itself. This is why a very unlikely outcome is well, considerably more unlikely in a stage race !!

What on earth don't you understand about this ?

If what you want is me to tell you that Jacky Durand's win in RVV is the greatest upset in the history of cycling, well I am sorry but it is just not true...
 
Re:

Echoes said:
At least some posters openly admit to despising the classics now. There's progress.

Where did Eshnar say that he (?) despises the classics? He simply pointed out that a random guy winning a classic is not as big an upset as random guy winning a stage race. After all; "randomly" winning a classic simply requires good legs/luck on one specific day, whereas winning as stage race requires good legs/luck for up to three weeks.





(Eeeh... Eshnar... you are a "he", right?)
 

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