What type of rider do you like most?

[scribe]

The riders I like the most are the ones with the coolest names.

I'm serious.

Like Bo Hamburger.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

mmm when i first comented i didnt see the poll. I would go for the Alejandro Valverde - type. But since he really is one of a kind (maybe Eddy Mercx and EBH) i will expand it to - hilly classics/ gt specialist, who try to win everything, thereby including Sammy Sanchez and making it a category.

Both can tt and then some. Both can climb and then some. . Both have major major one day results. Both are among the top gt specialists around. Both can descend- Samu better and both can sprint - Valverde better.

I mean is there any better cyclist too watch season wise than Alejandro Valverde. Over his last 12 months he podiumed Paris Nice and Pais Vasco, won Dauphine and Romandie, in stage races. He won the Vuelta, and podiumed in Liege Bastogne Liege. Over these races he won bunch sprint stages, hilly stages, mountain stages and came 2nd in a few tts.


In other words i like guys who are world class at everything, and try at everything.

One major disadvantage for Valverde

1) He waits around for his sprint WAY too many times. I mean, how do you spell wheelsucker? V-A-L-V-E-R-D-E. That's how
2) OP.

 

[The Hitch]

One major disadvantage for Valverde

1) He waits around for his sprint WAY too many times. I mean, how do you spell wheelsucker? V-A-L-V-E-R-D-E. That's how
2) OP.

1 I would see that as a big disadvantage if he just won sprints against climbers and hilly classics guys. But he makes up for this by actually contesting bunch sprints. For a guy who wants to win the overall at a stage race to beat Oscar Freire in bunch sprints. That shows balls. And how great is it to have a major gc contender to win stage 1 of the tour.

Besides he does attack now and again. There are worse wheelsuckers out there.

2 One year down. One to go. It will be worth it for those Amstel Gold worlds 2012. His time will finally come.

 

[Anonymous]

My favorite races are Flanders and Roubaix.

Tchmil
Duclose Lasalle
RdV
Museeuw
Tafi
Van Petegem
Magnus
O'grady
Boonen
Cancellara

Tough dudes for hard races.

 

[Ferminal]

Pure climbers followed by the attacker (Vino, Hoogerland)

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

a mixture of pure climber and hilly spec.
I like both explosive and steady. On the steep stuff, guys like basso are amazing to watch.
For me, watching riders hit breaking point and slowly fade away is probably as good as MTF's get.. survival stuff.

Also gotta love the attacking type riders (as moondance mentioned with skill...)
Hoogie, Chav.. etc

 

[schweinika]

I can't decide between the pure sprinter, the climber, and the timetrialist.
So I'll vote the timetrialist, Cancellara being my favourite rider this year.

 

[Marcus135]

Explosive climber ftw, way way more entertaining.

 

[rhubroma]

I have to say there really aren't any riders in today's peleton that excite me the way some have done in the past. Those who did over the past to decades the most were Marco Pantani and Paolo Bettini. The explosive and pure climber "il Pirata" and the wild and dynamic classics-worlds-olympics champion "il Grillo"

 

[Cobber]

Classics riders are my favorites - hilly or cobbled. Boonen, or maybe Haussler if he gets back into form, would be my favorite riders to watch these days.

 

[pugdog]

I like great descenders... Savoldelli, Sanchez, or nutty ones like Gusev and Popovych.

Other than that, I like the tactically savvy riders like Freire, or in his time Armstrong.

 

[Mich78BEL]

all-rounders who ride an attacking style, probably none of those around anymore

 

[Seatrout]

Michael Rasmussen "The Chicken"............ The return of a legend.......soon to come!

 

[flyor64]

My favorite races are Flanders and Roubaix.

Tchmil
Duclose Lasalle
RdV
Museeuw
Tafi
Van Petegem
Magnus
O'grady
Boonen
Cancellara

Tough dudes for hard races.

+1 for the tough racers and races...

 

[Sørensen]

The cobbled classic specialist. Followed by Attacking climbers like Rasmussen.

 

[Jan the Man]

Gilbert.

.

 

[Boeing]

I like the guy who can ride steady red line pace pushing the peloton beyond tempo in the mountains day after day. probably because it hits close to home. although I always wish they could attack, probably because it hits close to home as well

 

[sublimit]

Tom Steels, Mark Cavendish, Abdu are where its at for excitement.

But I also go with the previous post with respect to the climbing domestiques, riders like Kireyenka, Navvaro are unburstable and i respect them more than the winners that just sit on for most of the time.

 

[tubularglue]

Small climbers who can't tt.

2nd that.

 

[aahmadhu]

1. surviving sprinters who know how to suffer and can work on their own; hushovd, freire, boonen, jj rojas etc

2. hilly classic specialists who don't do GTs' GC; gilbert, kolobnev, cunego etc

3. guys who animate races; vinokourov, valverde, chavanel, cunego etc

4. riders who do suicidal breakaways and never tired of doing it year after year; the french breakaway riders, russian daredevils etc

 

[maltiv]

Attacking sprinters/all-rounders (Haussler, EBH, Boonen, Sagan).

 

[monopost]

I agree with Hitch. How many riders can climb (long or short hills/mountains) and sprint. You can watch this type of riders form classics to GTs. This type can perform almost everywhere.

That's a pitty for me, that he can't race right now, when he recently had the best performances of his career. It's unfortuned to ban him this long time after the affair. I would prefer if any remove him form results at the time when Basso had ban.

 

[jens_attacks]

hmmm can't decide.i think i like all of them.i even used to like evans wheelsucking style back in the days or levi's.i realize that without a single type of those listed cycling wouldn't be cycling.anyway a plus for the attackers and explosive climbers i guess.

 

[slowoldman]

Domestiques who on occasion pull off a big win.....something in my personality I guess. Can you tell I'm a Jens fan?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

One major disadvantage for Valverde

1) He waits around for his sprint WAY too many times. I mean, how do you spell wheelsucker? V-A-L-V-E-R-D-E. That's how
2) OP.

Valverde can be quite the attacker though. He was part of the group that formed the echelon at Paris-Nice, he forced the selection in the first stage of País Vasco, he charged off alone on Mont Ventoux to bridge to the break in the Dauphiné last year, he made and met every winning move in Romandie bar Spilak's. He does wait around for his sprint a lot, but often that should be the onus on the other riders to try and drop him since he will beat them in a sprint. Apart from Cunego, I can't think of any GC/hilly classics specialists who would think "yea, I WANT to take it to a sprint with Alejandro Valverde".

Tom Steels, Mark Cavendish, Abdu are where its at for excitement.

The biggest problem with the likes of these is that you have to sit around while absolutely nothing happens for hours to get to that few seconds of excitement. And I can't say Cav excites me anyway, it's like getting excited by the Armstrong wins in the '04 Tour, it's more or less inevitable when he's on form; how exciting is a 5-0 drubbing in soccer, or Brady throwing to Moss in the fourth when the Pats are 30 points up? He was much more fun to watch when you were never sure if he had it or not.