contador could be the greatest of all time

[luigiV]

could contador be the greatest by the end of his career i think not as all the greats performed in the classics as well.. but what yous think

 

[Echoes]

.:d:d.

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[Echoes]

No.


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[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I find it hard to compare.
Merckx rode in a different time. Back then it was possible to be up there in all terrains, provided the talent was there.

Nowadays racing is so specialized. The guys going for the cobbles are built for the cobbles, their level is very high in modern day cycling. Same goes for the GT men, and even the hilly classics, tho it seems this area less then the others. But yeah, we wont see a guy ever dominate like eddy did. The fact of the matter is racing has progressed and reached a very high level over the years. If eddy rode nowadays he wouldn't do what he did 30-40 years either...

That being said, AC has potential to be the greatest stage racer ever.
However with the whole steak incident, his career will always have doubts cast over it. Not attempting to bring clinic issues in this thread, nor am I suggesting the doubts are plausible, but simply doubters and controversy have developed from the last 12 months.

 

[Richeypen]

Nope .

 

[Moondance]

Eddy Merckx... Read something about him.

 

[MartinGT]

Eddy Merckx... Read something about him.

No doubt AC is a special rider, but look how many races he does a year.

I thought the end of the Zoncolan stage the other day the people booing him were out of order.

 

[Midnightfright]

I find it hard to compare.
Merckx rode in a different time. Back then it was possible to be up there in all terrains, provided the talent was there.

Nowadays racing is so specialized. The guys going for the cobbles are built for the cobbles, their level is very high in modern day cycling. Same goes for the GT men, and even the hilly classics, tho it seems this area less then the others. But yeah, we wont see a guy ever dominate like eddy did. The fact of the matter is racing has progressed and reached a very high level over the years. If eddy rode nowadays he wouldn't do what he did 30-40 years either...

That being said, AC has potential to be the greatest stage racer ever.
However with the whole steak incident, his career will always have doubts cast over it. Not attempting to bring clinic issues in this thread, nor am I suggesting the doubts are plausible, but simply doubters and controversy have developed from the last 12 months.

I totally agree with this opinion, he certainly has an opportunity to be the best modern rider. Or stage racer to be precise. Just like canc and Gilbert have the oppurtyunity to be the best classics riders and cav best sprinter

 

[Publicus]

Stop it. Please. Way too soon to even include him in any such discussion.

 

[saganftw]

he could be the greatest...depends on amount of steaks he can eat

 

[Midnightfright]

he could be the greatest...depends on amount of steaks he can eat

If thats the only requirement surely Jan would all time greatest

 

[personal]

could contador be the greatest by the end of his career i think not as all the greats performed in the classics as well.. but what yous think

I hear he can eat twenty energy gels without throwing up.

 

[Kwibus]

That being said, AC has potential to be the greatest stage racer ever.
However with the whole steak incident, his career will always have doubts cast over it. Not attempting to bring clinic issues in this thread, nor am I suggesting the doubts are plausible, but simply doubters and controversy have developed from the last 12 months.

People will always say Merckx is the best rider of all time and we all know he used more than water and bread.

 

[Kwibus]

Stop it. Please. Way too soon to even include him in any such discussion.

This. Let's discuss again in 5 years.

 

[Izzy eviel]

I hear he can eat twenty energy gels without throwing up.

I heard Andy Schleck can eat 21 & a whole roast turkey without throwing up.

Contador's what? 28? We'll only know if he'll be a legend or not when he quits. If he gets busted then the answer will be no.

 

[Echoes]

People will always say Merckx is the best rider of all time and we all know he used more than water and bread.

Too easy to clear the present-day big dopers by stating the oldies doped too, as if nothing changed.

Merckx had only one "real" positive test, in the last year of his career when he was the shadow of his own self.

And stimul is barely nothing. He's a champion, no doubt. 90's and 00's riders, there's doubt. That's the way it is.

