Who has the Best/Worst riding style in the Peloton?

[Bike Boy]

Oh aye, I forgot about Wiggins' TTing. He just looks fast as hell.

+1

I was in Annecy 2009. riders like Wiggins and Ignatiev looks like thin paper cutting the wind, with 50 km/h. It's absolutely awesome to watch

 

[Bike Boy]

He's probably already mentioned. Cancellara! self explanatory

 

[Rominger]

Goin back a few years....

Fondriest - class, pure class
Berzin looked great with or without sauce.....

Zulle never looked very comfortable

 

[Jancouver]

Best:
Peter Sagan & Spartacus

Worst:
Evans & LA on TT

 

[Moondance]

Most TT specialists (Canc, Millar, Martin, etc.) tend to have very nice smooth styles, minimizing any excess movement... Oscar Freire also springs to mind for how incredibly quickly (and completely in control) he can do some outrageously scary things on a bike. I'll also echo Sagan, who also always looks very good, and Edvald Boasson Hagen too.

As for worst, well, the aforementioned Soler immediately springs to mind. And from the women's peloton I'm always slightly weirded out whenever I see Marianne Vos ride; something about how she rides never appears to be quite right, even if she usually does extremely well.

 

[Highlander]

I don't have much of an opinion about who looks best on the bike, but Voeckler is one of the worst when he climbs. He always looks like it is such a struggle that I'm a bit amazed when he actually gets to the top of a climb.

 

[El Pistolero]

Cadel Evans.

 

[Rocksteady]

Ryder Hesjedal always looks uncomfortable on long climbs. His body just seems to big on the bike. I'll also echo the Evans comments...especially TTs. (I actually like both of these guys, just not for style)

I would say LA and Contador both have (had) a very smooth style when climbing. That bouncy thing they did when blowing up the field was always fun to watch. TT is a different story (especially LA in later years... I'm still weirded out by that hump)

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I'm surprised thah nobody have menchened Gilbert and Boonen yet.
Boonen is in my mind the best looking non specialist on a tt bike.

I mentioned Gilbert read the posts dude

 

[maltiv]

Bernhard Eisel always looks cool. I also find the riding styles of Edvald Boasson Hagen and Fabian Cancellara quite stylish (and quite familiar), both on the road bike and in TTs.

 

[For The World]

Best:
Gert Jan Theunisse (just look at his break in the 1990 Amstel Gold for stylish riding)
Tom Boonen (for reasons already mentioned)
Chris Boardman (the ultimate time trialist - I'd love to see him vs. Cancellara in their primes)
Jaques Anquetil (he was essentially the catalyst for the time trial specialists we see today)

Worst:
Fabio Parra (he looks like he's trying to get low like Moser, but in no way does it look good). According to Robert Millar, his nickname was "Parachute" due to his inability to descend properly. Here's a video of his climbing style - similar to Escartin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmJiHLVeEtI)

Pictures (because everyone likes pictures):

Chris Boardman:

(I was looking for other pictures, but I had to get back to work).

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

Among the all-time great time trialists, I would say that Anquetil and Moser stand out for their styles. Moser was a picture of smooth, flat-backed power -- a lot like Cancellara (whose big nose and big hair he also anticipated!):

Anquetil was a bit more like Zabriskie -- a small guy, rather than a bull, but unbelievably relaxed once in his TT position:

 

[Furbo_]

· Gianni Bugno. Suave.
· Moreno Argentin.
· Michele Bartoli.
· Frank Vandenbroucke.

 

[flatclimb]

Best

Gilbert
Basso
Contador

Worst

Evans
Evans
Evans

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

Even when i was a total noob in cycling i always noticed Mancebo's OMG!AllWrongPositon.

I think my back is starting to ache just recalling it.

 

[blutto]

I miss Valverde.
And Ullrich on his TT-machine.
Glad that Petacchi is still sprinting.

They all look ugly compared to these names.
Cuddles is a perfect example how ugliness looks like. Nearly as ugly as Greg.

...gotta agree...and please consider adding Fignon, Roche, Acala and Freire to the graceful end of things...and you have add that bag of hammers on a bike, Sean Kelly, to the other pile ( though admittedly the man did have piles of class he rode like an Escartin for the classics..)...

Cheers

blutto

 

[FignonLeGrand]

Oh aye, I forgot about Wiggins' TTing. He just looks fast as hell.

I know its on the track so it wont count, but wiggins in beijing looked sublime when he won the gold. The smooooothest I have seen in a long time.

Loved when Cancellara won the Milan San Remo in 08, his attack was the equivalent of bike brutality, he certainly showed how stiff the cervelo was as he powered away to win.

 

[Moncoutie]

Best:
Cancellara
VDB
Pantani
Contador
D. Millar

Worst:
Abdoujaparov was in a league of his own!

 

[Mongol_Waaijer]

Best

VdB

Worst

"Linebacker" LA with his hump and out of proportion leathery body

 

[Angliru]

I always loved looking at Argentin on the bike. He just looked so powerful and perfect like he could just motor away from everyone without getting out of the saddle. His style or "look" on the bike is similar to Hayden Rouston's.

 

[wiscot]

A couple of oldies

This is going back a bit, but Kelly was never the most stylish rider (effective for sure, but stylish, no). In the 1970s and 1980s, Michel Pollentier could never be described as graceful, not the lanky Robert Alban. One of the most stylish riders of this period was the big German Dietrich Thurau. Well-known for his superb position and smooth style. Moser was always a smooth, stylish rider too; on the drops he has an astoundingly low, aerodynamic position.

 

[94condor]

More Old School

I agree about Fondriest, Bartoli, and Tafi ('99 Roubaix for example). Also Ballerini over the cobbles...
I remember Robert Millar comparing Richard Virenque's style to 'a frog on a matchbox', which I think also applies to some of the ungainly climbers mentioned here.

 

[VeloCity]

He obviously wasn't the greatest rider ever, but Pascal Lino circa the RMO days had the best style and position on a bike that I can remember. Think it was just the relatively lanky arm/leg length proportions or something, but his back was always perfectly flat.

The worst was Escartin. Just looked painful all the time.

 

[Granville57]

I just scanned this thread...and I can't believe no one picked Vino!
He always seems to blend the his own geometry, with that of his bike, perfectly.
He's the epitome of compact yet powerful; lean and mean.

TTing, climbing, attacking, sprinting...to me, that guy just looks like a pro cyclist should!

 

[unsheath]

Best:
Cam Meyer. The epitome of suppleness.