Who is the best Colombian Cyclist of all times?

[SergeDeM]

[/B]

While I agree with your statement on the Palmares bulk of achievements, which Quintana obviously has already surpassed the rest- I perhaps hold strong roots to the heroes of the 80's because- I most confess- I grew up watching them on the TV and what they did back then- with the lack of experience, with the tight resources & most of all- with the ideal of having a "National Team" to gather the best riders to compete in Europe was stupendous- to me-the mayor achievement in Colombian cycling as the anchor & foundation for what happened to the next generations.

I also agree with Ryo on Cochise- he was a monster- but a "rarity", an "anomaly" & a lone pioneer in a sport yet very underdeveloped in Colombia. I do have love and appreciation of those riders more than today's because of the hardships they endured to reach the glory- not saying today's athletes don't go through them(hence Uran for instance) but as far as just the basics -like equipment & training alone -are astronomically different from back then- nowadays money, contracts, sponsorship, traveling, etc make life much more easier for them.

anyways- For me- Cochise & Herrera will always be the best Colombian cyclists ever, regardless the bulk of their palmares, simply because they were the first ones from our country that proved to the world that it was "possible" to beat the best Europeans in their own races- that it was "possible" to aspire and achieve glory through the practice of this beautiful sport-that it was "possible" to work hard on higher ideals for Colombians practicing the sport to reach professional level- that it was "possible" to export this talent abroad & enhance/improve the Country's image around the world......

Someone always has to be the first. I don't see how that automatically makes him the best ever.

I also grew up watching Parra and Herrera ripping it up on the Tour and Vuelta on live TV and I like to dig through the internets every now and then to see what else I can learn about those golden days but that doesn't make them the best ever. They were always dark horses for overall victory in GTs while Quintana at 24 is already one of the top 2 or 3 favorites in any GT he enters, and since Colombian cycling is completely focused on GTs then in my opinion that's where I should look when saying who's the best ever.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

the source about alvaro mejia being clean in the 1993 tour is andy hampsten.
andy hampsten reported that alvaro was a huge talent and made incredible efforts to reach that result. this effort may be were a factor for his short career.
andy also said that alvaro was always homesick about his family and colombia .
this was probably the reason of his short career in europe.
I am willing to trust andy hampsten, but everything is possible and nobody except alvaro himself knows the truth about that tour

I have this from alvaro mejia himself. who after his career became a full time doctor and was when in the media always about being part of a team. during one vuelta colombia he threatened to quit his job if they didn't pull out a number of riders from the team he was working on. after it he was so sick he quit on cycling alrogether and is no a doctor in a hospital I think

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

ok then lol

my source is the amazing speed they were racing in 1993 mountains, never seen until that year. and it's exactly what laurent fignon wrote in his biography.

i'm curious, what place is epic,myhtical cacaito rodriguez in this classement?

that tells you how much talent mejia had. maybe the most talented cyclist ever. at leats that's what I think with maybe pantani.

 

[Netserk]

Yes, being a Colombian (aka demi god) is a bigger advantage than EPO.

 

[SergeDeM]

Yes, being a Colombian (aka demi god) is a bigger advantage than EPO.

I think you got that backwards. Being a Colombian demigod was no longer enough when EPO came around

 

[Netserk]

I think you got that backwards. Being a Colombian demigod was no longer enough when EPO came around

My bad. I forgot EPO was first used in 1994.

 

[Echoes]

Just as absurd as saying Cochise has to be better just because he was an allrounder. And BTW Quintana is an amazing climber but that's not all he is. He can TT he's always well positioned when it matters. How many other Colombians can you say that about?

You've gotta be kidding.

Quintana cannot ITT on the flat to save his life... He can't contend in the classics to save his life. He's specialized while Cochise was an all-rounder.

Absurd to say this? You don't have a clue. All the past greats were all-rounders and the thing they all had in common was having an ITT in the bag: whether classic greats or stage race greats. That's the key. Cochise had that. He's one of the best.

