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Who had the best season in the last 20 years?

Page 11 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Who had the best season in the last 20 years?

  • Gilbert 2011

    Votes: 47 46.1%
  • Cipollini 2002

    Votes: 2 2.0%
  • Cavendish 2009

    Votes: 5 4.9%
  • Pantani 1998

    Votes: 26 25.5%
  • Cancellara 2008

    Votes: 3 2.9%
  • Boonen 2005

    Votes: 6 5.9%
  • Petacchi 2003 or 2004

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Contador 2008

    Votes: 8 7.8%
  • Zabel 2001

    Votes: 4 3.9%

  • Total voters
    102
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
Anderis said:
One thing that's being overlooked in Wiggins' 2012 season is that he won every single ITT>10 kms he rode the whole season. Every single one. There were plenty of guys who focused solely on ITT and Wiggins, who trained with intention of being good enough in the mountains to win TdF, beat all of those guys on every single occasion. And that was only in process of winning things much bigger than those ITTs. That's more impressive than one might have initially thought.
He did nothing but sit on his train for the rest of the year (except winning a reduced sprint in Romandie, how'd that happen again?). His climbing was vulnerable except he had an insanely strong team, very weak opposition, very weak and TT favoured parcourses and very weak opposition.
Yeah, it's not that Wiggins's time trialling is being overlooked, it's that time trialling basically was his season. He did absolutely nothing remarkable all year except his time trialling.

Which is why he doesn't really belong in this discussion.
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
Red Rick said:
Anderis said:
One thing that's being overlooked in Wiggins' 2012 season is that he won every single ITT>10 kms he rode the whole season. Every single one. There were plenty of guys who focused solely on ITT and Wiggins, who trained with intention of being good enough in the mountains to win TdF, beat all of those guys on every single occasion. And that was only in process of winning things much bigger than those ITTs. That's more impressive than one might have initially thought.
He did nothing but sit on his train for the rest of the year (except winning a reduced sprint in Romandie, how'd that happen again?). His climbing was vulnerable except he had an insanely strong team, very weak opposition, very weak and TT favoured parcourses and very weak opposition.
Yeah, it's not that Wiggins's time trialling is being overlooked, it's that time trialling basically was his season. He did absolutely nothing remarkable all year except his time trialling.

Which is why he doesn't really belong in this discussion.
he was the second strongest climber in that tour, without a doubt. And to an extent almost all of the people in this thread have one strength which got them most of the success.
The fact that most people prefer other aspects of cycling, doesn't in the slightest render his achievements any less stellar.
Using you argument pantani 98 shouldn't be in here, because all he did was climb like a god, and nothing else.
 
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
Anderis said:
One thing that's being overlooked in Wiggins' 2012 season is that he won every single ITT>10 kms he rode the whole season. Every single one. There were plenty of guys who focused solely on ITT and Wiggins, who trained with intention of being good enough in the mountains to win TdF, beat all of those guys on every single occasion. And that was only in process of winning things much bigger than those ITTs. That's more impressive than one might have initially thought.
He did nothing but sit on his train for the rest of the year (except winning a reduced sprint in Romandie, how'd that happen again?). His climbing was vulnerable except he had an insanely strong team, very weak opposition, very weak and TT favoured parcourses and very weak opposition.

Inexplicably, by taking the front several hundred meters out, and then riding fast enough that nobody could pass him.
 
Re: Re:

Singer01 said:
DFA123 said:
Red Rick said:
Anderis said:
One thing that's being overlooked in Wiggins' 2012 season is that he won every single ITT>10 kms he rode the whole season. Every single one. There were plenty of guys who focused solely on ITT and Wiggins, who trained with intention of being good enough in the mountains to win TdF, beat all of those guys on every single occasion. And that was only in process of winning things much bigger than those ITTs. That's more impressive than one might have initially thought.
He did nothing but sit on his train for the rest of the year (except winning a reduced sprint in Romandie, how'd that happen again?). His climbing was vulnerable except he had an insanely strong team, very weak opposition, very weak and TT favoured parcourses and very weak opposition.
Yeah, it's not that Wiggins's time trialling is being overlooked, it's that time trialling basically was his season. He did absolutely nothing remarkable all year except his time trialling.