Just like canc and Gilbert have the oppurtyunity to be the best classics riders and cav best sprinter

I might just say that I'm personally far more impressed by what Cancellara has achieved than what Gilbert or Contador have achieved. Cav? The best wheelsucker of all time, maybe (these days, road sprinter = wheelsucker, anyway). The best sprinter? You'll find him on the track.

 

[rhubroma]

I find it hard to compare.
Merckx rode in a different time. Back then it was possible to be up there in all terrains, provided the talent was there.

Nowadays racing is so specialized. The guys going for the cobbles are built for the cobbles, their level is very high in modern day cycling. Same goes for the GT men, and even the hilly classics, tho it seems this area less then the others. But yeah, we wont see a guy ever dominate like eddy did. The fact of the matter is racing has progressed and reached a very high level over the years. If eddy rode nowadays he wouldn't do what he did 30-40 years either...

That being said, AC has potential to be the greatest stage racer ever.
However with the whole steak incident, his career will always have doubts cast over it. Not attempting to bring clinic issues in this thread, nor am I suggesting the doubts are plausible, but simply doubters and controversy have developed from the last 12 months.

I think you expressed it well. I would only add that as far as (and of course I leave doping aside for the moment) the true phenomenons of the sport go, in terms of power output, sustainability, resistance, recovery, etc, then it is the stage racers who are the real studs of the sport. They can climb, time trial, and ride well on many terrains.

That said, I also think Contador has a talent that would have made him successful in any era. Perhaps he would not have won as much as some in the classics, but I see him capable of many, with the exception of perhaps PR and the Tour of Flanders.

I also think that in the grand tours he would have been just as dominant in the past.

Merxck has the best palmares by far, though if he were racing against Contador today, I don't know if even the great Eddie would be able to beat the Spaniard in a mountainous Giro such as this. Given what Ocana put him though once.

 

[DenisMenchov]

No

.............

 

[BullsFan22]

If thats the only requirement surely Jan would all time greatest

No. Jan was into cakes.

 

[The Hitch]

Re: times article

Edit: originally the title was "greatest athlete" so i wrote a bit about that. But if its just GOAT cyclist, then no, Eddy is the greatest.

If Contador continues he might make top 3 even top 2. The only thing he could do to challenge Eddy is to win all 3 gts in 1 year, and Paris Tours, thereby accomplishing the 2 things Eddy never did. Long way to go though.

As for the doping, well Eddy was caught for the same sort of weak stuff as Contador even if Contador probably is on bigger and badder programmes.

Id actually say Valverde rivals Contador for greatest athlete though as he spreads his talents accross all the way from sprints to classics to mountains. Winning the UCI Pro Tour (or CQ or any of the rankings) isnt as prestigious as winning the TOur but its almost as difficult and Piti has won it 3 times, and was world number 1 for like 100 straight weeks or something.

But regarding Eddy, in the early 2000's lots of european countries did a poll about their greatest individual- Eg greatest briton, greatest italian, you get the point.

Accross all those polls i believe in only 1 country did an athlete make the top 10.

Eddy didnt just make the top 10, he made the podium.

"De Grooste Belg"
1Father Damien (1840-1889), priest and humanitarian
2Paul Janssen (1926-2003), physician
3Eddy Merckx (1945-), cyclist

 

[Gamhugo]

could contador be the greatest by the end of his career i think not as all the greats performed in the classics as well.. but what yous think

Doped....I mean NOPE

 

[rhubroma]

No Contador is a better climber and time trialer than Valverde. His engine is simply bigger and better.

I think one needs to discuss engines here, and certainly Contador has one of the best in the history of the sport. He's just ridding in an age of overall higher performance level in the peleton and specialization.

 

[Big GMaC]

What type of rider would Eddy be today?

In today's specialised peleton, where would he excel?

 

[goggalor]

Try again after he wins Paris-Roubaix.

 

[luckyboy]

I would bet that he will be in the top 5 of all time.
I think the only thing to say about the doping is that AC has been unlucky enough to get caught while the riders challenging him have been luckier.