And I'm talking about what he did achieve. If Quintana can cover 47, 553km in an hour on a traditional bike, I'll revise my judgment. Until then, Cochise remains the greatest.

But your stupid comment about the Luxo shows that you only think that the Tour of France matters, so no discussion must be possible with you.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Yes, being a Colombian (aka demi god) is a bigger advantage than EPO.

clealry not or he would've been a multipel tour winner (mejia)

 

[The Hitch]

So you say meija is the best ever because you don't think he took epo, but then you say your other candidate for best ever is Marco Pantani

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

So you say meija is the best ever because you don't think he took epo, but then you say your other candidate for best ever is Marco Pantani

yes marco pantnai the most natural giftred climber of all time. I won't dfiscuss this again but there's countless proof he was an incredible talent.

 

[SergeDeM]

You've gotta be kidding.

Quintana cannot ITT on the flat to save his life... He can't contend in the classics to save his life. He's specialized while Cochise was an all-rounder.

Absurd to say this? You don't have a clue. All the past greats were all-rounders and the thing they all had in common was having an ITT in the bag: whether classic greats or stage race greats. That's the key. Cochise had that. He's one of the best.

And I'm talking about what he did achieve. If Quintana can cover 47, 553km in an hour on a traditional bike, I'll revise my judgment. Until then, Cochise remains the greatest.

But your stupid comment about the Luxo shows that you only think that the Tour of France matters, so no discussion must be possible with you.

Nostalgia makes us look at the old legends with rose tainted glasses.

Like I said, Cochise was great and I don't diminish his achievements but for colombians the GTs are what matters so that's where we have to look to determine who the best colombian ever is. I'd bet you most colombians would rather have a tour podium than an "amateur" hour record. You can feel free to disagree, this is just an opinion, same as yours.

BTW, there's no need to insult people who disagree with you. It doesn't exactly strengthen your point

 

[fauniera]

Quintana cannot ITT on the flat to save his life...

Not true.

He can't contend in the classics to save his life.

He won Giro dell'Emilia and was 11th at Lombardia at age 22.

 

[Akuryo]

Not true.



He won Giro dell'Emilia and was 11th at Lombardia at age 22.

Come on, it was 9.1 k's. And he still lost 38 seconds. And to only name two occasions where he did good in the classics is also not very much. But he has not ridden a lot of classics so far. 2013 only one one-day-race (16th at Il Lombardia). So we can not really judge his one-day-results, because there aren't so many.

 

[Escarabajo]

This could mark one of the best crop of Colombian participants at the Tour if not the best. Maybe one day we will see Lopez and Egan among them. But the quality is very high.

They have come long ways after becoming almost extint in the 90's.

Quintana,
Henao,
Uran,
Chaves,
Pantano,
Atapuma

Pending,
Betancur (I doubt it)

Quintana could seal the deal about the best Colombian ever (In case ha has not done it yet).

http://www.revistamundociclistico.com/ruta/23391-tour-de-francia-rinde-homenaje-a-los-escarabajos-con-emotivo-video.html

 

[Akuryo]

The best is obviously Gaviria. Everyone in Colombia can climb (or so it seems ) but how many are world class sprinters with the ability to ride on cobbles?

 

[portugal11]

I don't know how good bernal is in time trials so I don't know if he will surpass quintana in the future

 

[RedheadDane]

Some kid who'll be born in a 20 years time.

Well, the thread title does say of all times. Pretty sure that would include the future.

 

[TMP402]

I was looking for a thread on Colombian cycling in general to dump this photo:

 

[TMP402]

Also:

 

[Escarabajo]

That is a weird photo. Froome is in black shirt. Henao is in front of him. Quintana an all others Colombians are there. Froome don't look that happy in that picture!!!! LOL.

I knew those silly Colombians with flags all over the place were going to do something like that. Well in their defense I saw other nationalities doing the same.

 

[Netserk]

The Colombian fans have behaved the worst in this Tour.