Which is why he doesn't really belong in this discussion.
he was the second strongest climber in that tour, without a doubt. And to an extent almost all of the people in this thread have one strength which got them most of the success.
The fact that most people prefer other aspects of cycling, doesn't in the slightest render his achievements any less stellar.
Using you argument pantani 98 shouldn't be in here, because all he did was climb like a god, and nothing else.
Except that Pantani did the Giro-Tour double in style, and with limited help from his team. In some cases the achievement trumps how it was achieved. In Wiggins's case it obviously doesn't.
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
Singer01 said:
DFA123 said:
Red Rick said:
Anderis said:
One thing that's being overlooked in Wiggins' 2012 season is that he won every single ITT>10 kms he rode the whole season. Every single one. There were plenty of guys who focused solely on ITT and Wiggins, who trained with intention of being good enough in the mountains to win TdF, beat all of those guys on every single occasion. And that was only in process of winning things much bigger than those ITTs. That's more impressive than one might have initially thought.
He did nothing but sit on his train for the rest of the year (except winning a reduced sprint in Romandie, how'd that happen again?). His climbing was vulnerable except he had an insanely strong team, very weak opposition, very weak and TT favoured parcourses and very weak opposition.
Yeah, it's not that Wiggins's time trialling is being overlooked, it's that time trialling basically was his season. He did absolutely nothing remarkable all year except his time trialling.

Which is why he doesn't really belong in this discussion.
he was the second strongest climber in that tour, without a doubt. And to an extent almost all of the people in this thread have one strength which got them most of the success.
The fact that most people prefer other aspects of cycling, doesn't in the slightest render his achievements any less stellar.
Using you argument pantani 98 shouldn't be in here, because all he did was climb like a god, and nothing else.
Except that Pantani did the Giro-Tour double in style, and with limited help from his team. In some cases the achievement trumps how it was achieved. In Wiggins's case it obviously doesn't.

With all due respect Wiggins may be the most stylish TT specialist ever, that hair, those fred perry t-shirts, come on!!!
And he does have the most asthetically pleasing TT technique i have ever seen.
 
Do have to say that 2012 was a very interesting year in terms of stage races and who was on top. A number of riders who used to contend big races basically stopped doing that year, and a newer group top and sub top contenders took a while to establish themselves.

The 2 top climbers of the previous number of years were not at the Tour (Contador and Schleck). Schleck would never contend again
Evans, after his best year, started declining suddenly and would never be a threat for GTs again.
Valverde crashed in the Tour
Frank Schleck tested positive and would never contest a GT again
Menchov was a non factor, retired that year
I don't even remember what Samu did in the GTs in 2011.
Basso was below and past it by that Giro, would never compete for GTs again
 
Pantani 98 and Froome 17 are remarkably similar. Like Froome, Pantani did pretty much nothing outside his Giro and Tour wins in 98. Ofc Giro-Tour is bigger than Tour-Vuelta, and Pantani did it with a lot more panache, but either way, I'd put Froome's season over most of that list.

Also Sagan 16 should be an option on that poll in front of many of the others
 

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As long as the question is who had THE best season, adding Froome seems like a moot point since any sensible voter favoring Grand Tour placements would have Pantani 98 ahead of Froome 17 as the Giro/Tour combination is more prestigious and harder to achieve.
 
Re:

PremierAndrew said:
Pantani 98 and Froome 17 are remarkably similar. Like Froome, Pantani did pretty much nothing outside his Giro and Tour wins in 98. Ofc Giro-Tour is bigger than Tour-Vuelta, and Pantani did it with a lot more panache, but either way, I'd put Froome's season over most of that list.

Also Sagan 16 should be an option on that poll in front of many of the others
Pantani won Comunidad Valenciana, the major mountain stage at the Tour of Murcia and the maglia verde at the Giro as well in 1998!
 
Usually when I post my opinion on a forum dealing with just one particular question by the time I wake up the next morning I have forgotten about the thread all together and don't get so involved again. However with this thread, for some reason, it stuck in my head and I kept thinking about it:

Originally (as I posted on one of the first pages of this thread) my order was: 1st Gilbert 2011 - 2nd Wiggins 2012 - 3rd Pantani 1998.

But after more consideration I have changed my views. I think it is too hard to compare one day riders like Gilbert and Boonen with GT riders like Pantani and Wiggins. I also thought more about Boonen's 2005 and decided it was on par with Gilbert's 2011. Furthermore, after more consideration, I decided that Wiggins' 2012 was certainly not as impressive as I originally thought.

So, my new list is actually 2 lists. One for one day riders and one for GT riders:
1 day riders: 1st Gilbert 2011 and Boonen 2005 (joint)
GT riders: 1st Pantani 1998, 2nd Froome 2017 (unless Froome gets a medal in Worlds ITT), 3rd Wiggins 2012

Honorable mention: Cavendish 2011 who's results include:
1st World Championships
5 Tour stages
Tour Green Jersey
3 Giro Stages
Giro Pink (leaders) Jersey (for a day)
And several other sprint victories
 
It's funny. Froome probably had a better season than most riders in the poll but while you could make a point why their season should be considered the best of the last 20 year there is basically no way you can argue that Froome's season was the best because Tour-Vuelta simply gets outclassed by Giro-Tour. This could ofc still change if Froome wins the WC TT, but right now I don't really think it is necessary to change the poll options.
 
