Most absurd TDF winners

[redtreviso]

Most absurd TDF winners in order..

#1 Lance Armstrong.. couldn't climb a ladder, no experience even contending then wins by 7 min bwahhhhhhaaaaa

#2 Bjarne Riis... Mr 60% indeed... go real fast

#3 Marco Pantani.. is dead

#4 Floyd Landis...bad hip..defrocked

#5 Jan Ulrich....Jim McMahon's lost german brother? Wonder how fat he is now. He should've added Midol to his program.

#6 Miguel Indurain...Too Big Mig.. Could kill all the moutain goats and all arounders at will...Often did not, on purpose

 

[BroDeal]

Oscar Pereiro (if he can really be considered a winner)

 

[Hillavoider]

contador, but i am still amazed at how he even rode his bike with bruyneel that far up his a$$

 

[barn yard]

flandis is the most absurd of recent years

the obviousness of the juice plus his terrible victory salutes ... absurd and hilarious

 

[El Imbatido]

I agree with most of those that have been given above. But this topic would be better if we expand it to ' Most absurd GT winners'

 

[La Vie Claire]

contador, but i am still amazed at how he even rode his bike with bruyneel that far up his a$$

Contador had some leverage -- insider info like FL. If Contador goes down for dope then he spills the beans on LA and The Hog. So what did they do? Ditch Contador at the hotel. Give Contador loaded wheels. Ostracize Contador. Everything except screw up Contador's doping regimen.

 

[La Vie Claire]

I agree with most of those that have been given above. But this topic would be better if we expand it to ' Most absurd GT winners'

Once again Big Mig, the double, double GT winner makes the list. Pantini's double is up there too. OTOH, it was a different time. The Giro sucked big time back then and not everybody focused 100% on the Tour.

 

[blackcat]

Contador had some leverage -- insider info like FL. If Contador goes down for dope then he spills the beans on LA and The Hog. So what did they do? Ditch Contador at the hotel. Give Contador loaded wheels. Ostracize Contador. Everything except screw up Contador's doping regimen.

Pepe the trainer, aka Dr Jose Marti had the red cells

 

[Lion of Flanders]

I'll second Oscar P. A solid GT rider (generally around tenth every Tour) is handed a gift from the so called "contenders" and then gets a backdated elevation from second.

Pedro Delgado. You would think that the Clinic Crew would hate this guy as he was positive for a steroid masker that wasn't on the UCI list at the time. On top of being juiced (with positive test to prove it) he beat more or less no one to win.

Steven Roche: No Hinault, No Lemond, No Fignon. Somebody had to win.

I guess Miguel was an early adopter of EPO when he won in 1991. He must have been ahead of everyone else.

Is there anybody who won the Tour that wasn't doper? Hinault more or less confessed after retirement, did he not? Greg beat him, so Greg must be a doper. Merckx had a positive or two here and there (one of them rather dubious, but that's life) so he cheated.

Winner=Cheater doesn't it? So many on this forum are more versed in the facts about drug use than most. Will someone post some facts that point to Indurain's drug use (other than "he had a doctor that had a reputation")?

I read that Miguel had a positive in 1992. I asked for further information, but none was forthcoming. I don't recall hearing about that. Let's hear some facts.

 

[Digger]

I'll second Oscar P. A solid GT rider (generally around tenth every Tour) is handed a gift from the so called "contenders" and then gets a backdated elevation from second.

Pedro Delgado. You would think that the Clinic Crew would hate this guy as he was positive for a steroid masker that wasn't on the UCI list at the time. On top of being juiced (with positive test to prove it) he beat more or less no one to win.

Steven Roche: No Hinault, No Lemond, No Fignon. Somebody had to win.

I guess Miguel was an early adopter of EPO when he won in 1991. He must have been ahead of everyone else.

Is there anybody who won the Tour that wasn't doper? Hinault more or less confessed after retirement, did he not? Greg beat him, so Greg must be a doper. Merckx had a positive or two here and there (one of them rather dubious, but that's life) so he cheated.

Winner=Cheater doesn't it? So many on this forum are more versed in the facts about drug use than most. Will someone post some facts that point to Indurain's drug use (other than "he had a doctor that had a reputation")?

I read that Miguel had a positive in 1992. I asked for further information, but none was forthcoming. I don't recall hearing about that. Let's hear some facts.

Really????

 

[Lion of Flanders]

Really????

Was Fignon in the race in '87? He was battling injury mostly between 1984 and 1989 as I recall. Anyway, somebody had to win that Tour.

I forgot to add Carlos Sastre. While he was definitely the most deserving winner of all the 2008 contenders, being pretty much the only one of them to make a real attack over three flippin' weeks, the entire race was a pathetic farce of a Tour.

 

[redtreviso]

I'll second Oscar P. A solid GT rider (generally around tenth every Tour) is handed a gift from the so called "contenders" and then gets a backdated elevation from second.

Pedro Delgado. You would think that the Clinic Crew would hate this guy as he was positive for a steroid masker that wasn't on the UCI list at the time. On top of being juiced (with positive test to prove it) he beat more or less no one to win.

Steven Roche: No Hinault, No Lemond, No Fignon. Somebody had to win.

I guess Miguel was an early adopter of EPO when he won in 1991. He must have been ahead of everyone else.

