Rough Attempt at an All-Time Ranking

[Breh]

1 of Pogacars wonderseasons would put him 83rd, in between Kuiper and Heras.
2 of these wonderseasons would put him 27th, in between Maertens/Nibali and ahead of Boonen.

By the way, a ranking putting Cancellara ahead of Boonen is wrong by default, I'm sorry.

 

[houtdffan]

Two riders actually, 1995 is definitely inside the specialisation era. It still says a lot, though.

the specialization era is over

 

[AmRacer]

the specialization era is over

Is it? Onley 1 1/2 riders are all over the place.

 

[Breh]

the specialization era is over

MVDP is a pure classics farmer. Vingegaard thinks 1day racing is an entirely different sport.

Nobody except for Pogacar, Healy, Pidcock and Del Toro have finished in a GT top10 and has any classics results to speak of.

If you look at the top10 in the biggest 1week races you could include Roglic and Ayuso but that's already stretching it imo. Their 1day results haven't been that amazing. Jorgenson maybe?
Skjelmose and Evenepoel, yes.

But I suppose there have always GC guys who are decent in the Ardennes-style classics.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Isn't it over? If the 1980's don't count, I'm not sure >2024 should.

the specialization era is over

Too early to say whether this is actually the case or whether it's particular to (a few riders in) this generation.

 

[houtdffan]

MVDP is a pure classics farmer. Vingegaard thinks 1day racing is an entirely different sport.

Nobody except for Pogacar, Healy, Pidcock and Del Toro have finished in a GT top10 and has any classics results to speak of.

If you look at the top10 in the biggest 1week races you could include Roglic and Ayuso but that's already stretching it imo. Their 1day results haven't been that amazing. Jorgenson maybe?
Skjelmose and Evenepoel, yes.

But I suppose there have always GC guys who are decent in the Ardennes-style classics.

Pog and Remco have no issues switching from GC to 1 day racing. Even Rog had some success though he's becoming ancient these days. Skejlmose as well

Even Del Toro has shown success in both

Most of the top guys not named Vingo no longer specialize

 

[AmRacer]

Pog and Remco have no issues switching from GC to 1 day racing. Even Rog had some success though he's becoming ancient these days. Skejlmose as well

Even Del Toro has shown success in both

Most of the top guys not named Vingo no longer specialize

Only one of them performing at Mathieu's backyard.

 

[houtdffan]

Only one of them performing at Mathieu's backyard.

Matthieu also can only win in flat or nearly flat classics. He is just as specialized as Vingo. Meanwhile, the others can win a variety of races

 

[AmRacer]

Matthieu also can only win in flat or nearly flat classics. He is just as specialized as Vingo. Meanwhile, the others can win a variety of races

RVV is nearly flat? Flat cobbles....
Only one of the other mentioned riders has ever performed well in Mathieu's preferred races.

 

[hayneplane]

Going to be interesting to see how remco stacks up against the gods by the end of his career. It looks promising as of now

Looking good to end up as 2nd best Belgian above De Vlaeminck and be inside the top 10 in history.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

RVV is nearly flat? Flat cobbles....
Only one of the other mentioned riders has ever performed well in Mathieu's preferred races.

Yeah, there's only one current rider who doesn't fit in the specialist era. How are Skjelmose, Roglic or even Evenepoel less "specialists" than Cunego, Dan Martin, Valverde or Nibali? Andy Schleck and Tyler Hamilton have double the combined monuments vs Skjelmose-Roglic.

 

[Jan the Man]

Remco’s not a ‘specialist’ per se - he is equally adept at one day races particularly the longer ones, indeed in my view relatively better at those than GTs. The fact he has not done RVV or Roubaix does not mean he is a specialist.

I would not class some of the others mentioned as sepcialist either like Cunego, martin or a Nibali too.

 

[Breh]

The specialist era is still very much alive despite what some cycling commentators like to say.

Pogacar is an outlier, Evenepoel is just* another GC+Ardennes type with a good TT.

*Obviously way better than anyone we've seen this century.

 

[saunaking]

The specialist era is still very much alive despite what some cycling commentators like to say.

Pogacar is an outlier, Evenepoel is just* another GC+Ardennes type with a good TT.

*Obviously way better than anyone we've seen this century.

an Aero Andy Schleck

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Isn't it over? If the 1980's don't count, I'm not sure >2024 should.

Is Pogi ending the specialists era? Or is one all-season monster not enough to say so?

 

[Netserk]

The specialist era is still very much alive despite what some cycling commentators like to say.

Pogacar is an outlier, Evenepoel is just* another GC+Ardennes type with a good TT.

*Obviously way better than anyone we've seen this century.

In the late 1980's, were both LeMond and Fignon specialists?

 

[Breh]

In the late 1980's, were both LeMond and Fignon specialists?

I should've mentioned that my frame of reference is merely the 00's and the 10's.

I barely know anything about the 90's, let alone the 80's.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

In the late 1980's, were both LeMond and Fignon specialists?

Both Lemond and Fignon have top-4s at Roubaix and top-2s at Sanremo and were also world-class time trialists (not to mention Lemond's world championship results on some pretty varied routes), so they have competed with the very best on a wider range of terrain than Evenepoel has so far.

 

[Netserk]

Both Lemond and Fignon have top-4s at Roubaix and top-2s at Sanremo and were also world-class time trialists (not to mention Lemond's world championship results on some pretty varied routes), so they have competed with the very best on a wider range of terrain than Evenepoel has so far.

After the introduction of Cipressa, Sanremo was back then more similar to Amstel in rider type that it suited. Or at least more similar to the two editions won by Van der Poel than to Philipsen's victory.

LeMond didn't top-4 in Roubaix during the late 80's, and Fignon didn't have a single good climbing performance in 88, so is like using Wiggins in 14 as an example of a non-specialist.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Fignon didn't have a single good climbing performance in 88

He had a very small sample size of climby races that year. During the Tour he had to abandon due to a tapeworm, and during the Tour de la Communauté Européenne he destroyed everyone in the Vosges which was very much a good climbing performance. Not remotely comparable to a Wiggins who had completely moved away from GCs by 2014 and was actively focusing on Roubaix.

I also think it's nonsense to claim what Lemond did in 1985 is irrelevant to whether he was a specialist or not, especially given that his racing schedule in the second half of his career was so impacted by the gun accident.