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One hit wonders

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craig1985

craig1985

May 6, 2009
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Any cyclist who has a great ride (performance or victory) in a classic, semi classic, stage race, Grant Tour etc. Or even a whole season.

For me:

Jose Rujano - The guy nobody had heard of before the 2005 Giro, came from nowhere and used the fact that nobody knew who he was to get in breaks and gain time to take the KOM and a stage for Selle Italia. He was a real lightweight in that race, less then 50kg so I guess that is why he probably rode so well (I'm not making those sort of accusations since I have no evidence, and that I give people the benefit of the doubt). Now AFAIk he is riding for some Colombian team. To the best of my knowledge, Gianni Savio has never really explained what went wrong with him.

Thomas Voeckler - I know he has some wins since the 2004 TdF (mainly on French soil), but lets face it, he will always be remembered for his 10 days in yellow in the 2004 TdF after he got in a break that USPS or anybody else cbf chasing (IIRC Bruyneel said it was something they did on purpose once the French National champ was in the break), and something he will dine on for the rest of his career (and post career as well).

Sylvain Calzati - Won stage 8 of the 2006 Tour de France, and what has he done since?

Xavier Florencio - Won the 2006 Clásica de San Sebastián and has won nothing of note since.

Myself - Won a race from getting in a two man break in 2006 where we got 4 or 5 minutes on the bunch and have done nothing since (except finish 2nd or 3rd a few times after that) :p
 
ElChingon

ElChingon

Mar 10, 2009
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Agh man this is a game I play with a couple friends on rides, this is too easy!

Aitor Gonzales 2002 Vuelta.

Angel Casero 2001 Vuelta.

Raimondas Rumsas 2002 Tour 3rd Place, only a 3rd place but that was it.

Bjarne Riis 1996 Tour

Damiano Cunego 2004 Giro

Pavel Tonkov 1996 Giro

Evgeni Berzin 1994 Giro

José E. Gutierrez 2006 Giro 2nd Place

Yaroslav Popovych 2003 Giro 3rd Place

Steffen Wesemann 2004 Flanders

Dario Pieri 2000 Flanders 2nd Place, 2003 Paris-Roubaix, I know two races but the guy dropped out due to weight issues like a lead brick.

George Hincapie 2001 Gent-Wevelgem

Geert van Bondt 2000 Gent-Wevelgem

Servais Knaven 2001 Paris-Roubaix

Magnus Backstedt 2004 Paris-Roubaix

Oscar Camenzind 2001 Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Pascal Richard 1996 Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Igor Astarloa 2003 La Flèche Wallonne

Rik Verbrugghe 2001 La Flèche Wallonne

Some are questionable but some of those are on the list because they were touted as the next best thing and they just disappeared, like Dario Pieri. Some people will get offended at being listed but what else have they won? One hit wonders. Some failed to repeat or re-place in the race and that alone to me qualifies them as a one hit wonder. Some are left out because they were big players in other races even though they only one of their races. At least in my eyes, and its just a list so don't get bent.
 
ak-zaaf

ak-zaaf

Mar 11, 2009
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astarloa was world champ, that beats fleche wallone ;p


and cunego might be a grand-tour one-hit-wonder, but winning the amstel once and lombardia multiple times makes you a great champ imho.

imo: 3 classic wins > one vuelta win
 
H

hulkgogan

Mar 18, 2009
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ElChingon said:
Agh man this is a game I play with a couple friends on rides, this is too easy!

Aitor Gonzales 2002 Vuelta.

Angel Casero 2001 Vuelta.

Raimondas Rumsas 2002 Tour 3rd Place, only a 3rd place but that was it.

Bjarne Riis 1996 Tour

Damiano Cunego 2004 Giro

Pavel Tonkov 1996 Giro

Evgeni Berzin 1994 Giro

José E. Gutierrez 2006 Giro 2nd Place

Yaroslav Popovych 2003 Giro 3rd Place

Steffen Wesemann 2004 Flanders

Dario Pieri 2000 Flanders 2nd Place, 2003 Paris-Roubaix, I know two races but the guy dropped out due to weight issues like a lead brick.

