Surprise Gt winner in last 20 years

[the3verB]

1. Oscar Pereiro- Tour 2006 ( see him winning a gt was dificult to imagine, then the Tour!!!?

2. Aitor Gonzalez - Vuelta 2002 ( came from nowhere)

3. Alberto Contador - Tour 2007 ( big big surprise at the time, he entered the race as a domestique)

4. Damiano Cunego - Giro 2004 ( super rookie!)

5. Paolo Savoldelli - Giro 2005 (unlikely retourn for the Italian)

 

[jens_attacks]

1. Oscar Pereiro- Tour 2006 ( see him winning a gt was dificult to imagine, then the Tour!!!?

he didn't win that tour,landis did.
it's like saying gotti won giro '99,or menchov 2005 vuelta or contador le tour 2007 which is total bullshiit.from my point of view of course.

 

[Mich78BEL]

oscar pereiro is the first one who comes to mind

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Pereiro and Contador 2007

 

[The Hitch]

I suppose most first time winners are a surprise. Ullrich winning was a surprise. Lance winning was a surprise. Cunegos first win was a surprise. THough in some cases like with Valverde and Basso and Sastre if they have already performed well before its not too big a surprise

And what about Riis in 1996.
(you did say last 20 years)

 

[roundabout]

Berzin, the man who broke Indurains run of 5 consecutive GT wins

 

[Oldman]

Berzin, the man who broke Indurains run of 5 consecutive GT wins

Unfortunately not so much of a surprise after watching Geweiss' season that year. I guess it was a surprise which of their riders would win.

 

[Zerak-Tul]

And what about Riis in 1996.
(you did say last 20 years)

Riis was 3rd and 5th in the TdF in 95 and 93, so not that big a surprise.

 

[El Pistolero]

While I was surprised that Contador won in 2007 it wasn't a BIG surprise. But that was probably because Johan Bruyneel kept telling everyone that he has never seen anyone accelerate so fast on mountains then Contador. Plus the kid impressed me a couple of times on TV prior to his first GT win and really liked his riding style. Let's not forget that without his flat tire on a mountain stage(the one Soler won) and everybody being incredibly stupid to let Rasmussen in a breakaway he would've won as well, even without Rasmussen being pulled out.

Pereiro is a big surprise, but only before the stage where he got a massive breakaway. Always found it incredible stupid that they let him go on such big breakaway. IIRC he has done top 10s in the Tour before.

 

[Carlo Algatrensig]

While I was surprised that Contador won in 2007 it wasn't a BIG surprise. But that was probably because Johan Bruyneel kept telling everyone that he has never seen anyone accelerate so fast on mountains then Contador. Plus the kid impressed me a couple of times on TV prior to his first GT win and really liked his riding style. Let's not forget that without his flat tire on a mountain stage(the one Soler won) and everybody being incredibly stupid to let Rasmussen in a breakaway he would've won as well, even without Rasmussen being pulled out.

Pereiro is a big surprise, but only before the stage where he got a massive breakaway. Always found it incredible stupid that they let him go on such big breakaway. IIRC he has done top 10s in the Tour before.

Perreiro's previous tours usually saw him lose time in the first mountain range so that he could go for stage wins in the second mountain range so he should have been known to be a good climber in the second half of the tour so to let him get back his earlier losses in a breakaway was a pretty stupid thing to do

 

[ferryman]

1. Oscar Pereiro- Tour 2006 ( see him winning a gt was dificult to imagine, then the Tour!!!?

2. Aitor Gonzalez - Vuelta 2002 ( came from nowhere)

3. Alberto Contador - Tour 2007 ( big big surprise at the time, he entered the race as a domestique)

4. Damiano Cunego - Giro 2004 ( super rookie!)

5. Paolo Savoldelli - Giro 2005 (unlikely retourn for the Italian)

Naughty boy 1999-2006

 

[The Hitch]

Pereiro is a big surprise, but only before the stage where he got a massive breakaway. Always found it incredible stupid that they let him go on such big breakaway. IIRC he has done top 10s in the Tour before.

Why is it stupid to let someone who is 27 minutes down on the gc go? The logic is that a half an hour break comes once in a blue moon, and if (big if) it does, you can count on it tiring out the escapees.

Phonak were willing to let him take half an hour back the whole time, because they wanted someone else to take the yellow jersey. THis turned out to be a good plan for Landis as he ended up overtaking Perreiro permenantly on stage 19. Job done (till factors that have nothing to do with Perreiro came into play)

 

[Mambo95]

Ullrich winning was a surprise.

Ullrich wasn't a surprise. He had come second the year before.

 

[Gotland]

2004 Damiano Cunego Giro d'Italia - You know he was in great shape after wins in Giro del Trentino and Giro dell'Appennino. But it's still a miracle that he won even if the startlist was the weakest in many many years.

1999 Lance Armstrong Tour de Fance - Was a good cyclist pre-cancer but more a exellent one day racer. Out of racing 1997 due cancer. Yes, he did well in vuelta the year before (1998), but I think none was thinking he could win the tour. Even if he did some good results in Amstel and Dauphiné.

1990 Gianni Bugno Giro d'Italia - He was like Armstrong a great one day classic rider. With a lot of viictories in big one day race and some stage wins in grand tours. But he allways had bad days. I also take this one becauce he just was increadeble this giro no one else had a chance. If I remember right he had the maglia rosa from first to last stage.

