days of the climbers never to return...

[Benotti69]

after watching the giro, again it seems that 'power' gets riders up the climbs and the days of lucien van impe, Robert Millar, the colombians etc...riding away on the first mountain never to be seen again on the stage are gone forever......

 

[redtreviso]

after watching the giro, again it seems that 'power' gets riders up the climbs and the days of lucien van impe, Robert Millar, the colombians etc...riding away on the first mountain never to be seen again on the stage are gone forever......

what climbers?

 

[theswordsman]

If you mean like the Sella stage wins a couple of years ago, I sure hope they're gone.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

all hail to cycling without the dope!

 

[rhubroma]

after watching the giro, again it seems that 'power' gets riders up the climbs and the days of lucien van impe, Robert Millar, the colombians etc...riding away on the first mountain never to be seen again on the stage are gone forever......

Cycling's changed so much since those days, and not for the better.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

As the sport gets cleaner. Sorry, IF the sport gets cleaner, and we see race radios scaled back or eliminated, we might see more of this.

 

[bc_hills]

As the sport gets cleaner. Sorry, IF the sport gets cleaner, and we see race radios scaled back or eliminated, we might see more of this.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but see more of what? Steel frame bikes?

 

[Magnus]

after watching the giro, again it seems that 'power' gets riders up the climbs and the days of lucien van impe, Robert Millar, the colombians etc...riding away on the first mountain never to be seen again on the stage are gone forever......

I disagree. True climbers dominating GT's is rather the exception than the norm. And remember that as late as 2007 Michael Rasmussen attacked 3 mountains away from the finish line in a decisive move.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

Am I to infer that some of you consider Contador to be something other than a "true climber"?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

This has to do with the time bonusses in the Giro, 20'12'8.
It makes it more interesting to chase lead groups...

If the Giro had smaller or no time bonusses, the escapers would have had a far bigger chance of staying in front.
It has nothing to do with changing of times really.

 

[Tangled Tango]

Am I to infer that some of you consider Contador to be something other than a "true climber"?

I was just about to mention him. I´d say he is very close to being a pure climber. The fact that Contador can TT doesn´t change that to my eyes. I also think of Andy S. as pretty much a pure climber. If he can improve his TT without losing too much climbing power, he´ll be even more of a threat for any GT. If you look around I think you´ll find other "climbers" in the peloton, who may one day challenge for the GTs. It wouldn´t be the same without them.

 

[Benotti69]

i refer to my original post, pure climbers, i dont consider Contador or Ramussen as they in my opinion are 'juicing' and i asked the forum, was the day of the climber taking off on a mountain stage and gone for the day history due to the 'juiced' riders able to power up the climbs a la basso, nibali, indurain, armstrong, ullrich.....

i was happy to see little Matt Lloyd win the climbers jersey in the giro, but he hardly put in a classic climbing performance.....

 

[Colm.Murphy]

i refer to my original post, pure climbers, i dont consider Contador or Ramussen as they in my opinion are 'juicing' and i asked the forum, was the day of the climber taking off on a mountain stage and gone for the day history due to the 'juiced' riders able to power up the climbs a la basso, nibali, indurain, armstrong, ullrich.....

i was happy to see little Matt Lloyd win the climbers jersey in the giro, but he hardly put in a classic climbing performance.....

So, you want an un-doped climber to go off on a raid, during a grand tour, while the gc contenders, also un-doped, sit and eyeball each other, and then fail to catch the goat due to their gamesmanship?

Yeah, I miss that too...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Over in Colombia last year, José Rujano disappeared several mountains from the stage ends to come in solo minutes ahead of anybody else.

And of course Emanuele Sella rode out in the break in stage 14 of last year's Giro, and won easily. Then the following day went out in a three man break over several climbs, got joined by two others, then rode away solo at the base of the final climb to win.

 

[Benotti69]

Over in Colombia last year, José Rujano disappeared several mountains from the stage ends to come in solo minutes ahead of anybody else.

And of course Emanuele Sella rode out in the break in stage 14 of last year's Giro, and won easily. Then the following day went out in a three man break over several climbs, got joined by two others, then rode away solo at the base of the final climb to win.

didn't know about Rujano's ride...

Sella had cera to help him...

i was thinking of the guys who hang on in the peleton waiting while the sprinters have their fun and then when the roads to rise they come to the fore...

nowadays with 'juice' it seems powering over the mountains takes out the mountain goats like the Millars(robert), van imps, etc....

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Oh, and Emma Pooley at the GP Montréal last year noticed that the jagged profile was suited to her with some short sharp climbs, and attacked at km 0. The next time anybody in the péloton saw her was 1'14" after she'd crossed the line.

 

[Shardi]

Lucien van Impe & co, nah u dont have to go back that far..

Marco Pantani's ride over les Deux Alpes in 1998 was truly a stage of that legendary caliber. Going free on the Galibier to take 9min on Jan Ullrich. Now it wasn't at the first mountain, but it was far enough away from the finish to qualify

 

[mercycle]

Sorry, you really need to go back to Federico Bahamontes and Charly Gaul to get back to the pure climbers. Coppi wasn't really a pure climber, but he had some epic exploits of attacking and staying away in the mountains. But they still had to contend with the likes of Hugo Koblet.

I'd say that the race radios has more to do with the racing today than anything else. The dope may make you fractions faster than the other guy, let you recover a bit better, but one still has to have the will to attack. Pantani epitomizes this attitude of "attack until you die". Race radios help control the racers (along with the race). I think all the multiday races should have at least one day per week without radios.

 

[VeloFidelis]

Lucien van Impe & co, nah u dont have to go back that far..

Marco Pantani's ride over les Deux Alpes in 1998 was truly a stage of that legendary caliber. Going free on the Galibier to take 9min on Jan Ullrich. Now it wasn't at the first mountain, but it was far enough away from the finish to qualify

Then surely you must also consider Stage 17 of the 2006 TDF to be one of the greatest single days of racing in the history of the Tour.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

Then surely you must also consider Stage 17 of the 2006 TDF to be one of the greatest single days of racing in the history of the Tour.

I would agree with that. The collapse the day before certainly makes it more impressive in the context.

 

[saganftw]

teams are much stronger than single rider,if the team decides to chase,there is very litle chance to go all the way for single guy

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

The reason is also to do with the conservatism of the DS's of the teams with the strongest climbers - both the Hog and Riis (ex-dopers) are very very conservative. They do not want to take the risk of a big attack and then blowing up. (For example Garzelli, Sastre, Vino in the Giro this year who all took part in long range attacks).

The likes of Dertie, AS etc could attack early on, but most teams would rather set the train in motion, tow the team leader to the final km before they launch a quick sprint for the line.