George Hincapie 2001 Gent-Wevelgem

Geert van Bondt 2000 Gent-Wevelgem

Servais Knaven 2001 Paris-Roubaix

Magnus Backstedt 2004 Paris-Roubaix

Oscar Camenzind 2001 Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Pascal Richard 1996 Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Igor Astarloa 2003 La Flèche Wallonne

Rik Verbrugghe 2001 La Flèche Wallonne

Some are questionable but some of those are on the list because they were touted as the next best thing and they just disappeared, like Dario Pieri. Some people will get offended at being listed but what else have they won? One hit wonders. Some failed to repeat or re-place in the race and that alone to me qualifies them as a one hit wonder. Some are left out because they were big players in other races even though they only one of their races. At least in my eyes, and its just a list so don't get bent.
Click to expand...


Dude, your list is weak. Most of those guys won dozens of races and more than one big race. For instance, Camenzind won the Worlds, Lombardy and the Tour of Switzerland.
 
S

stephens

May 9, 2009
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Jeff Pierce won the last stage of the '87 tour and I couldn't even remember the guy's name until i looked it up. That to me is a one-hit wonder: you remember the song, but can't remember the artists because they weren't around long enough to sink into your brain.
 
J

Jasper

Apr 3, 2009
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Rechtschreibfehler said:
@ELChingon:

I don't think most people would agree on your definition of the term "one hit wonder", me being one of them.
Also, you should check again on the palmares of a lot of these guys I guess.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Verbrugghe for instance, not exactly the biggset champion, but he still won - next to the Fleche Wallone - three Giro stages, a Tour stage, GP di Lugano, the critérium international, prologue in the tour of Romandie, and was Belgian ITT champion as well. Not what I'd call a mere one hit wonder ;)
 
ElChingon

ElChingon

Mar 10, 2009
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hulkgogan said:
Dude, your list is weak. Most of those guys won dozens of races and more than one big race. For instance, Camenzind won the Worlds, Lombardy and the Tour of Switzerland.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna cry :(

I said it was inconsistent.

Where's everyone elses list?
 
franciep10

franciep10

Apr 12, 2009
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stephens said:
Jeff Pierce won the last stage of the '87 tour and I couldn't even remember the guy's name until i looked it up. That to me is a one-hit wonder: you remember the song, but can't remember the artists because they weren't around long enough to sink into your brain.
Click to expand...

Jeff was a very consistent rider, but he had mostly second and third place rides, he was always a guy who just missed the win. and unfortunately he never came close to a win after 87 until 94, a great guy nonetheless.
 
P

pmcg76

Mar 6, 2009
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Ok, El Chingon, here is my list

Gregorz Gwiazdowski-Polish rider who won Zurich one year 99 I think, then disappeared of the face of the world.

Roman Vainsteins- had a good season 2000, won the world title and then nothing

Good call on Dirk Demol, what about Jean Marie Wampers, another surprise Paris-Roubaix winner in 1989.

Henk Osterboos- an complete unknown world chapion in the 60s.

Dirk DeWolf- won Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 92, and never won a lot else.

Mirko Celestiono-won HEW race in Hamburg and Tour of Lombardy one season and that was that.

Thats all I can think of at the moment, maybe I will call back later.
 
J

Jasper

Apr 3, 2009
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I can remember a few timetrialists that won a few things or got excellent results seemingly out of nowhere, but soon disappeared as fast as they surfaced: Jan Hruska, Brian Vandborg,...
 
craig1985

craig1985

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ingsve said:
Cedric Vasseur Tour de France 1997. Stage win and several days in yellow.
Click to expand...

TBF he won a stage in 2007 as well.

Add to the list: Brett Lancaster - won the prolouge in the 2005 Giro, and not much since.
 
ak-zaaf

ak-zaaf

Mar 11, 2009
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pmcg76 said:
Ok, El Chingon, here is my list

Gregorz Gwiazdowski-Polish rider who won Zurich one year 99 I think, then disappeared of the face of the world.

Roman Vainsteins- had a good season 2000, won the world title and then nothing

Good call on Dirk Demol, what about Jean Marie Wampers, another surprise Paris-Roubaix winner in 1989.

Henk Osterboos- an complete unknown world chapion in the 60s.

Dirk DeWolf- won Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 92, and never won a lot else.

Mirko Celestiono-won HEW race in Hamburg and Tour of Lombardy one season and that was that.

Thats all I can think of at the moment, maybe I will call back later.
Click to expand...


good call on that polish guy.


henk osterboos? i think you mean harm ottenbros.
that's a sad story. it was never accepted that a small rider like ottenbros took the crown and he got really depressed afterwards.

hmmm, according to wiki it's even more depressing then i thought.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harm_Ottenbros
 
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