Most impressive rides of all time?

[sir fly]

You seriously need to (re)watch that stage. Valverde was behind Katusha for most of the time and when he ditched Purito he used different teammates to drag him further of the way.

And Contador was all alone the whole time?
Not teammates, the teams should be counted in Contador's case.

 

[RedheadDane]

Horner finishing stage 7 in the 2011 Tour. Come on; guy didn't even know where he was at the time!

 

[Parker]

By a long, long way Joel Pelier to Futuroscope in the 1989 Tour de France.

Pelier was a journeyman domestique. He was a pro for six or seven years and this was the only race he ever won. I'll C+P from wikipedia for the rest of the story.

Joel Pelier had never been watched in his pro career by his parents who were dedicated to caring for Pelier's severely disabled sibling who needed constant attention. Pelier's parents made arrangements to watch stage 6 from near the finish line to which Pelier responded with an attempted lone breakaway. Pelier held out to win the stage by 1 minute and 34 seconds. He rode on his own for 4 and a 1/2 hours through wind and rain for 102 of the stage's 161 miles.

Basically, it was a man of very limited ability just saying 'This. Is. My. Day!'

 

[Libertine Seguros]

In a thread were we are supposed to discuss the most impressive rides of all time you guys comes dragging with Contador in the 2012 Vuelta?! Heck, piti was more impressive in that stage!

Andy and Floyd are in entire different league compare to Contador. I mean, come on, even die hard fan must see that.

I'm not a die hard Contador fan, or even much of a Contador fan at all. I just was amazed by that ride as I had that stage down as a complete waste of a day. Superb team tactics + strong ride + ride significance meant when I went off the top of my head that's one that came up.

You can have your reasons for arguing that out of Contador's performances that Etna, or Verbier, or whatever are more impressive, but Fuente Dé was far more memorable and I was impressed because he didn't just win by climbing away from everybody, he out-thought and out-rode his opponents. I could just as easily have put Heras on Pajares in 2005 for similar reasons even though half the Liberty Seguros team were involved in that particular raid.

Oh, speaking of Heras, Angliru 2002 could count just because of conditions that day.

 

[Netserk]

And Contador was all alone the whole time?
Not teammates, the teams should be counted in Contador's case.

Who of the two were pulling(/riding alone) the most?

 

[sir fly]

Who of the two were pulling(/riding alone) the most?

Tiralongo, off course.

 

[Netserk]

Tiralongo, off course.

No he wasn't.

Who of Valverde and Contador that day?

 

[Jspear]

According to the record books, Andy finished solo 1:20 ahead of the rest.
But you're right, the discussion was initiated by the evaluation of Galibier performance. And then you've jumped in.

When it comes to the most impressive rides you can't talk about pieces of paper. I'm talking about human beings who rode their bikes. Alberto was with Shleck on that stage.

 

[sir fly]

No he wasn't.

Who of Valverde and Contador that day?

Valverde, who else?

The final margin was ridiculous considering the epicness addressed to the performance.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Who of the two were pulling(/riding alone) the most?

Tiralongo, off course.

No he wasn't.

Who of Valverde and Contador that day?

Valverde, who else?

The final margin was ridiculous considering the epicness addressed to the performance.

Did you actually watch the stage sir fly?

Paulinho and Contador took by far the most turns in the first group. Then on the final climb Tiralongo helped Contador for a few km. Valverde was behind Katusha for most of the time Paulinho and Contador were on the front in the first group.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Ocana winning stage 11 of the '71 Tour.

A ridiculous ride which gave the Spaniard the yellow jersey only to crash out of the race on stage 14.

 

[sir fly]

Fuente De - the most overrated performance in the history.

 

[Netserk]

Valverde, who else?

The final margin was ridiculous considering the epicness addressed to the performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxyMLK4TwNs

 

[sir fly]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxyMLK4TwNs

Yep.
Just as I remember.
Valverde spent almost 2 minutes more than Contador riding at the front.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Yep.
Just as I remember.
Valverde spent almost 2 minutes more than Contador riding at the front.

You're either a troll or an idiot.

 

[cineteq]

The final margin was ridiculous considering the epicness addressed to the performance.

So what? Valverde once again rode for a podium position. A confluence of events: Contador's attack + Katusha's fail.

 

[sir fly]

So what? Valverde once again rode for a podium position. A confluence of events: Contador's attack + Katusha's fail.

...considering the epicness addressed to the performance.

 

[BlurryVII]

Yep.
Just as I remember.
Valverde spent almost 2 minutes more than Contador riding at the front.

So.. first of all, I think you and most here forgot that Contador made the difference on the penultimate climb by himself - Purito and Valverde couldn't even bridge the gap.
Then once he rejoined the breakaway, he was taking pulls with Paulinho - then he was the one launched another attack on the flat, which only Tiralongo could respond - then went on for a solo ride for the last 13.5 KM.

In the meantime, Valverde didn't move an inch from Purito's wheel who did all of the work in the flat, then when he attacked him, he had Quintana and Intxausti who did 90% of the work until the 3 kms to go.

So Valverde is still the one who rode alone more than Contador?

 

[sir fly]

So.. first of all, I think you and most here forgot that Contador made the difference on the penultimate climb by himself - Purito and Valverde couldn't even bridge the gap.
Then once he rejoined the breakaway, he was taking pulls with Paulinho - then he was the one launched another attack on the flat, which only Tiralongo could respond - then went on for a solo ride for the last 13.5 KM.

In the meantime, Valverde didn't move an inch from Purito's wheel who did all of the work in the flat, then when he attacked him, he had Quintana and Intxausti who did 90% of the work until the 3 kms to go.

So Valverde is still the one who rode alone more than Contador?

Yes.
But Contador's De Ronde performances are truly epic. Don't you agree?

 

[BlurryVII]

The final margin was ridiculous considering the epicness addressed to the performance.

Yeah, the final margin is so ridiculous that he won the Vuelta only thanks to this performance.

That's where its epicness comes from, when the GC seemed almost over for Contador, he still managed to win the whole thing on what it looked like to be the most boring stage on paper.

 

[sir fly]

Yeah, the final margin is so ridiculous that he won the Vuelta only thanks to this performance.

That's where its epicness comes from, when the GC seemed almost over for Contador, he still managed to win the whole thing on what it looked like to be the most boring stage on paper.

You didn't need to bother. I've already read Libertine's post.

 

[BlurryVII]

Yes.
But Contador's De Ronde performances are epic. Don't you agree?

Oh, they are certainly more epic than your reasoning skills .

 

[sir fly]

Oh, they are certainly more epic than your reasoning skills .

Well, if you're assessing...

 

[BlurryVII]

Yes.
But Contador's De Ronde performances are truly epic. Don't you agree?

To the mods, if you wanna be fair, you're gonna have to delete this useless post as well.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Francesco de Bonis in the 2008 Romandie stage he won. In the break, pulling, gets caught, stays with elite group, jumps away for stage win.

Performance so out of this world Gerolsteiner decide he's way too suspicious and pull him off the road.

Gerolsteiner!