Pure climbers.

[RHRH19861986]

Actually Horner said behind Contador and Andy Schleck.

Rujano said he was the 3rd best behind Contador and Purito.

OK, so now that´s interesting.

1. Contador
2. ASchleck/Purito
3. Rujano/Horner

Hmmm... Horny, is he serious? Well, courageous statement.

Just love this guy. you know the Youtube video where he said he once lost 12 kilograms (kgs!! in one stage of the Tour de France? And his nutrition stories are epic... "I´d kill for McDonalds", "I must avoid to eat during preparing meals", and so on... Great guy!!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

it would be pointless to tell you, as you couldn't see intelligence if it was personified in a naked girl dancing on a wide open field, holding a board with "intelligence" on it

No doubt you would spend most of your time trying to understand what "intelligence" means in this case.

 

[Angliru]

OK, so now that´s interesting.

1. Contador
2. ASchleck/Purito
3. Rujano/Horner

Hmmm... Horny, is he serious? Well, courageous statement.

Just love this guy. you know the Youtube video where he said he once lost 12 kilograms (kgs!! in one stage of the Tour de France? And his nutrition stories are epic... "I´d kill for McDonalds", "I must avoid to eat during preparing meals", and so on... Great guy!!

Horner was riding the high of having snatched the team lead and the race lead from Leipheimer. Adrenalin flowing and all that. Still his claim was actually that Contador was the only one that could drop him, the rest they either can't shake him or he feels (or more accurately 'felt' based on his recent performances) that he can out climb them. He's a funny guy, brilliant tactical mind that reached the big leagues too early and with the wrong team to really show what he could do and then too far past his prime to have displayed what a talent he was. Ultimately politics were his biggest obstacle.

 

[RHRH19861986]

Horner was riding the high of having snatched the team lead and the race lead from Leipheimer. Adrenalin flowing and all that. Still his claim was actually that Contador was the only one that could drop him, the rest they either can't shake him or he feels (or more accurately 'felt' based on his recent performances) that he can out climb them. He's a funny guy, brilliant tactical mind that reached the big leagues too early and with the wrong team to really show what he could do and then too far past his prime to have displayed what a talent he was. Ultimately politics were his biggest obstacle.

Yeah, I definitely agree. Actually he lost the best years for a rider of his type after finishing his first European career part in the 90ies.

On the other hand, who knows if he´d still be active with 40+ years if he hadn´t spent five years on the American National Event scene, maybe this "break" now made him fresher for his third career part from 2005.

 

[Jakob747]

Nice list. Only one thing. IMO Antón is overrated. I think Pierre Rolland is far better and younger. How i can forget Nieve

I like Rolland better as well! Anyway please don't put too much into the seeding of the bottom five.

I. Anton on his day is spectacular. However, it seems there is getting longer and longer between those days! Absolutely correct.

Zoncolan 2011 - Alto del Morredero 2010 - Flumserberg 2008 - Morgins 2007 -Calar Alto 2006 however, where all excellent performances, which are firmly printed in my memory

 

[burning]

the 2009 rujano was the best climber I've seen since pantani. in 2011 he was getting better and better until he got sick. but on grossglockner he was already stronger than contador imo. I will never forget etna, rujano realized there that he was even stronger than contador, before that he always thought contador was the best climber in the world.

still for rujano to shine everything must fall in place. especially the weather. he is so vulnerable wth his 48 kg

These guys are easily better (Although Contador is definitely not a pure climber)

 

[Angliru]

Yeah, I definitely agree. Actually he lost the best years for a rider of his type after finishing his first European career part in the 90ies.

On the other hand, who knows if he´d still be active with 40+ years if he hadn´t spent five years on the American National Event scene, maybe this "break" now made him fresher for his third career part from 2005.

You're right, his time racing domestically likely allowed him to have such a long career, although his attitude about the sport itself is such that he just enjoys riding and racing his bike so it's likely he'd still be racing but maybe the locations would be reversed where he'd maybe closing out his career riding in the states.

 

[Angliru]

I'd be curious to see a poll of who the best climbers are period regardless of whether they're a "pure" climber or not. I'll have to do a search to see if a thread already exists.

Edit: From last year:
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=13688&highlight=climbers

 

[RHRH19861986]

You're right, his time racing domestically likely allowed him to have such a long career, although his attitude about the sport itself is such that he just enjoys riding and racing his bike so it's likely he'd still be racing but maybe the locations would be reversed where he'd maybe closing out his career riding in the states.

I suppose he´ll leave the WT scene after 2013, maybe even after 2014, and come back to showing up in the US national scene after that.

... and, of course, then finally McDonalds will be allowed to provide the rocket fuel for the crits around the skyscrapers...

 

[BlenJones2]

So essentially a pure climber is someone that is useless at time trialling...

 

[Hugo Koblet]

So essentially a pure climber is someone that is useless at time trialling...

