One hit wonders

[lucybears]

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

2001 wasn't that bad -
stage wins at Tirreno - Adriatico & Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, 3 top 10 finishes in stages of the Tour de France, podium places in Milan - San Remo, Paris - Roubaix, Hamburg Classics & Paris - Brussels....

 

[bvfrompc]

JV Dauphne, then vanished except for a TTT

Tommy D, Top 10 in Vuelta then obscurity, except his best days are ahead of him.

 

[elapid]

Tommy D ... his best days are ahead of him.

Hmmm? He is a good candidate for a one shot wonder, if you can call top 10 in a GT "one shot". Otherwise Tommy D is just a hyped up dud IMO (or he cannot handle the hype).

 

[Gav1983]

WHat about maurico soler? KOM in the the TDF 2007, then pretty much nothing. He's stuggled ever since

 

[elapid]

WHat about maurico soler? KOM in the the TDF 2007, then pretty much nothing. He's stuggled ever since

True, but he has had crashes and fractured wrists, put in some decent performances in the Giro, and Barloworld isn't invited to this year's TdF. He may still do well.

 

[Daniel Benson]

Rinero....

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

I was always amazed at how quickly Evgeni Berzin fell off the map. After several track world titles as a Soviet amateur, he went pro in 1993, then quickly won the Giro + 3 stages + Liege-Bastogne-Liege the next year. Then for a few dazzling moments in 1996 it looked like he was going to win the TDF: he took over the yellow jersey at Les Arcs (the famous day Indurain cracked); then 24 hours later he won the mountain time trial to Val d'Isere. I remember watching that stage and thinking, "this is it, this is the Russian Greg Lemond": historically, winning a mountain time trial the day after taking yellow on a mountain road stage signals that you're going to take the whole thing. But then Berzin completely collapsed on the next, shortened stage to Sestriere, losing yellow to Riis in just 46 kilometers. By the time they reached Paris he was in 20th, 40 minutes behind, and he never won a pro race again.

 

[issoisso]

I was always amazed at how quickly Evgeni Berzin fell off the map. After several track world titles as a Soviet amateur, he went pro in 1993, then quickly won the Giro + 3 stages + Liege-Bastogne-Liege the next year. Then for a few dazzling moments in 1996 it looked like he was going to win the TDF: he took over the yellow jersey at Les Arcs (the famous day Indurain cracked); then 24 hours later he won the mountain time trial to Val d'Isere. I remember watching that stage and thinking, "this is it, this is the Russian Greg Lemond": historically, winning a mountain time trial the day after taking yellow on a mountain road stage signals that you're going to take the whole thing. But then Berzin completely collapsed on the next, shortened stage to Sestriere, losing yellow to Riis in just 46 kilometers. By the time they reached Paris he was in 20th, 40 minutes behind, and he never won a pro race again.

His mentor Emmanuele Bombini puts it simply:

He was a country kid, used to a hard life.
In 96 after the Tour (during which he caught a flu when he was in yellow, thus losing much time overall), he met a rich party girl......and suddenly everything in life was so easy he couldn't be bothered to try hard at anything.

He left his wife for her and they're together to this day.

 

[ElChingon]

His mentor Emmanuele Bombini puts it simply:

He was a country kid, used to a hard life.
In 96 after the Tour (during which he caught a flu when he was in yellow, thus losing much time overall), he met a rich party girl......and suddenly everything in life was so easy he couldn't be bothered to try hard at anything.

He left his wife for her and they're together to this day.

Well that's one I hadn't heard before. Hopefully the party girl was a rich girl?

 

[Anonymous]

Alvaro Mejia....and Zenon Jaskuła

 

[il_fiammingo]

Vladislav Bobrik (Lombardia)

Alexander Gontchenkov (1996; Roslotto)

Mario Aerts (Fleche Wallone)

Christophe Agnoluto (Tour de Suisse)

Cyril Saugrain (Tour stage winner)

Rubens Bertogliati (Tour stage winner & yellow jersey)

 

[ak-zaaf]

eddy bouwmans
14th overall and white jersey winner in the 1992 tour de france (just before the epo-explosion or was bouwmans a little ahead of his time?)

was thought to be the next dutch gc-contender. only won a few small races after that