Top 10 Cyclists from your country of all time

[Cobblestoned]

No room for Uwe Ampler even in the honorable mentions? Or does his '99 positive, years after his heyday, count against him?

My Top 10 has nothing to do with doping.
Ampler just missed MY Top10 close.

Look at Lötzsch´s and Richter´s "(hi)story" and you will understand my "Places of honor". I hope so. Or did Ampler do something similar I should honor ?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Look at Lötzsch´s and Richter´s "(hi)story" and you will understand my "Places of honor". I hope so. Or did Ampler do something similar I should honor ?

Point taken and conceded. I thought it was 'honorable mentions' in the usual "just outside but I had to mention them so you didn't think I'd forgotten" way.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Point taken and conceded. I thought it was 'honorable mentions' in the usual "just outside but I had to mention them so you didn't think I'd forgotten" way.

I should have explained "honor" better or find another word.

His story was really sad, "heroic" and it was a shame, that Lötzsch couldn´t compete against the rest/best of the world.
Last year, there came out a movie about him "Sportsfreund Lötzsch" and he used to work as a mechanic at Team Milram for some time. I don´t know if he is still there.

From what I read, saw and heard from some (old) Ossis - He was really great.
The question just was: Who will take 2nd place ?

 

[eleven]

My list:

Miguel Induraín
Alberto Contador
Federico Bahamontes
Perico Delgado
Luis Ocaña (maybe at the same perico's level )
Carlos Sastre
Roberto Heras (I doubt with Sastre and Heras)
Joseba beloki
Abraham Olano
Alejandro Valverde


any other suggestion?

Damn that's an embarrassment of riches! if you put that up against top US riders, we'd only have maybe two in the whole 10.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I think the Belgian list will include mostly guys who could be in the Top 20 cyclists ever. I lived in Belgium for a year so gonna be arrogant and do a list for Belgium. Its near impossible so here goes, let the fun begin.

Eddy Merckx
Rik Van Looy
Roger De Vlaeminck
Rik Van Steenbergen
Freddy Maertens
Lucien Van Impe
Johan Museeuw
Claude Criquelion
Walter Planckaert
Tom Boonen

Briek Schotte, Philippe Thys, Eric Leman, Sylvene Maes are others way before my time. We could have a Top 10 Belgian list from the 70s alone and it would beat most other lists.

hmm walter planckaert? maybe Eddy Planckaert or Tom Steels instead of him.

 

[The Hitch]

I appreciate that you're joking around, but there's quite a few good riders you have, in addition to Szmyd, Marycz and Sapa there's Marek Rutkiewicz, Przemysław Niemiec, Bartosz Huzarski, Michał Kwiatkowski for starters...

Yeah i do know those. But lets face it. Non of my list would make it into any of the other lists.

Speaking of which. Where is your list. You are from england arent you? or like Kurt Waldheim, an international citizen?

 

[Mambo95]

Yeah i do know those. But lets face it. Non of my list would make it into any of the other lists.

Speaking of which. Where is your list. You are from england arent you? or like Kurt Waldheim, an international citizen?

I thought you were British, but if you are actually Polish, I would say, where is Lech Piasecki?

Still the only Pole to wear the Maillot Jeune (1987). Winner of two Giro stages, the Peace Race and the Amateur World Championships. Most of his career was in the 80s so he didn't have the same opportunities as more recent riders.

 

[El Pistolero]

1. Eddy Merckx: 11 Grand Tours, 2 KoM at the Tour, 3 Green jerseys at the Tour, 2 point jerseys at the Giro, one KoM at the Giro, 1 point jersey at the Vuelta, 64 GT stages, 19 monuments, 3 world championship RR

2. Lucien van Impe: Tour de France, 6 times KoM in the Tour, 2 times KoM in the Giro

3. Rik van Looy: Green jersey in the Tour, 8 monuments, 2 times world championship RR, a lot of GT stages

4. Philippe Thys: Won 3 Tour de France's, career "ruined" by world war I.

5. Roger de Vlaeminck: 3 times points classification in the Giro, 11 monuments, 7 times Tirreno–Adriatico

6. Sylvere Maes: Won the Tour 2 times, also won the KoM competition in the Tour once, one win at Paris-Roubaix

7. Freddy Maertens: 3 green jerseys at the Tour, 16 stages at the Tour, winner of the Vuelta WITH 13 stages(in that one Vuelta), 2 times world championship RR

8. Rik van Steenbergen: 3 times world championship RR, 5 monuments, 2 times Fleche Wallone

9. Stan Ockers: won a couple of nice things, died when he crashed in a track race. Merckx was a big fan of him.

10. Johan Museeuw: world champion RR, 6 monuments, Amstel Gold race, Paris-Tours.

Honorable mentions: Tom Boonen

Let me add some of their important victories.

