Most Underrated Riders of All-Time

[Squire]

I'll just put Fabio Duarte's name out there. Obviously he's not 'the most underrated of all time', but I don't think a lot of people realise how strong he was in the Giros of '13 and '14, I think it was. In the high mountain stages he bordered on being the strongest climber in the race, but could never find that elusive win.

 

[Blanco]

Frans Verbeeck

 

[Netserk]

Lance Armstrong.

 

[portugal11]

Re:

Lance armstrong. He won so many things and his palmares only has a WC as a relevant achievment

lol netserk

 

[Angliru]

Many riders listed so far are now enjoying well-deserved recognition from the audience (at least my country and including non-cycling fans), the media and their peers: De Vlaeminck, Kelly, Poulidor, Kuiper, etc They don't belong here. They are rated at their true value. I'd even say Koblet and Fuente are overrated. The latter in that he was too specialised and the former because he did not last long enough and made his reputation on just a couple of amazing feat and tragic death.

What's wrong with being specialized? Isn't that the norm of today? Fuente was just ahead of his time.

 

[Jvotec]

Kenny van Hummel.
Other than de Gendt that drives 90% of most GT stages the in front in breakaways, Kenny Did a near complete TDF solo as red lantern.

 

[Parker]

In the run-up to De Ronde weekend, Eric Leman won De Ronde three times in four years for three different teams in the Merckx era.

What do you know about Eric Leman? Nothing. (He's still alive BTW)

 

[Laporte17]

Phillipe Thys as well, 3 TDF wins (1913, 1914 & 1920) despite losing his entire peak to WW1.

 

[perico]

Re:

Phillipe Thys as well, 3 TDF wins (1913, 1914 & 1920) despite losing his entire peak to WW1.

That’s impressive. Never really studied those earliest years other than a few certain riders so wasn’t aware of his circumstances other than being a former multi winner.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Phillipe Thys as well, 3 TDF wins (1913, 1914 & 1920) despite losing his entire peak to WW1.

Fantastic one. So I'll add Rene Vietto, the Pantani of old.

 

[toolittle]

Re: Re:

Most the name mentioned are hot during their prime and referred best of the generation.


My pick is Nibali.

Why?...
As a GC rider, he is shadowed by Contrador and Froome.
As a hilly classic rider, people count Gilbert and Valverde.
As a sprint classic rider, Sagan is there.
As a cobbled strong rider, Boonen is the legend.
He won some nice week long stages. But not that much when compared with Valverde.
People said the shark performance is not stable. But he stably deliver a big win every year since 2013 although the wins are from different races.

His career started during EPO age but not involved in allegation.

This shark, is considered as second best or one of the best generally. Should he considered as the best?

 

[jaylew]

Terpstra

 

[Akuryo]

Re:

Terpstra

So, who's won both PR and RVV in the 2000s? Boonen, Cancellara, Van Petegem, and now Terpstra? That's a short list.

Spot on. If Terpstra were a Flandrian, he'd be regarded as a legend.

I say this as a person who is half Flemish.

Not my own words, but sums it up.

 

[Leinster]

Re: Re:

Terpstra

So, who's won both PR and RVV in the 2000s? Boonen, Cancellara, Van Petegem, and now Terpstra? That's a short list.

Spot on. If Terpstra were a Flandrian, he'd be regarded as a legend.

I say this as a person who is half Flemish.

Not my own words, but sums it up.

I think especially true in that nobody would have thought he could drop Nibali on a climb. Or then blow past a 3-man break while always putting time into the chase. And keep going over 2 more hellingen. And then once Sagan was chasing alone never let him get close.

Today, he was better than most cycling fans would have thought he could be. I think that’s the definition of him being underrated.

I don’t think he will stay underrated much longer after that performance, though.

 

[mavmav]

Valverde

If cycling was the same as it was 30+ years ago, and the ~same 180 guys rode races from February till October he'd have a Merkcx-ian palmares.

 

[rghysens]

Re:

Valverde

If cycling was the same as it was 30+ years ago, and the ~same 180 guys rode races from February till October he'd have a Merkcx-ian palmares.

If cycling was the same as 30 years ago, we would have far more racing from 80km out and far less uphill sprints. I doubt Valverde would have won as much.
Furthermore I would like to make an addition to my earlier post in this thread: Heiri Suter.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Re:

My vote goes to Claude Criquielion. I wonder how many (non-Belgian) guys here know him. People remember his "lost" World Championship, when Bauer crashed him into the fences and Fondriest who was losing the sprint badly, finished first.