2006 Oscar Pereiro Tour de France - Surprise or not surprise. He was really good last week of 2005 years tour and he got alot of minutes free after failed in the pyreenes. He was a outsider before the tour and with 30 bonus minutes your not a really suprise winner.

2000 Stefano Garzelli Giro d'Italia - He won Tour de suisse 1998 and had been high in tirreno before. But still a big suprise in my eyes.

 

[El Pistolero]

Why is it stupid to let someone who is 27 minutes down on the gc go? The logic is that a half an hour break comes once in a blue moon, and if (big if) it does, you can count on it tiring out the escapees.

Phonak were willing to let him take half an hour back the whole time, because they wanted someone else to take the yellow jersey. THis turned out to be a good plan for Landis as he ended up overtaking Perreiro permenantly on stage 19. Job done (till factors that have nothing to do with Perreiro came into play)

Floyd failed, only after taking a **** load of dope did he succeed to overtake Pereiro again. Yes, Landis probably doped continuously, but he took way more then usual when he did that magical stage.

They should have at least tried to reel in the break away group after they were informed they had more then 15-20 minutes. Phonak wasn't the only team that had a shot at the GC back then. If anything the other teams could annoy Landis by making sure he still had the yellow.

 

[cyclestationgiuseppe]

Floyd failed, only after taking a **** load of dope did he succeed to overtake Pereiro again. Yes, Landis probably doped continuously, but he took way more then usual when he did that magical stage.

They should have at least tried to reel in the break away group after they were informed they had more then 15-20 minutes. Phonak wasn't the only team that had a shot at the GC back then. If anything the other teams could annoy Landis by making sure he still had the yellow.

I am sure he was doped, but, it is not like Pereiro was riding clean.....

Pllllllleeeeeeaaaaaasssssse!

 

[hrotha]

Giovanetti in the 1990 Vuelta comes to mind.

 

[Willy_Voet]

Marco Pantani 1998. No one knew if the race would even finish after the scandal, withdrawals and sit down strikes.

 

[hfer07]

1. Oscar Pereiro- Tour 2006 ( see him winning a gt was dificult to imagine, then the Tour!!!?

2. Aitor Gonzalez - Vuelta 2002 ( came from nowhere)

3. Alberto Contador - Tour 2007 ( big big surprise at the time, he entered the race as a domestique)

4. Damiano Cunego - Giro 2004 ( super rookie!)

5. Paolo Savoldelli - Giro 2005 (unlikely retourn for the Italian)

I reckon Contador was already the team captain by 7th stage and leecheimer was way back in the GC

 

[hrotha]

I reckon Contador was already the team captain by 7th stage and leecheimer was way back in the GC

Yes, but due to several unfortunate circumstances he had never been in the thick of a GT GC before, so there was some uncertainty regarding his true potential. It was a surprise, just not one of those "where the hell did he come from?" surprises.

 

[The Barb]

Whether Contador in 2007 was a "big surprise" depends on your definition of that phrase. According to Wikipedia he was the 12th favourite, paying $29 (see this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_tour_de_france)

Pretty surprising, but nothing like Pereiro (though of course if you bet on Pereiro in 2006 you would have lost your money, as all bookmakers pay on podium and therefore paid out on Landis).

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Whether Contador in 2007 was a "big surprise" depends on your definition of that phrase. According to Wikipedia he was the 12th favourite, paying $29 (see this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_tour_de_france)

Pretty surprising, but nothing like Pereiro (though of course if you bet on Pereiro in 2006 you would have lost your money, as all bookmakers pay on podium and therefore paid out on Landis).

There's a really funny video on that on youtube. The guy won a bike with megabike (a game in wich you'll have to predict stage outcome) and they take away his bike because ricco and schumacher were caught doping
and it was a joke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_aDS-vVhpA
if you understand dutch it's worth watching!

 

[Jan the Man]

I suppose most first time winners are a surprise. Ullrich winning was a surprise. Lance winning was a surprise. Cunegos first win was a surprise. THough in some cases like with Valverde and Basso and Sastre if they have already performed well before its not too big a surprise

And what about Riis in 1996.
(you did say last 20 years)

It wasn't all that surprising that Ulle won in 1997. Yes there may have pretentions of him entering the tour as a helper for Riis however he had finished 2nd in 1996, now that was a bigger surprise.

 

[Kwibus]

I am sure he was doped, but, it is not like Pereiro was riding clean.....

Pllllllleeeeeeaaaaaasssssse!

You should read. Pretty much everyone doped back then we all know that.
It's just that Landis took a ****load of extra dope to take back those minutes he lost. Which was pretty obvious.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

2006 Oscar Pereiro Tour de France - Surprise or not surprise. He was really good last week of 2005 years tour and he got alot of minutes free after failed in the pyreenes. He was a outsider before the tour and with 30 bonus minutes your not a really suprise winner.

Pereiro didn't "fail" in the Pyrenees. Almost all of the time he lost was on a single stage, as he was planning to go for stage wins; he wasn't likely to contend overall, nobody would let him go anywhere if he was only 3 to 5 minutes down, and his team needed something from the race after Valverde crashed out in the first week. Dropping time and then going on repeated week 3 breakaways was how he'd managed one of his previous top 10s, and he was planning to use that tactic again, to hopefully get a stage win and get the team some airtime.

Sure, he was lucky to hit paydirt, but he didn't "fail" in the Pyrenées. It's only "failing" if you were trying to contend.