KoM still meant something in the day of Lucien van Impe by the way. Some cyclists would rather win that competition instead of more stage wins back then.

Also pretty funny that Eddy Merckx was only Belgian champion on the road once. And let's be honest here, Merckx won 12 Grand Tours.

 

[The Hitch]

I thought you were British, but if you are actually Polish, I would say, where is Lech Piasecki?

Still the only Pole to wear the Maillot Jeune (1987). Winner of two Giro stages, the Peace Race and the Amateur World Championships. Most of his career was in the 80s so he didn't have the same opportunities as more recent riders.

Yes i am polish hence why my list was one title "Poland" with Polish riders (well a few of them anyway).
THough i do hold British citizenship as well

Iam not old enough to know of these. This Lech sounds impressive. Poland had some tough sons of *****es no doubt, but few that exceled in western europe. Also, as with many sports, the dictatorship in our country and in other central/ eastern european countries, did not allow the top guys to go to the west, so they couldnt show their talent. and during the tour de pologne, some veterans told stories about how the authorities would knock over the polish water stands, so that the Poles couldnt get fluids on board, in order to help the Russians.

 

[The Hitch]

new to the forum, i recently did a top 25 for my country and a top 100 all time all countries

my Belgium top 25, off course its difficult to compare between era's & between different types of riders


1) Eddy Merckx (no comment needed)
2) Rik Van Looy (slight edge to Van Looy over De Vlaeminck)
3) Roger De Vlaeminck
4) Freddy Maertens
5) Rik Van Steenbergen
6) Herman Van Springel
7) Johan Museeuw
8) Philippe Thys
9) Lucien Van Impe
10) Stan Ockers

11) Walter Godefroot
12) Briek Schotte
13) Raymond Impanis
14) Fred De Bruyne
15) Sylvére Maes
16) Tom Boonen (will probably climb on this list if he has a good fin de carrière)
17) Michel Pollentier
18) Georges Ronsse
19) Claude Criquielion
20) Firmin Lambot
21) Eric Vanderaerden
22) Marcel Kint
23) Maurice De Waele
24) Ludo Peeters
25) Joseph Planckaert

1. Eddy Merckx
2. Lucien van Impe
3. Rik van Looy
4. Philippe Thys
5. Roger de Vlaeminck
6. Sylvere Maes
7. Freddy Maertens
8. Rik van Steenbergen
9. Stan Ockers
10. Johan Museeuw

Honorable mentions: Tom Boonen

For belgians, i say no fair. There are just too many great belgians in the sport. I think we should split it so that if you are from Flanders, you only mentione Flanders riders, and if your from Wallone, you only mention walloon riders.

 

[El Pistolero]

For belgians, i say no fair. There are just too many great belgians in the sport. I think we should split it so that if you are from Flanders, you only mentione Flanders riders, and if your from Wallone, you only mention walloon riders.

I don't want to divide Merckx in two

And I sure as hell don't want to give him to the French! They already took Brussels ;(

(Slight sarcasm)

But now that I come to think about it. It's pretty cool to put someone like Boonen on the honourable mentions instead of the top 10.

 

[Mich78BEL]

For belgians, i say no fair. There are just too many great belgians in the sport. I think we should split it so that if you are from Flanders, you only mentione Flanders riders, and if your from Wallone, you only mention walloon riders.

I don't want to divide Merckx in two

And I sure as hell don't want to give him to the French! They already took Brussels ;(

(Slight sarcasm)

Merckx was born in Flanders (Flemish Brabant) and his parents/family was Flemish but he mostly grew up in Brussels which was becoming more and more frenchspeaking back then... he always says himself he feels like a Belgian, not a 'Brusseleir', 'Flemish or a 'walloon'...
Not that uncommon really, unlike what some politicians like you te believe, Belgium and its regions are far from homogenous, i myself have a mother whose first language was french though perfectly bilingual now and a father who was flemish, i grew up in Antwerp (Flanders) but have more french/french-speaking relatives then Flemish relatives.


