Rider with the best palmares relative to their ability?

[Jukebox]

Which rider would you say has the best palmares relative to their abilities?

Names that spring to mind for me are Voekler, multiple days in yellow and wins in important one-day races by virtue of being opportunistic. Or, Carlos Sastre, who is certainly a great rider but not quite Tour de France winner caliber. My last thought is Oscar Periero for the same reasons as Sastre.

 

[Moondance]

Voeckler is a very good one.

At the risk of being a little controversial I might posit Oscar Freire as another.

 

[L'arriviste]

Menchov has done mighty well based on his abilities, I would say. Seems to stay quietly under the radar yet he has two GTs and more than a few podiums to his name.

Gesink so far too. And he can look forward to a lot more opportunities ahead of him.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

savoldelli no doubt

 

[theyoungest]

At the risk of being a little controversial I might posit Oscar Freire as another.

Hm... yeah, that's controversial alright... I've heard riders say he's the most talented guy they ever rode with (Nuyens and Hunter, for example) so if anything, I'd say he has underperformed, the lazy *******

 

[Magnus]

Olano did very well considering his VO2 max in the mid 60'ies.

If we're talking unlikely tour-winners Roger Walkoviaks victory in 56 is worth a mention (iirc he's the only tour winner from a regional-team)

 

[El Pistolero]

Savoldelli. One of my favorite riders as well.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Ludo Dierckxsens.

 

[The Hitch]

Oscar Perreiro definately best. but some others that havent yet been mentioned.

Squalo. How the hell is he a gt winner

Braddley Wiggins (as a road racer) has done very good to get 4th in the grandady of them all.

David Arroyo with his gt podium.

Menchov.

Oh and Alessandro Ballan.

 

[AngusW]

Going back a few years, Felice Gimondi. Won the worlds, all of GTs, 3 of the monuments & GP de Nations while racing in the era of Merckx, Ocana, Zootemelk, Thevenet, De Vlaeminck, Van Looy, Goodefroot, Janssen, etc.

 

[Le breton]

Which rider would you say has the best palmares relative to their abilities?

.

Jean Stablinski must be near the top.

 

[Nick C.]

I would think Gimondi's palmares would be less than it could have been due to who he was riding againgt.

As for the question at hand: Voeckler, Gerrans, Arroyo are all good choices. Devolder in my twisted opinion as well, but I think that has been hashed out before.

 

[WonderLance]

Cant believe none of you haters havnt said it yet.

Lift your game haters.

I guess it is to be expected, you do hate excellence after all.

 

[BullsFan22]

Cant believe none of you haters havnt said it yet.

Lift your game haters.

I guess it is to be expected, you do hate excellence after all.

No, we just hate excellence enhanced by illegal substances, cover ups, and lies, that's all.

 

[El Pistolero]

Cant believe none of you haters havnt said it yet.

Lift your game haters.

I guess it is to be expected, you do hate excellence after all.

Anyone who can win the Worlds at the age of 21 doped or not has some amazing abilities.

 

[WonderLance]

No, we just hate excellence enhanced by illegal substances, cover ups, and lies, that's all.

Its clear that you LOVE excellence. Nothing to see here folks, move along.

 

[Nick C.]

^
Thanks for that wonderful enlightening series of posts. Can I have the minute of my life back.

 

[ingsve]

I thought I'd throw out Francois Simon as well. He got a Tour top 10 from a 34 minute break that the peloton didn't bother chasing. That was far above his level.

 

[mr. tibbs]

...
Menchov.

Oh and Alessandro Ballan.

I came in to mention Ballan--though his worlds win was pretty amazing.

I have to disagree about Menchov, though. He's a strong climber and TTer, so his results in GTs so far seem reasonable.

 

[AngusW]

I would think Gimondi's palmares would be less than it could have been due to who he was riding against.

Good point. Rudy Dhaenens, then.

BTW: nice avatar, WL, a single nut.

 

[ergmonkey]

Jens Voigt.

That guy has won a lot of short stage races because he's aggressive and creates opportunities for himself. Sure, he's ridiculously strong, but not many guys with his type of engine (not the best TT, not a great sprint, not the best mountain climber) win quite so much--especially when riding on the same team as so many bigger stars.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Oscar Perreiro definately best. but some others that havent yet been mentioned.

Squalo. How the hell is he a gt winner

Braddley Wiggins (as a road racer) has done very good to get 4th in the grandady of them all.

David Arroyo with his gt podium.

Menchov.

Oh and Alessandro Ballan.

Yup, wanted to say Nibali and Arroyo too, but you beat me to it.
Would say Rodriguez (yes him) and Wiggins are honourable mentions. Rodriguez was pretty much always valverde's top domestique and now he had the chance to ride for himself and finishes 1 UCI ranking and top 3 CQ ranking...

 

[hfer07]

Rodriguez was pretty much always valverde's top domestique and now he had the chance to ride for himself and finishes 1 UCI ranking and top 3 CQ ranking...

Rodriguez could've had a far greater palmares-not because of his abilities, but because of Valverde & specially Caisse's stupidity

 

[Mellow Velo]

Bernard Thévenet and Sergei Ivanov?

 

[tgsgirl]

Ludo Dierckxsens.

Great call. National title and a tour stage just because he never asked himself "is this attack really wise?". Brilliant.

But Pereiro Sio takes the trophy home, with ease.