Which monument is the most prestigious?

[Archibald]

PR (and is also my favourite)
am warming to RvV having now done it and been there
MSR was great to watch this year, but has left me a bit cold over the past few years
have never really paid much attention to the other two

 

[ak-zaaf]

In Italy it's Sanremo, In Vlaanderen it's Vlaanderen and for the rest of the World it's prolly Roubaix.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Roubaix>RVV>Liège>Sanremo>Lombardia for prestige, I think.

Lombardia>Liège>RVV>Roubaix>Sanremo for my opinion.

 

[El Pistolero]

In Italy it's Sanremo, In Vlaanderen it's Vlaanderen and for the rest of the World it's prolly Roubaix.

You'd still end up with more people saying Vlaanderen is the most prestigious then.

 

[El Pistolero]

Roubaix>RVV>Liège>Sanremo>Lombardia for prestige, I think.

Lombardia>Liège>RVV>Roubaix>Sanremo for my opinion.

Care to explain?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Care to explain?

Simple really - those are the races in the order of my personal preference. Hence the list of what I think is the general prestige perception, then the list of my personal view.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

Roubaix by a couple of clear bike lengths from the Ronde.
MSR a length further back.
LBL a distant 4th and GdL struggling to make the time limit.

 

[El Pistolero]

Simple really - those are the races in the order of my personal preference. Hence the list of what I think is the general prestige perception, then the list of my personal view.

Yes, but why do you think that I mean. Not a lot of people share that opinion.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Lombardia has beautiful views, a great profile that really challenges, plus as it's late in the season it combines the moroseness of being the end of the genuine racing season with the hopeful look forward as often a lot of big names shut up their season after the Worlds so we get to see some young stars breaking through.

L-B-L has lots of ankle-biting short climbs that I really enjoy, and a great finale. It's also one of the least predictable, with the winner coming in several different ways in the last few years.

RVV has amazing atmosphere, and steep cobbled climbs that I enjoy. I often find the finale a bit of an anticlimax on the route (not this year though!!!), however.

Roubaix has the thrill of the cobbles, and the rough, dusty/muddy trails. It often feels like more of a lottery than the other monuments, however, which disappoints me, plus I prefer the challenge of the cobbled bergs to the flat but rough cobblestones.

Milan-San Remo has beautiful scenery but all too often can get predictable. This year's was the most exciting in years. It's also the monument most likely to come down to bunch sprints, and as you of course know I am the biggest fan of bunch sprints in the known universe.

 

[Echoes]

Paris-Roubaix is not more of a lottery than any other race. Quite on the contrary, actually. The best are usually in front.


Prestige suggests history. Hence, in my opinion, it should be as followed:

1 Paris Roubaix: Queen of the classic. The one that every legend wanted to have in their palmarès until 1990's specializing and EPO era.

2 Milan Sanremo: Classicissima for the Italians. Great palmarès. Quite a unique race. Legendary 7-win record by Merckx. The race has been stolen by sprinters but only in recent years and I still can't understand how they could manage it.

3 Tour of Lombardy: Perhaps not considered prestigious here in the North because it's in autumn. Hard route now but has changed it too often in its history (the 1985 edition sucked all the way!)

4 Tour of Flanders: Prestigious because related to the myth of the Flandrians. But too easy - mostly in the old days before the Koppenberg was added - to be considered a prestigious classic. The poorest palmarès of the four, whatever Descender might think.

5 Liège Bastogne Liège: hard route and the oldest of all but the first editions had a fairly local field up until the 50's and even then the Arrow or Paris-Brussels had a better field. Liège is a top classic only since the Merckx era, when Paris-Brussels was temp scrapped. In terms of hardness, I'd rank it much higher.

 

[Descender]

Paris-Roubaix is not more of a lottery than any other race. Quite on the contrary, actually. The best are usually in front.


Prestige suggests history. Hence, in my opinion, it should be as followed:

1 Paris Roubaix: Queen of the classic. The one that every legend wanted to have in their palmarès until 1990's specializing and EPO era.

2 Milan Sanremo: Classicissima for the Italians. Great palmarès. Quite a unique race. Legendary 7-win record by Merckx. The race has been stolen by sprinters but only in recent years and I still can't understand how they could manage it.

3 Tour of Lombardy: Perhaps not considered prestigious here in the North because it's in autumn. Hard route now but has changed it too often in its history (the 1985 edition sucked all the way!)

4 Tour of Flanders: Prestigious because related to the myth of the Flandrians. But too easy - mostly in the old days before the Koppenberg was added - to be considered a prestigious classic. The poorest palmarès of the four, whatever Descender might think.