a better way to make a distinction maybe is between classics-specialists and stage-races-specialists, Merckx would top both lists again no doubt

 

[kjetilraknerud]

I'll have a go at Norway's top 10

1. Thor Hushovd - Multiple GT stage wins, MJ in the TdF, podium placings in Milan-San Remo and Paris Roubaix.

2. Knut Knudsen - Olympic gold on 4000 m individual pursuit, six Giro stage wins and MR-holder, winner of Tirreno-Adriatico and a lot of TT stage wins

3. Edvald Boasson Hagen - He just beats Arvesen, based on his number of wins. Some good ones too, like Gent-Wevelgem and his Giro stage.

4. Kurt Asle Arvesen - U23 road champion, two Giro stages and one TdF stage, wins in Ster Elektrotoer and E3 Prijs, among other good results.

5. Dag Otto Lauritzen - TdF stage win, olympic bronze medal, 7th place in world championships, podium place in the tour of Flanders

6. Dag Erik Pedersen - Three Giro stage wins, LBL-podium

7. Jostein Willmann - 14th in the TdF overall, winner of the Tour of Austria and the Tour of Romandie

8. Atle Pedersen - Vuelta stage win

9. Steffen Kjærgaard - domestique for Lance Armstrong during two TdF-wins, winner of the Tour of Austria, Bayern Rundfahrt

10 . Atle Kvålsvoll - domestique for Greg LeMond in 1990

 

[El Pistolero]

Merckx was born in Flanders (Flemish Brabant) and his parents/family was Flemish but he mostly grew up in Brussels which was becoming more and more frenchspeaking back then... he always says himself he feels like a Belgian, not a 'Brusseleir', 'Flemish or a 'walloon'...
Not that uncommon really, unlike what some politicians like you te believe, Belgium and its regions are far from homogenous, i myself have a mother whose first language was french though perfectly bilingual now and a father who was flemish, i grew up in Antwerp (Flanders) but have more french/french-speaking relatives then Flemish relatives.


a better way to make a distinction maybe is between classics-specialists and stage-races-specialists, Merckx would top both lists again no doubt

That's kind of the problem in Flanders. A lot of Walloons migrating to Flanders without wanting to learn Dutch. That's kind of the whole point with Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. The majority of the population in those districts, who speak French, want to be able to vote on not just the Flemish parties. And want extra rights for being able to speak French. I say stop being lazy and learn Dutch or go back to Brussels or Wallonië!

Most Flemish people, at least the adults, speak French and Dutch. And that's why I said that I don't want to divide Merckx. He doesn't consider him self to be Flemish or Walloon.

And I don't think Brabant was already divided when Merckx was born. And Brussels was already long since French when Merckx was born.

I know my Belgian history My professor in that course is Bruno de Wever. I'm sure you know his brother. And no, he's not the same as his brother, he's the opposite. Although he is an expert in Flemish nationalism. It's no secret that Belgium was dominated by the Walloons for more then 100 years. It's also no secret that they wanted special rights to speak French in Flanders and were totally against special rights for the Flemish to speak Dutch in Walloons. Hypocrites... I always have to laugh when people use the "Walloons helped the Flemish when Flanders was poorer now we should do the same!" card. Truth is, they never supported us and you couldn't even make a career in Flanders if you couldn't speak French.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Les Flamandes dansent sans rien dire
Sans rien dire aux dimanches sonnants
Les Flamandes dansent sans rien dire
Les Flamandes ça n'est pas causant
Si elles dansent c'est parce qu'elles ont vingt ans
Et qu'à vingt ans il faut se fiancer
Se fiancer pour pouvoir se marier
Et se marier pour avoir des enfants
C'est ce que leur ont dit leurs parents
Le bedeau et même Son Eminence
L'Archiprêtre qui prêche au couvent
Et c'est pour ça et c'est pour ça qu`elles dansent
Les Flamandes
Les Flamandes
Les Fla - Les Fla - Les Flamandes

Les Flamandes dansent sans frémir
Sans frémir aux dimanches sonnants
Les Flamandes dansent sans frémir
Les Flamandes ça n'est pas frémissant
Si elles dansent c'est parce qu'elles ont trente ans
Et qu'à trente ans il est bon de montrer
Que tout va bien que poussent les enfants
Et le houblon et le blé dans le pré
Elles font la fierté de leurs parents
Et du bedeau et de Son Eminence
L'Archiprêtre qui prêche au couvent
Et c'est pour ça et c'est pour ça qu'elles dansent
Les Flamandes
Les Flamandes
Les Fla - Les Fla - Les Flamandes

