Who is the better cyclist: Merckx or Armstrong?

[Oncearunner8]

There needs to be a study done in order to determine the real,,,,,,"greater cyclist". LMAO

Anyone know what Merckx’s “Power to Tragedy” output was? From what I can tell Lance has him beat in that category! LMAO

 

[bianchigirl]

What even with the accident where the derny driver died and Merckx was left with crippling injuries that arguably cut short his career?

 

[buckwheat]

There is a huge difference between someone popping a few pick-me-up pills because he was up late the previous night washing his shorts in the sink of a crappy hotel and someone using Dr. Ferrari to defraud the world.

Bernie Madoff is different than a shoplifter.

Carboncrank is a crank writing from an Islamic Republic. They might all get the death penalty there.

 

[Ferdinand Artichoke]

Neither!-Cadel Evans is the best evva!!!

cos he was a champ across disciplines!
First world cup Mountain Bike Champion and then he switched over to that boring *** sport of drug cheats and is kicking *** there too!

Yeah.... and wottabout Jens? I know there are a whole bunch of other homo-tifosi out there who wanna suck on that one too!

 

[Lifeshape]

cos he was a champ across disciplines!
First world cup Mountain Bike Champion and then he switched over to that boring *** sport of drug cheats and is kicking *** there too!

Yeah.... and wottabout Jens? I know there are a whole bunch of other homo-tifosi out there who wanna suck on that one too!

You can lead the way on that one arty-chokey! In fact, start a new thread for you and your like-minded friends.

 

[Ferdinand Artichoke]

longshape- like aP ENIS

start a new thread for you and your like-minded friends.

I don't have any friends you pathetic worm

 

[Captain Kirk]

Not quite that simple:

Tour Stage wins: Merckx 34 Armstrong 26
Most stage wins in a single TdF: Merckx 8 (twice) Armstrong 6
Days in yellow: Merckx 111 Armstrong 83
Green jerseys: Merckx 3 Armstrong 0
Climbers jerseys: Merckx 2 Armstrong 0
Yellow, green, and polka dot in the same Tour: Merckx 1 Armstrong 0
Combativity award: Merckx 4 Armstrong 0
Giro and Tour in same year: Merckx 3 Armstrong 0

Should be pointed out, too, that Merckx accomplished all of that while only competing in 8 Tours, while Armstrong has now started in 12 Tours. And not to mention that Merckx raced (and raced to win) the entire Classics season prior to the Tour and often the Giro as well, while Armstrong generally focused his entire season around the Tour.

Armstrong may have 2 more overall wins, but Merckx was the greatest TdF cyclist ever.

Thanks for posting the stats...no discussion.

34% more days in yellow!
Days in yellow: Merckx 111 Armstrong 83

Merckx
Merckx
Merckx
Merckx
Merckx
Merckx

 

[Oldman]

Thanks for posting the stats...no discussion.

34% more days in yellow!
Days in yellow: Merckx 111 Armstrong 83

Merckx
Merckx
Merckx
Merckx
Merckx
Merckx

Add a coupla Belgian classics to this, Merckx's back injury; and Armstrong will need to replace his tampon. He's not even the same gender.

 

[MacRoadie]

Add a coupla Belgian classics to this, Merckx's back injury; and Armstrong will need to replace his tampon. He's not even the same gender.

Exactly. In addition to his 11 Grand Tours, Merckx also racked up:

13 other stage race victories
1× Tour de Suisse
2× Tour of Belgium
3× Paris-Nice
1× Tour de Romandie
1× Dauphiné Libéré
1× Midi Libre
4× Tour of Sardinia

and:

28 Classics
7× Milan-Sanremo
2× Ronde van Vlaanderen
3× Paris-Roubaix
5× Liège-Bastogne-Liège
2× Giro di Lombardia
2× Amstel Gold Race
3× La Flèche Wallonne
1× Paris-Brussels
3× Ghent-Wevelgem

The Classics numbers just boggle the mind. SEVEN Milan-Sanremo. Five Liège-Bastogne-Liège. And 3 Paris-Roubaix at a time when he had DeVlaeminck and Maertens, two of the best Northern Classics riders ever, to deal with too.

 

[Oldman]

Exactly. In addition to his 11 Grand Tours, Merckx also racked up:

13 other stage race victories
1× Tour de Suisse
2× Tour of Belgium
3× Paris-Nice
1× Tour de Romandie
1× Dauphiné Libéré
1× Midi Libre
4× Tour of Sardinia

and:

28 Classics
7× Milan-Sanremo
2× Ronde van Vlaanderen
3× Paris-Roubaix
5× Liège-Bastogne-Liège
2× Giro di Lombardia
2× Amstel Gold Race
3× La Flèche Wallonne
1× Paris-Brussels
3× Ghent-Wevelgem

The Classics numbers just boggle the mind. SEVEN Milan-Sanremo. Five Liège-Bastogne-Liège. And 3 Paris-Roubaix at a time when he had DeVlaeminck and Maertens, two of the best Northern Classics riders ever, to deal with too.