I'd like to nominate Andrea Guardini!

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

These guys are easily better (Although Contador is definitely not a pure climber)

lol I already didn't take you serious after your first sentence and after what you said about contador I understand you don't know anything about cycling.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

So essentially a pure climber is someone that is useless at time trialling...

according to some idiots here. which is hilarious, because it would mean guys like contador and pantani would be no pure climbers

 

[El Pistolero]

Who cares about who's a pure climber or not? What's a pure climber? Someone who's bad at everything except climbing? Well, that's being called a pure climber isn't exactly a compliment then.

Nowadays you need to be good in both climbing and time trials if you want to win a GT. Besides, most good climbers are also good on hills.

If you want to talk about climbers than Contador has been the best since 2007.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Can't we just talk about climbers? drop the "pure" thing

 

[LaFlorecita]

Actually Horner said behind Contador and Andy Schleck.

Rujano said he was the 3rd best behind Contador and Purito.

No Horner said he was second behind Alberto

 

[LaFlorecita]

the 2009 rujano was the best climber I've seen since pantani. in 2011 he was getting better and better until he got sick. but on grossglockner he was already stronger than contador imo. I will never forget etna, rujano realized there that he was even stronger than contador, before that he always thought contador was the best climber in the world.

still for rujano to shine everything must fall in place. especially the weather. he is so vulnerable wth his 48 kg

Yea after Alberto dropped him he realized he was stronger than Alberto. Makes sense

 

[Gordon]

1. Contador
2. Purito
3. Quintana
4. Rujano
5. Anton
6. T. Pinot
7. Pozzovivo
8. Neive
9. Henao
10. Chaves

 

[Bexon30]

Yea after Alberto dropped him he realized he was stronger than Alberto. Makes sense

Lol exactly my thoughts. Must be better than that big guy up ahead..!

 

[Altitude]

Lol, the semi-annual "pure climber" thread. Make use of the search function, eh?

 

[Pentacycle]

Yea after Alberto dropped him he realized he was stronger than Alberto. Makes sense

Rujano has to ride relatively higher wattages to even keep up with him, he weighs about 10 kgs less than Alberto. Without air resistance and a fixed bike weight Rujano is the best climber of the world, simple as that.

There's also nothing good about being a 'pure' climber, only being able to climb but sucking at the rest would make you quite useless in most teams.

 

[greenedge]

Who are the top ten pure climbers today? I want to clarify that for me a classic rider like Valverde, Nibali or Chris Froome arent pure climbers. Here's my list: 1) Alberto Contador 2) Andy Schleck 3) J. Rod 4) Thibaut Pinot 5) Jürgen Van Den Broeck 6) Pierre Rolland 7) Nairo Quintana 8) Robert Gesink 9) José Rujano 10) Domenico Pozzovivo.

And another questions. Which generation of climbers of the last 50 years was better? Maybe the 70s? Will we overcome the current crisis of pure climbers thanks for the new hopes?

Pinot in my view should be lower than Rolland, Rolland won on bigger mountain stages (though Pinot is younger) and Pinot packs a very good sprint, just like Valverde... which i am a bit bemused to his withdrawal and the same with Nibali (who climbs very well).

JVDB in my view would be the lowest on this list if at all.
If this was made last year Evans would be on it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Rujano has to ride relatively higher wattages to even keep up with him, he weighs about 10 kgs less than Alberto. Without air resistance and a fixed bike weight Rujano is the best climber of the world, simple as that.

There's also nothing good about being a 'pure' climber, only being able to climb but sucking at the rest would make you quite useless in most teams.

? It's all about the watts per kg right?

 

[Pentacycle]

? It's all about the watts per kg right?

I'll explain as far as I understand myself: Let's say two riders are riding together and have to ride same w/kg.(it's true what you say but a little more complicated) One rider is 48 kg, the other 61 kg. If both riders have a max of 6.5 W/kg they can sustain(so they'll be dropped if they get above that) and they both have the same 6.8 kg bike, the 61 kg rider has an absolute max power of 397W, the other of 312. But with their bikes they only have left: 5.7 W/kg for the 48kg rider and 5.85 W for the 61 kg rider. For air resistance if both riders have the same resistance the lighter one also has that disadvantage, because it's the same as with the fixed bike weight.

This means a rider who is heavier and thereby can produce more absolute power always gets the upper hand, if equally talented. The hypothetical 0.15 W/kg difference is a lot. Rujano on the Etna could only follow when he was completely behind Contador, but he was dropped when the wind came from the side.

 

[Capablanca and me]

pure climber means they can just climb?

natural born climbers:

Ricco
Rujano
Pozzovivo
Quintana
Rassmussen
Anton
Cunego
Schleck's
Gesink
hope that Pinot too

Contador is a natural born all rounder, like Merckx and Coppi