5 Liège Bastogne Liège: hard route and the oldest of all but the first editions had a fairly local field up until the 50's and even then the Arrow or Paris-Brussels had a better field. Liège is a top classic only since the Merckx era, when Paris-Brussels was temp scrapped. In terms of hardness, I'd rank it much higher.

I can't see how the LBL is the least prestigious at this point in time. I'd say:

PR
LBL
Flanders
Lombardy
MSR

In terms of overall prestige among the cycling world right now.

 

[Descender]

Seriously? M-SR and Lombardia are a huge deal in Italy.

I do think that Roubaix is the queen of the classics, but I love all of the rest of them just as much. If anything I'd put LBL and Lombardia below Sanremo, perhaps due to my British aversion to slopes.

This poll (and any like it) was only ever going to have one result, partly due to the aforementioned Northern Europe demographic of these boards and partly due to the weird 'sprinters aren't real bike racers and flat races don't count' sentiment that is so prevalent here.

Not nearly as big as the Belgian races are in Belgium.

 

[Jamsque]

Not nearly as big as the Belgian races are in Belgium.

Yes, but only because Italians can actually play football.

 

[boomcie]

Yes, but only because Italians can actually play football.

To this: fukke the futébol.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Paris-Roubaix is not more of a lottery than any other race. Quite on the contrary, actually. The best are usually in front.


Prestige suggests history. Hence, in my opinion, it should be as followed:

1 Paris Roubaix: Queen of the classic. The one that every legend wanted to have in their palmarès until 1990's specializing and EPO era.

2 Milan Sanremo: Classicissima for the Italians. Great palmarès. Quite a unique race. Legendary 7-win record by Merckx. The race has been stolen by sprinters but only in recent years and I still can't understand how they could manage it.

3 Tour of Lombardy: Perhaps not considered prestigious here in the North because it's in autumn. Hard route now but has changed it too often in its history (the 1985 edition sucked all the way!)

4 Tour of Flanders: Prestigious because related to the myth of the Flandrians. But too easy - mostly in the old days before the Koppenberg was added - to be considered a prestigious classic. The poorest palmarès of the four, whatever Descender might think.

5 Liège Bastogne Liège: hard route and the oldest of all but the first editions had a fairly local field up until the 50's and even then the Arrow or Paris-Brussels had a better field. Liège is a top classic only since the Merckx era, when Paris-Brussels was temp scrapped. In terms of hardness, I'd rank it much higher.

You are seeking for some attention or what ?
You might perhaps get a chance to sort it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dUSiibUFzGs#t=40s

 

[Jamsque]

To this: fukke the futébol.

Hey man, don't worry. I'm from Scotland, we can't play football either.

 

[boomcie]

Hey man, don't worry. I'm from Scotland, we can't play football either.

I really don't care about football. Except for the worlds.
Why do you think I'm here?

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Yes, but only because Italians can actually play football.

They used to...

 

[Parrulo]

I really don't care about football. Except for the worlds.
Why do you think I'm here?

sorry even tho cycling is my favourite sport, i still love football. if people didn't have this "i love this 1 sport and hate all the rest" attitude some sports (cycling included) would prolly have a lot more fans.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

sorry even tho cycling is my favourite sport, i still love football. if people didn't have this "i love this 1 sport and hate all the rest" attitude some sports (cycling included) would prolly have a lot more fans.

yeah, I might actually like football more I'm certainly better at it

 

[boomcie]

sorry even tho cycling is my favourite sport, i still love football. if people didn't have this "i love this 1 sport and hate all the rest" attitude some sports (cycling included) would prolly have a lot more fans.

I actually like almost every sport. Football just annoys me more and more. Curling too.

 

[luckyboy]

I think generally it would be: Roubaix > Ronde/Liege > Sanremo > Lombardia

For me: Ronde > Roubaix/Liege > Lombardia > > > Sanremo

 

[auscyclefan94]

My faves

LBL
RVV
PR
GdL
MSR

Prestige
PR
RVV
LBL
MSR
Gdl

 

[boomcie]

Alright, for the moment it looks like the following tendencies have come forward:

1) Roubaix is the most prestigious.
2) The sample completing the survey is probably not representative, with a pretty large northern bias.
3) I am quite sure though that LBL is more prestigious than it's Italian counterpart GdL.
4) RVV is probably blown out of proportion the most in the votes, because of it's strong local backing.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Alright, for the moment it looks like the following tendencies have come forward:

1) Roubaix is the most prestigious.
2) The sample completing the survey is probably not representative, with a pretty large northern bias.
3) I am quite sure though that LBL is more prestigious than it's Italian counterpart GdL.
4) RVV is probably blown out of proportion the most in the votes, because of it's strong local backing.

Which is why overall prestige and just prestige are two different things.