Who are the best bike handlers in the peloton?

[oevkride]

EBH ain't that bad either. I remember him bunny hopping a roundabout in the final ITT in last years Eneco tour.

 

[brianf7]

Robbie Mc Ewan is not too bad had heaps of practice as a youngster on BMX circuit.

 

[Kender]

farrar has to be right up there. last night some ag2r turkey attached his front wheel to farrar's derailier.

 

[oncehadhair]

McEwan (robbie)
He rode for the last 50 metres and across the line at the end of a mountain stage on his back wheel a few years ago.

 

[SoCalCyclingfan]

Bike skills

Definitely McEwen! He appears out of nowhere on the sprints. One of the retired cyclists from the pro peleton said Robbie could descend Mount Ventoux at 60 mph and never touch his brakes.

 

[La Vie Claire]

Most riders with MTB, track or cyclocross background have better than average bike handling.

One that should be mentioned specifically is perhaps Peter Sagan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItBV9CVJEoo

Man, that kid has talent all around!

 

[Mach Schnell]

Leipheimer. Definately

 

[SoLogy]

Easy

Frank Schleck, Lloyd Mondory, Christian Vande Velde.

 

[SpartacusRox]

Cav and Denny...

 

[craig1985]

Gilberto Simoni is not bad either.

 

[Nigel Dean]

Great bike handlers generally - David Moncouttier an exception (although he is not riding this year). He always rides at the very back of the peleton except when making an effort to break away or in the mountains. But what about the motor-cycle marshalls and gendarmes? It is much more difficult to descend mountains on a cumbersome mechanical machine. Hats off to them.Back to Moncouttier..maybe he just likes to remain anonymous like so many of the Cycling News forum subscribers. Speak out - but step forward too!

 

[craig1985]

Marcus Burghardt anyone? This guy has won Ghent - Wevelgem, and not only came off the Kemmelberg in one piece (if you think of Jimmy Casper's nasty crash), but made it into the lead group to win.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Gadret? He comes from cyclocross.

yeah but he's a really bad downhiller actually. same with evans not very strong

there is a huge difference betwene bike handling en downhilling btw and (one of) the best bike handlers no doubt is andrey amador and jj haedo

 

[abbaskip]

Mark Renshaw can bully his way through, always looks in control and a tremendous lead out rider.

Was going to mention Mark. He was a track specialist for a long time, and in juniors raced quite a few sprint events on the track, which would help quite a bit.

O'Grady, McEwen and Friere would have to be up there too.

 

[roundabout]

yeah but he's a really bad downhiller actually. same with evans not very strong

there is a huge difference betwene bike handling en downhilling btw and (one of) the best bike handlers no doubt is andrey amador and jj haedo

Haedo seems lost whenever a sprint becomes disorganized.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Haedo seems lost whenever a sprint becomes disorganized.

that's because he can't physically move through peloton(pushing). but his bike handling according to kroon is the best he ever saw. he also has downhil record speed in europe of 118 km/h

 

[derailleur]

Also is it true thad nibali can descend hand free, in order to get quicker turns? Thats what i heard harmonn say i think.

I doubt it. Two-wheeled vehicles are counter-steered, and waiting for the bike to figure out that you leaned your head over is way slower than torquing the handlebars to aim the front wheel outside the line of balance and flick the bike into the lean. And way, way, WAY less stable. A handlebar without an active torque on it will nutate. Throw in road undulations and variable camber, and it becomes a circus act, not the fastest way down the mountain.

If someone's got video of Nibali passing people in the twisties with both hands on the top-tube, I'll believe it. Otherwise, file it under 'apocrypha'.

 

[ulrikmm]

Fuglsang is a decent downhiller and copplestoner too - he started his career in mountainbiking.

Actually it is nice for Saxo to have a climber, who can also smoke it on the downhills. Before, their GC climbers lost lots of time downhill (Sastre , Basso). Andy Schleck probably still will.

 

[Martinello]

There are a lot of things to 'bike handling':

Navigating the peloton (being at the right place, worming your way to the front in the sprints, riding in cross winds etc.)
Descending
Riding bad roads/cobbles/gravel

Just because a rider has a past in BMX/MTB/Cyclocross/Track riding doesn't make him an ace in all these categories.

Based on the above I would chose Hushovd. Always on the right side of the splits, good on the cobbles and a fine descender.

 

[Tom T.]

Re Contador: That was earlier in his career during Paris-Nice. He was on the attack on a descent and had somehow clipped out of one of his pedals and appeared to be about to careen into a stone wall. He recovered immediately but was eventually caught.

I remember that one! It was totally insane, he should have seriously destroyed himself but somehow held it together.

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen say Lance is the best bike handler in the peloton so it must be true

Seriously, I'd take McEwen and Friere. I'll never forget a sprint in the Giro where a Kelme guy took Cipo down on a wet corner that was like ice. McEwen came through like there was not a problem at all and won the sprint by 10 bike lengths.

 

[Polish]

In yesterday's stage Alberto was racing all out to get to the front of the "Armstrong group" when he bunny hopped the curb and "threaded the needle" on the sidewalk and then bunny hopped back out into the street.

He passed quite a few riders in very close quarters while riding on the rivet.
It WAS impressive, even more so if his spoke was already busted...

 

[cyclestationgiuseppe]

McEwen is awesome....who else takes a one handed wheelie after riding Alpe D Huez?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...a=X&ei=geM0TMLZEYbgnAeByr20Aw&ved=0CBYQ9QEwAQ

 

[Rocksteady]

Don't forget Hes-Jay and BOOM!! Hes-Jay was MTBer and has some good skills. Boom was Cyclocross. Anybody who excels at Cyclocross has to have mad skills (also required are small brains and steel nuts but that wasn't the topic)

 

[alyssataylor1962]

It can be very difficult to say who is dealing skills.McEwen is the best bike handlers in the peloton.McEwen mix up man to man,beat bodies with guys much bigger than him 45 mph.

 

[El Imbatido]

I can't believe no one has said Paolo Savoldelli. He had awesome downhill skills. The 05 Giro is a really good example