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Re:

yaco said:
Wise decision by Froome - Would struggle to beat Dennis or Dumoulin after his exertions in the Vuelta.
Lol even this contador is able to beat dennis on this route... dumoulin is another story. Froome would have beaten dennis very easily
 
Froome going for the ITT.
If he wins who would have been the last person to have had a better season than him.
Certainly no-one in the last 20 years.
Would we have to go all the way back to Roche, 1987?

Jalabert 1995 and Bugo 1990 weren't bad, but not as good.
Indurain 1993 perhaps? Tour, Giro and 2nd in WCRR as well as a few small victories.
 
Ruby United said:
Froome going for the ITT.
If he wins who would have been the last person to have had a better season than him.
Certainly no-one in the last 20 years.
Would we have to go all the way back to Roche, 1987?

Jalabert 1995 and Bugo 1990 weren't bad, but not as good.
Indurain 1993 perhaps? Tour, Giro and 2nd in WCRR as well as a few small victories.

I don't think the world ITT, particularly one on a non-traditional course designed to favour stage racers rather than specialists, makes up the gap between a Vuelta and a Giro. And certainly not the gap between a Vuelta win and a Giro win plus a couple of minor races. The Giro-Tour double is much, much harder and any example of it beats any Tour-Vuelta double unless the latter comes bundled with multiple additional big wins.
 
Ruby United said:
Froome going for the ITT.
If he wins who would have been the last person to have had a better season than him.
Certainly no-one in the last 20 years.
Would we have to go all the way back to Roche, 1987?

Jalabert 1995 and Bugo 1990 weren't bad, but not as good.
Indurain 1993 perhaps? Tour, Giro and 2nd in WCRR as well as a few small victories.
Cancellara 2010, Gilbert 2011, Boonen 2005/12. Pantani 1998. Oh, and Indurain 93 is far above Froome this year. A silver medal at the road race is better than gold at the ITT. And Giro-tour > tour-vuelta
 
Brullnux said:
Ruby United said:
Froome going for the ITT.
If he wins who would have been the last person to have had a better season than him.
Certainly no-one in the last 20 years.
Would we have to go all the way back to Roche, 1987?

Jalabert 1995 and Bugo 1990 weren't bad, but not as good.
Indurain 1993 perhaps? Tour, Giro and 2nd in WCRR as well as a few small victories.
Cancellara 2010, Gilbert 2011, Boonen 2005/12. Pantani 1998. Oh, and Indurain 93 is far above Froome this year. A silver medal at the road race is better than gold at the ITT. And Giro-tour > tour-vuelta
In the hypothetical that Froome wins the WC ITT, I don't see how Cancellara 2010 would be a better season. How does RVV/P-R/WC ITT beat Tour/Vuelta/WC ITT? I agree though on Indurain 1993 being better.
 
Ruby United said:
Froome going for the ITT.
If he wins who would have been the last person to have had a better season than him.
Certainly no-one in the last 20 years.
Would we have to go all the way back to Roche, 1987?

Jalabert 1995 and Bugo 1990 weren't bad, but not as good.
Indurain 1993 perhaps? Tour, Giro and 2nd in WCRR as well as a few small victories.

Jalabert 1995 beats any season in last 29 years! Even Indurain's 1993
 
shalgo said:
Brullnux said:
Ruby United said:
Froome going for the ITT.
If he wins who would have been the last person to have had a better season than him.
Certainly no-one in the last 20 years.
Would we have to go all the way back to Roche, 1987?

Jalabert 1995 and Bugo 1990 weren't bad, but not as good.
Indurain 1993 perhaps? Tour, Giro and 2nd in WCRR as well as a few small victories.
Cancellara 2010, Gilbert 2011, Boonen 2005/12. Pantani 1998. Oh, and Indurain 93 is far above Froome this year. A silver medal at the road race is better than gold at the ITT. And Giro-tour > tour-vuelta
In the hypothetical that Froome wins the WC ITT, I don't see how Cancellara 2010 would be a better season. How does RVV/P-R/WC ITT beat Tour/Vuelta/WC ITT? I agree though on Indurain 1993 being better.
No you're right. Gilbert 2011 and Boonen 2005 especially (2012 was impressive for winning all four of the cobbled wt races) can rival Froome this year. But I guess it depends on how you value classics vs Gts.
 

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