Is there anybody who won the Tour that wasn't doper? Hinault more or less confessed after retirement, did he not? Greg beat him, so Greg must be a doper. Merckx had a positive or two here and there (one of them rather dubious, but that's life) so he cheated.

Winner=Cheater doesn't it? So many on this forum are more versed in the facts about drug use than most. Will someone post some facts that point to Indurain's drug use (other than "he had a doctor that had a reputation")?

I read that Miguel had a positive in 1992. I asked for further information, but none was forthcoming. I don't recall hearing about that. Let's hear some facts.

1987 Indurain was there

""Stage 24, Saturday, July 25: Dijon - Dijon Individual Time Trial, 38 kilometers.

1. Jean-Francois Bernard (Toshiba) 48min 17sec
2. Stephen Roche (Carrera) @ 1min 44sec
3. Marino Lajaretta (Caja Rural) @ 2mmin 28sec
4. Jesper Skibby (Roland) @ 2min 30sec
5. Raul Alcala (7-Eleven) @ 2min 23sec
6. Pedro Delgado (PDM) @ 2min 45sec
7. Miguel Indurain (Reynolds) @ 2min 35sec
8. Charly Mottet (Systeme U) @ 2min 51sec
9. Peter Stevenhaagen (PDM) @ 2min 55sec
10. Erik Breukink (Panasonic) @ 2min 58sec ""

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Was Fignon in the race in '87? He was battling injury mostly between 1984 and 1989 as I recall. Anyway, somebody had to win that Tour.

I forgot to add Carlos Sastre. While he was definitely the most deserving winner of all the 2008 contenders, being pretty much the only one of them to make a real attack over three flippin' weeks, the entire race was a pathetic farce of a Tour.

The 2009 Tour that was a farce. Most boring Tour I've ever seen to be honest ...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The 2008 Tour wasn't that bad. Good finish to the first stage, Super-Besse was great, the joke of the Saunier Duval two plus Fränk Schleck on Hautacam...

Anyway, for absurd GT winners I nominate Damiano Cunego. A combination of a hugely disappointing Giro route, an awful entry list, and some rather suspicious riding. That whole Giro was one of the most absurd GTs ever. Cunego won four stages, Popovych held the maglia rosa in the last week, Fabian Wegmann won the King of the Mountains, Dario Cioni came top 5 and Bradley McGee top 10... Cunego's win into Falzes is rather comical to look at now.

 

[MrContador]

Was Fignon in the race in '87?.

Indeed he was. He even won the thrilling stage to La Plagne.

 

[poupou]

1. Armstrong
2. Riis
3. Indurain

What kind of rider would have been Ullrich or Pantani without EPO?

 

[redtreviso]

Indeed he was. He even won the thrilling stage to La Plagne.

87 was a good tdf.. 7-11 won 3 stages(sprint mountain final).. The TV coverage of the Pau-Luz Ardiden stage (won by lauritzen) was one of the best tdf segments ever.(abandon all hope ye who have come to the Pyrenees).Roche's team hardening the flats to burn up delgado and the other climbers..First iron curtain stage winner. JFB suffering(and winning) on Mt Ventoux..Riders collapsing and needing oxygen(unlike these days)Roche leading his not so faithful team like a true captain.

 

[Hawkwood]

I read that Miguel had a positive in 1992. I asked for further information, but none was forthcoming. I don't recall hearing about that. Let's hear some facts.

He was found to have taken the asthma drug salbutamol at one point. It was at a time when most sportspeople were apparently asthmatic.

 

[Hawkwood]

87 was a good tdf.. 7-11 won 3 stages(sprint mountain final).. The TV coverage of the Pau-Luz Ardiden stage (won by lauritzen) was one of the best tdf segments ever.(abandon all hope ye who have come to the Pyrenees).Roche's team hardening the flats to burn up delgado and the other climbers..First iron curtain stage winner. JFB suffering(and winning) on Mt Ventoux..Riders collapsing and needing oxygen(unlike these days)Roche leading his not so faithful team like a true captain.

It was a classic battle of nerves and wills. I read that Roche knew that Delgado was nervous about a particular descent, so he put the hammer down on it, dropped Pedro and put time into him. Roche had been given a lesson in descending by Michel Laurent, one of his Peugeot team-mates, in the 1981 Paris-Nice, and became a very good descender.

 

[Frosty]

The stage to La Plagne was what really got me interested in road cycling. Fantastic television

 

[Major Taylor]

Remember Evgeni Berzin?

He disappeared pretty much after winning the Giro in 94 at 24 years old.

 

[TomasC]

He was found to have taken the asthma drug salbutamol at one point. It was at a time when most sportspeople were apparently asthmatic.

It should be also said that it (salbutamol) was not banned at the time.

 

[happychappy]

#1 Carlos Sastre

 

[redtreviso]

It should be also said that it (salbutamol) was not banned at the time.

There's some current generation cyclist who manages to insert pronouncements of his/her asthma condition into every interview..Can't remember who.

 

[Jonathan]

#1 Carlos Sastre

I disagree; a rider who is able to finish in the top 5 multiple times in one year and who is able to peak in the third week must eventually compete for the top spot. Winning a GT was a matter of time for Sastre, and he can win another. The fact that it was the Tour had several causes, but it was not by accident nor was it ridiculous.