Les Flamandes dansent sans sourire
Sans sourire aux dimanches sonnants
Les Flamandes dansent sans sourire
Les Flamandes ça n'est pas souriant
Si elles dansent c'est qu'elles ont septante ans
Qu'à septante ans il est bon de montrer
Que tout va bien que poussent les petits-enfants
Et le houblon et le blé dans le pré
Toutes vêtues de noir comme leurs parents
Comme le bedeau et comme Son Eminence
L'Archiprêtre qui radote au couvent
Elles héritent et c'est pour ça qu`elles dansent
Les Flamandes
Les Flamandes
Les Fla - Les Fla - Les Flamandes

Les Flamandes dansent sans mollir
Sans mollir aux dimanches sonnants
Les Flamandes dansent sans mollir
Les Flamandes ça n'est pas mollissant
Si elles dansent c'est parce qu'elles ont cent ans
Et qu'à cent ans il est bon de montrer
Que tout va bien qu'on a toujours bon pied
Et bon houblon et bon blé dans le pré
Elles s'en vont retrouver leurs parents
Et le bedeau et même Son Eminence
L'Archiprêtre qui repose au couvent
Et c'est pour ça qu'une dernière fois elles dansent
Les Flamandes
Les Flamandes
Les Fla - Les Fla -Les Flamandes.

 

[Derrick]

Thanks for that Libertine. I'm sure the situation is now much clearer to all of us!

 

[El Pistolero]

Thanks for that Libertine. I'm sure the situation is now much clearer to all of us!

That's a song of someone who considered him self a French speaking Flemish. He criticised the Flemish nationalistic movements and idolised Flanders at the same time.

 

[Derrick]

I take it he didn't like Vlaams Blok then.

 

[Echoes]

1) Eddy Merckx (no comment needed)
2) Rik Van Looy (slight edge to Van Looy over De Vlaeminck)
3) Roger De Vlaeminck

Why? I have thought it over. I don't see how we can argue that van Looy was better than De Vlaeminck was.

The latter was much lighter and hence could climb. He was more much more complete. OK as Van Looy was so heavy, you can argue it was a big deal to see him climb so well at times.

It's often been said that Van Looy had a better reputation because he was the best rider of his era (in one day races at least) and because he was more of an attacker, while De Vlaeminck so often drafted Merckx's or Maertens' wheel.

But in my view, building his palmares under Merckx makes De Vlaeminck even greater. That surely was the greatest era for cycling. And Van Looy also rode very negatively against Merckx (RvV '68) while De Vlaeminck had beautiful solo rides that Van Looy never had (Emilia '76 >80km solo, Roubaix '77> 35km solo).

The De Vlaeminck palmares seems clearly better as such to me and the way he won them also were better. Van Looy won some of his best races in mass sprints, just like a Pre-Poggio Milan Sanremo and Lombardy when the finish was still in Milan's Vigorelli and his Worlds. No way Van Looy could have won Lombardy on a present-day route. De Vlaeminck won both Lombardy's in Como with huge climbs and his 3 Milan Sanremo in breakaways, the largest group consisting of 15 riders.

And don't forget that De Vlaeminck was one of the greatest cross specialists of his era. Van Looy was a track specialist but De Vlaeminck could do well on the track. And he also won his share of Italian one-day races that he loved so much(he considered them all as Ardennes classic equivalents) while in Italy Van Looy won sprint races like Sassari-Cagliari, and that's about it.

OK That was my opinion.

I think I gave my top10 earlier on this thread and some contested it.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That's a song of someone who considered him self a French speaking Flemish. He criticised the Flemish nationalistic movements and idolised Flanders at the same time.

And probably the greatest Belgian of all time, even ahead of Eddy or Pater Damiaan.

 

[Mich78BEL]

Why? I have thought it over. I don't see how we can argue that van Looy was better than De Vlaeminck was.

The latter was much lighter and hence could climb. He was more much more complete. OK as Van Looy was so heavy, you can argue it was a big deal to see him climb so well at times.

It's often been said that Van Looy had a better reputation because he was the best rider of his era (in one day races at least) and because he was more of an attacker, while De Vlaeminck so often drafted Merckx's or Maertens' wheel.