But many have forgotten he was actually World Champion before that in 1984. Even in Belgium, people remember him as a classics rider (winning Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Flèche Wallonne x2, Clasica San Sebastian, Brabantse Pijl, WC, BC, as well as finishing on the podium of Liège Bastogne Liège a bunch of times). But he also managed to finish in the top 10 of the Tour de France 5 times! Best result was 5th place in 1986. When i look at Benoot, i see some Criquielion in him. Don't know if he'll ever fill the shoes, but just like Criquielion, he 's a very talented all-rounder, that can do cobbles, climbs, and races with a lot of heart.

Well I'm Danish, born in '72 and Claude Criquielion was my biggest and sole idol during the entire 80ies and start 90ies. For me Criquielion is a billion memories more than just the faulty '88 Worlds finale in Ronse. If one asked me about unluck for Criquielion, I would immediately think of how Moreno Argentin "stole" the 1991 Liége-Bastogne-Liége just in front of Criquielions nose. My good memories with Claude cannot be compressed in a single thread answer here, fortunately.
But I remember in start 90ies ppl a bit younger than me just referred "Creqelæon" to the one that lost his WC because of Bauer. Not the first time history has been "rewritten" by newer generations.

Just like the OP, I would put Jan Raas at the top of the "forgotten heroes" list.

Edit: My profile name could just as well be "Criquielion-Fan", but Zoetemelk is an older story for me, back to my first memories as a child

 

[chiocciolis_calves]

Re: Re:

My vote goes to Claude Criquielion. I wonder how many (non-Belgian) guys here know him. People remember his "lost" World Championship, when Bauer crashed him into the fences and Fondriest who was losing the sprint badly, finished first.

But many have forgotten he was actually World Champion before that in 1984. Even in Belgium, people remember him as a classics rider (winning Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Flèche Wallonne x2, Clasica San Sebastian, Brabantse Pijl, WC, BC, as well as finishing on the podium of Liège Bastogne Liège a bunch of times). But he also managed to finish in the top 10 of the Tour de France 5 times! Best result was 5th place in 1986. When i look at Benoot, i see some Criquielion in him. Don't know if he'll ever fill the shoes, but just like Criquielion, he 's a very talented all-rounder, that can do cobbles, climbs, and races with a lot of heart.

Well I'm Danish, born in '72 and Claude Criquielion was my biggest and sole idol during the entire 80ies and start 90ies. For me Criquielion is a billion memories more than just the faulty '88 Worlds finale in Ronse. If one asked me about unluck for Criquielion, I would immediately think of how Moreno Argentin "stole" the 1991 Liége-Bastogne-Liége just in front of Criquielions nose. My good memories with Claude cannot be compressed in a single thread answer here, fortunately.
But I remember in start 90ies ppl a bit younger than me just referred "Creqelæon" to the one that lost his WC because of Bauer. Not the first time history has been "rewritten" by newer generations.

Just like the OP, I would put Jan Raas at the top of the "forgotten heroes" list.

Edit: My profile name could just as well be "Criquielion-Fan", but Zoetemelk is an older story for me, back to my first memories as a child

Claudy is a great pick here. My first exposure to him was as a kid, watching the Tour, and wondering who that distinctive-looking rider planted next to LeMond and Hinault all the time was. Then I started reading the results of the Classics and figured it out. Tremendous all-around rider.

A couple other nominees I would offer is Eric Vanderaerden, whose name, I fear, is getting lost in time. There was a time in the mid-80s where he was bettering even King Kelly, my favorite of all time.

Another would be Gianbattista Baronchelli. Pretty impressive palmares, just never quite got to the top step at the Giro. A couple wins at Lombardy, in addition to many other quality wins.

 

[barmaher]

Cadel Evans

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Cadel Evans

I have no idea how people rate him in general honestly

 

[Anderis]

The most underrated one has to be Simon Gerrans.

 

[silvergrenade]

Christopher Froome

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Ivan Basso

 

[therhodeo]

Re: Re:

Cadel Evans

I have no idea how people rate him in general honestly

I rate him as a good rider who wasted a good part of a career over focusing on the tour because it's the only race that exists to anglos.

 

[toolittle]

Ivan Basso

Cyclists with conservative riding style, with less attractive outlook, with less news.... will be underrated generally.
In the contrary, high profile, eyeball attractive, aggressive riders got more spotlight is natural.

I believe most underrated riders were riding during epo age. They are beaten by supermen and tried their best to hang behind trains. Dropped when supermen put hammer down.