Philippe Gilbert & Michele Bartoli

[El Pistolero]

This might not be worth a topic, but I'll give it a shot anyway. I was looking at the palmares of both these riders and I was surprised how incredibly similar it was.

Michele Bartoli won the following classics:
Ronde van Vlaanderen (1996)
Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1997, 1998)
Giro di Lombardia (2002, 2003)
Amstel Gold Race (2002)
La Flèche Wallonne (1999)
Brabantse Pijl (1994, 1999)
Omloop het Volk (2001)
Züri Metzgete (1998)

Bolded are races Gilbert won as well. The main difference is that Bartoli won one more Monument, but unlike Gilbert he never became World Champion. Züri Metzgete was cancelled after 2006, so Gilbert never got the chance to win this race. They also both won the Driedaagse van de Panne.

They both even won the same small, obscure one-day races like the GP Pino Cerami and GP Fourmies.

Bartoli only won two giro stages though, while Gilbert won 3 Giro stages, 5 Vuelta stages and one Tour stage. So in Grand Tours, Gilbert easily holds the upper hand.

Lastly, Gilbert was once asked who his childhood idol was and he said Michele Bartoli.

Link to article (Dutch): http://www.dezondag.be/philippegilbert/

Bartoli himself already noticed the similarities in 2010:

http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/1.765441

 

[Echoes]

Gilbert has always said his youth hero was Michael Boogerd but it's not really a better reference.

 

[El Pistolero]

Gilbert has always said his youth hero was Michael Boogerd but it's not really a better reference.

http://www.dezondag.be/philippegilbert/

Here he says Bartoli.

 

[Mr.White]

Very similar palmares, and very similar riders indeed. Both great classics riders, a legends in their domain. I'll give a slight edge to Bartoli, but only because he was so, so classy on the bike, a pure joy to watch. He also had his share of bad luck with crashes and injuries, so he hypothetically could have done even more.

 

[KyoGrey]

Whilst Bartoli's palmarés and career was limited in his peak years by a very severe crash in 2000, Gilbert's palmarés and career was limited in his peak years because of his accomodation after he signed his multimillion contract with BMC, so the Italian may deserve a little bit more respect.

 

[ciranda]

I don't think they are very similar in style though. Bartoli decided races usually with one sharp attack while Gilbert grinds opposition down with force. Hmmm now that I think about it maybe Gilbert has in fact often decided races with sharp attacks too. One more similarity: both have won Liege in a final against two riders from the same team. As for about who was/is best, it's not easy to call. Gilbert has also won San Sebastian but Bartoli stopped riding at 34.

 

[Dan2016]

Re:

Very similar palmares, and very similar riders indeed. Both great classics riders, a legends in their domain. I'll give a slight edge to Bartoli, but only because he was so, so classy on the bike, a pure joy to watch. He also had his share of bad luck with crashes and injuries, so he hypothetically could have done even more.

Glad to see Bartoli getting a mention here. One of the classiest riders I've ever seen, the absolute perfect position on a bike. Loved the way he raced too.
Didn't know he was a hero for Gilbert...he loses a lot of points though for poor bike position, pretty ugly style.
So yeah, Bartoli was better...

 

[TommyGun]

Nobody mentioned that Gilbert won Paris-Tours twice as well (even if this race has lost a lot of its past glory)? For me he has a better palmares: but this is different that saying who is/was the best rider.

 

[Echoes]

Re: Re:

Glad to see Bartoli getting a mention here. One of the classiest riders I've ever seen, the absolute perfect position on a bike. Loved the way he raced too.

He might have had a nice position on a bike like so many other riders but something that cannot be mentioned on this part of the forum does not make glad he is mentioned here. I'll just remember how Edwig Van Hooydonck reacted after the 1994 Brabantian Arrow ...

 

[Nirvana]

Bartoli has also a top ten in the Vuelta, a GC at Tirreno, a GP Plouay, two Giro dell'Emilia, a Milano-Torino.

IMHO was a slight better climber, but it diffucult to compare, i remember his Fleche win when he attacked with Camendzind with something like 70/80 kms to go, an action impossible to see nowadays where everyone wait for Huy (and with the snow like that day there is the EWP...).

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

Glad to see Bartoli getting a mention here. One of the classiest riders I've ever seen, the absolute perfect position on a bike. Loved the way he raced too.

He might have had a nice position on a bike like so many other riders but something that cannot be mentioned on this part of the forum does not make glad he is mentioned here. I'll just remember how Edwig Van Hooydonck reacted after the 1994 Brabantian Arrow ...

Probably not much different than Gilbert opponents in 2011

 

[Dan2016]

Re: Re:

Glad to see Bartoli getting a mention here. One of the classiest riders I've ever seen, the absolute perfect position on a bike. Loved the way he raced too.

He might have had a nice position on a bike like so many other riders but something that cannot be mentioned on this part of the forum does not make glad he is mentioned here. I'll just remember how Edwig Van Hooydonck reacted after the 1994 Brabantian Arrow ...

Hi Echoes, I missed this...Brabantian Arrow I had never heard of, so I googled it and quite quickly ended up at your own written history of Van Hooydonck posted in another place. It was a good read, I enjoyed it. You should write a book innit.

And I don't care about to what you refer (la la la fingers in ears)....Bartoli will always be a cycling god to me.

Cheers.