But in my view, building his palmares under Merckx makes De Vlaeminck even greater. That surely was the greatest era for cycling. And Van Looy also rode very negatively against Merckx (RvV '68) while De Vlaeminck had beautiful solo rides that Van Looy never had (Emilia '76 >80km solo, Roubaix '77> 35km solo).

The De Vlaeminck palmares seems clearly better as such to me and the way he won them also were better. Van Looy won some of his best races in mass sprints, just like a Pre-Poggio Milan Sanremo and Lombardy when the finish was still in Milan's Vigorelli and his Worlds. No way Van Looy could have won Lombardy on a present-day route. De Vlaeminck won both Lombardy's in Como with huge climbs and his 3 Milan Sanremo in breakaways, the largest group consisting of 15 riders.

And don't forget that De Vlaeminck was one of the greatest cross specialists of his era. Van Looy was a track specialist but De Vlaeminck could do well on the track. And he also won his share of Italian one-day races that he loved so much(he considered them all as Ardennes classic equivalents) while in Italy Van Looy won sprint races like Sassari-Cagliari, and that's about it.

OK That was my opinion.

I think I gave my top10 earlier on this thread and some contested it.

to me Van Looy's palmaras is just a bit more complete then De Vlaeminck's, he did well in World Championships (2 wins), won all the monuments/classics and did great in Grand Tours, the fact De Vlaeminck never was World Champion gives the edge to Van Looy for me

 

[Mich78BEL]

That's kind of the problem in Flanders. A lot of Walloons migrating to Flanders without wanting to learn Dutch. That's kind of the whole point with Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. The majority of the population in those districts, who speak French, want to be able to vote on not just the Flemish parties. And want extra rights for being able to speak French. I say stop being lazy and learn Dutch or go back to Brussels or Wallonië!.

you're going way off topic, imo everybody in Belgium should be able to vote for anybody when there are national elections (not for regional elections off course), would solve BHV immediately, would be the most democratic solution

And I don't think Brabant was already divided when Merckx was born. And Brussels was already long since French when Merckx was born.

you're wright it was all Brabant then but the village he was born in now is in Flemish Brabant, but saying Brussels was already fully French just after WWII isn't true, the numbers of the language count In Brussels in 1947 say 45 % of the people then wore bilingual, 10 % flemish and 38 % french, so i would say the city was more bilingual then.

I wouldn't even call Brussels 'french' now, its become more & more international, won't be long before English is the most spoken language there (or possibly some Arab language), and dutch (or Flemish) is still spoken in about one in 5 homes in Brussels according to recent sociological studies done by the VUB.

You're being overly negative to say the least. I know quite a lot of french speaking Belgians who make an effort in speaking dutch/flemish, my sister used to be married to a Walloon and he always made an effort. They are raising there kids in both languages by the way.

 

[Mich78BEL]

And probably the greatest Belgian of all time, even ahead of Eddy or Pater Damiaan.

i always thought it was stupid to make Pater Damiaan the greatest Belgian, its great what he has done but Paul Janssen is probably the Belgian who did the most for mankind, should have given that tittle to him, stupid contest anyway, Clijsters at rank 14? Come on, thats just stupid!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

i always thought it was stupid to make Pater Damiaan the greatest Belgian, its great what he has done but Paul Janssen is probably the Belgian who did the most for mankind, should have given that tittle to him, stupid contest anyway, Clijsters at rank 14? Come on, thats just stupid!

Personally I can't believe Hercule Poirot and Tintin didn't make the top 10

 

[WinterRider]

Missed one

Canada:

1) Steve Bauer
2) Micheal Barry
3) Ryder Hesjedal
4) Gord Fraser
5) Svein Tuft
6) Alex Stieda
7) Brian Walton
8) Curt Harnett (Track)
9) Christian Meier (Watch out for him when he gets some more Euro experience in!)
10) Alison Sydor (Best Canadian female cyclist on road and mtb!)

Alison Sydor, really, what about Clara Hughes, one of only five people to win Olympic medals in both summer and winter games, Bronze in Women's road race and time trial, and a bunch of speed skating medals.

Also, from wikipedia:

"Hughes, an 18-time Canadian national cycling champion, won the silver medal at the 1995 World Cycling Championships (Time Trial)."

Alison is queen of the mountain, but can't hold a candle to Clara on the road, and consider that she spent many of her strongest years focusing on speed skating.