Ranking the Sprinters

[barmaher]

So, moving on from the Binck Bank thread, I thought it would be fun to see where people think the sprinters rank at present. We are clearly at a transition at the moment, with the recent sprinting powerhouses Cavendish, Kittel and Greipel on the wane, whether it is permanent or temporary. And we have the newcomers, who are exciting in their own right, but none of whom are perfect. Here I am thinking of guys like Groenewegen, Ewan, And then we have the guys who always seem to be at or near the top table like Sagan, Kristoff, Demare who are possibly close to people’s top 10.

So why don’t we all rank them 1-10. And I will tot up the scores with 1st ranked getting 10 points, 2nd 9 points all the way down to 10th ranked getting 1 point.

I am not looking for the “fastest” sprinter, but rather the best. So ability to get through some obstacles on the way can be factored in. Likewise, everything is circumstantial. If a sprinter has a good train, you might bump him up. But if he “needs” a good train you might bump him down.

Here is a list of potential nominees, but you can add in whoever you like.
Cavendish
Greipel
Kittel
Groenewegen
Ewan
Gaviria
Sagan
Viviani
Demare
Kristoff
Bennett
Ackermann
Degenkolb
Colbrelli
Matthews
Jakobsen
Hodeg
Trentin

 

[Leffe_Bruin]

In what way do we take into account sprinters abilities on the somewhat punchy finishes? Let's say 1km a 3-5%?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

This is really hard to do. So many of this list are so close it's hard to tell.
I think best sprinter would be Sagan. He is not the fastest, but has proven he can win flat sprints, punch sprints and sprinters after really tough stages. And he's super good at placing himself without a train. So Sagan is my 'best' sprinter.

Fastest changes all the time, even during the season. But considering this season I'd say Groenewegen is clearly the fastest sprinter on flat and light uphill finishes. With Gaviria and Viviani really close. Kittel probably as well but his placing has been so horrible it's hard to tell anymore.
Of all the list most of them can beat anyone on 'their day'.

 

[tobydawq]

I'll rank them 1-10 so you'll have to reverse the numbers to get the points but I think that was what you were going for:

0 Christophe Laporte - too good to make such a ranking meaningful so he'll graciously be sitting this one out, leaving room for the others.

1 Dylan Groenewegen - the best sprinter at the moment. He doesn't have the best train but it's not too bad, and when he gets a decent run to the line he seems to be unbeatable.

2 Fernando Gaviria - very fast and with the best lead-out in the world. But he was schooled by Groenewegen in the Tour and will have to settle for second for me.

3 Peter Sagan - "Sagan as the third best sprinter in the world? You're an idiot, tobydawq", you may say. But his speed seems to be underrated even if it's not the third-best in the world, I'll give you that. But the guy masters the fight for position better than anybody (and he doesn't need a train as the only one) and you have to be positioned to make good of your speed. Together with Groenewegen and Gaviria, he won two bunch sprints in the Tour, and in the past two years he has won more bunch sprints than earlier in his career. He benefits (regarding this ranking) from the fact that others whom I usually would rank above him have had a bad season and are not currently better.

4 Elia Viviani - leads the 2018 victory ranking and bossed the Giro. However, he seems to be carried a bit by his team and even if he is very fast, I actually don't think he's faster than Sagan which Gent-Wevelgem may prove. Therefore, the nod goes to Sagan because it's more impressive to be able to navigate by oneself than to get carried by the best leadout.

5 Marcel Kittel - probably the fastest rider but he has only won two races this year and that has to be punished. He definitely needs a good lead-out which his transfer away from QuickStep has made agonozingly clear.

6 Sam Bennett - should he be above Viviani? You could make a case for that. Even if Viviani beat him 4-3 in the Giro, it seemed that Bennett was the faster of the two. But he doesn't master the fight for position like Sagan and is more reliant on his team.

7 Pascal Ackermann - maybe it's a bit premature to put him so high but the races he has won the past three months make for a pretty incredible breakthrough season. This also means that I have 3 Bora riders among the best 7 which indicates that some of them need to go to another team to get as much out of their coming seasons as their skills warrant.

8 André Greipel - I fear that his change of teams to Fortuneo will effectively put him out of this top 10. In Tour Down Under, he showed he's still got the speed and in the Tour, he did show some speed on a couple of occasions as well. But the age is catching up to him. Hopefully, he can continue his progress in the classics rider direction and keep hanging around for some seasons if his sprinting days are coming to an end. Mentally, he seems to not be that hooked on risking it in the fight for position.

9 Arnaud Démare - this season has only given him three wins. However, they have all been WorldTour level so that's good but in the Tour, he was very bad until all the fastest sprinters had abandoned. Even then, he couldn't win in Valence inspite of being delivered perfectly. On the other hand, his win against the world elite in Switzerland was impressive. He has a good sprint setup upon which he is very reliant. And then he just annoys me so perhaps he deserves to be a bit higher.

10 Alexander Kristoff - the Champs-Elysées victory makes him get here. He's impressive after hard races but not winning material in an elite field after an easy day. He's good at positioning but definitely the slowest on this list.

 

[Leffe_Bruin]

I'll give it a try:

1. Sagan
2. Groenewegen
3. Gaviria
4. Viviani
5. Ewan
6. Kittel
7. Bennett
8. Demare
9. Greipel
10. Bauhaus

 

[yaco]

Would say that if you are looking at an uphill sprint say 3 to 4% for the last 1/2km , then Ewan is in the top 2 or 3 - Pure flat finish ans it's still Kittel.

 

[Nick C.]

I can't saw I've done any research.

1. Gaviria
2. Groenewegen
3. Sagan
4. Viviani
5. Bennett
6. Kittel
7. Ackerman
8. Demare
9. Colbrelli - though maybe there or thereabouts means "not quite good enough"
10. Matthews

 

[El Pistolero]

Top tier:

- Gaviria
- Viviani (the slowest in this category, but nobody can deny how consistent he has been this season)
- Groenewhegen
- Sagan

Second Tier:

- Kittel (he's still one of the fastest sprinters, but mentally very fragile and needs a whole team built around him and completely useless as soon as the road goes a little up
- Bennett
- Ackerman
- Demare

Third Tier (also known as the has-beens category):

- Kristoff
- Bouhanni
- Cavendish
- Greipel

Still too early to determine where Jakobsen or Hodeg place this list, but they have a lot of potential, especially Jakobsen.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Top tier:

- Gaviria
- Viviani (the slowest in this category, but nobody can deny how consistent he has been this season)
- Groenewhegen
- Sagan

Second Tier:

- Kittel (he's still one of the fastest sprinters, but mentally very fragile and needs a whole team built around him and completely useless as soon as the road goes a little up
- Bennett
- Ackerman
- Demare

Third Tier (also known as the has-beens category):

- Kristoff
- Bouhanni
- Cavendish
- Greipel

Still too early to determine where Jakobsen or Hodeg place this list, but they have a lot of potential, especially Jakobsen.

I had to shed a tear because we agreed so much. Historic moment

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

In my opinion, the "best" is Sagan, even though he may not be the fastest (and even though he may be more than just a sprinter). Maybe if there was an overview of all "elite" sprints the past two years, we could judge more easily, just by looking at who beat who more often.

But i've seen Sagan beat supposedly faster sprinters one time too many not to consider him the best currently.

 

[IndianCyclist]

*** Gaviria, Groenewegen
** Kittel, Greipel, Viviani , Sagan, Demare, Cavendish
* Kristoff, Degenkolb, Ewan, Matthews, Jakobsen
Others - Trentin, Colbrelli, Ackerman, Bennett