Even one of those classics in the same year as a Tour win tips the balance, considering the focus of Merckx competition. Those other Belgians were out for blood.

 

[pmcg76]

Even one of those classics in the same year as a Tour win tips the balance, considering the focus of Merckx competition. Those other Belgians were out for blood.

Yeah, if you ever get the chance to read Freddy Maertens book dont pass it up as it provides a very insightful look into racing in the 70s. On top of De Vlaeminck, Maertens there was Godefroot, Moser, Kuiper, Verbeek, De Meyer to contend with.

 

[LeonG2010]

no vote required on this

Considering as a professional Eddy won a third of his races and over 500 victories in his cycling career as a whole, including his wide variations and the fact he could do it mostly without a team we'll leave how he won his first TdF to speak for the great man himself - from the front.
Moreover, he continually gives back to cycling without shouting his mouth off every week.
Great cyclist, great professional & a great character. Hinault is only second to him.

 

[LeonG2010]

knocked for 6

Eddy would have won 6 consecutive TdFs had he not been viciously punched in the kidneys by an anonymous spectator.

 

[flicker]

Yeah, if you ever get the chance to read Freddy Maertens book dont pass it up as it provides a very insightful look into racing in the 70s. On top of De Vlaeminck, Maertens there was Godefroot, Moser, Kuiper, Verbeek, De Meyer to contend with.

Does Freddy clue you in on what kind of PEDS he and Marc de Meyer used.

Check out their riding style and faces in the old races. They appeared to be jumping out of their skins.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Does Freddy clue you in on what kind of PEDS he and Marc de Meyer used.

Check out their riding style and faces in the old races. They appeared to be jumping out of their skins.

Demeyer also died at a very young age as I recall.

 

[knewcleardaze]

Exactly. In addition to his 11 Grand Tours, Merckx also racked up:

13 other stage race victories
1× Tour de Suisse
2× Tour of Belgium
3× Paris-Nice
1× Tour de Romandie
1× Dauphiné Libéré
1× Midi Libre
4× Tour of Sardinia

and:

28 Classics
7× Milan-Sanremo
2× Ronde van Vlaanderen
3× Paris-Roubaix
5× Liège-Bastogne-Liège
2× Giro di Lombardia
2× Amstel Gold Race
3× La Flèche Wallonne
1× Paris-Brussels
3× Ghent-Wevelgem

The Classics numbers just boggle the mind. SEVEN Milan-Sanremo. Five Liège-Bastogne-Liège. And 3 Paris-Roubaix at a time when he had DeVlaeminck and Maertens, two of the best Northern Classics riders ever, to deal with too.

It always blows my mind every time I look at Eddy Merckx's palmares

This is a personal fave:
1969 TdF Green jersey points leader
King of the mountains jersey winner
TdF winner

I don't see this feat ever being equaled.

 

[pmcg76]

Does Freddy clue you in on what kind of PEDS he and Marc de Meyer used.

Check out their riding style and faces in the old races. They appeared to be jumping out of their skins.

Well, he admits to taking cortisone but he denies taking the level of drugs he was accused of taking. There were some very interesting sections, dont have the time to post them now. 70s Cycling was far from clean, thats for sure.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Does Freddy clue you in on what kind of PEDS he and Marc de Meyer used.

Check out their riding style and faces in the old races. They appeared to be jumping out of their skins.

Well, he admits to taking cortisone but he denies taking the level of drugs he was accused of taking. There were some very interesting sections, dont have the time to post them now. 70s Cycling was far from clean, thats for sure.

You do well to answer Flicker's insinuation that somehow, the top riders of the 70s were more juiced than their modern day counterparts, with relevant information.
Were you not so objective, you might have attacked Flicker's post, for blatent piece of myopic fanboyism, that it is.

 

[flicker]

You do well to answer Flicker's insinuation that somehow, the top riders of the 70s were more juiced than their modern day counterparts, with relevant information.
Were you not so objective, you might have attacked Flicker's post, for blatent piece of myopic fanboyism, that it is.


My info comes from a friend who raced in Europe in the 70s. Maertens looks a lot better now than he did then. Telling.

 

[Escarabajo]

It always blows my mind every time I look at Eddy Merckx's palmares

This is a personal fave:
1969 TdF Green jersey points leader
King of the mountains jersey winner
TdF winner

I don't see this feat ever being equaled.

And it will never happen again because the rules for the Green Jersey have changed anyway. So the rider would have to be a freak of nature to go after the mountain stages as well as the sprints. So it won't happen even if Merckx was riding today.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

Overall Ranking
1. Eddy Merckx (BEL) 23232
2. Sean Kelly (IRL) 19189
3. Joop Zoetemelk (NED) 17127
4. Raymond Poulidor (FRA) 16194
5. Erik Zabel (GER) 15470
6. Gino Bartali (ITA) 15399
7. Francesco Moser (ITA) 14709
8. Laurent Jalabert (FRA) 14426
9. Bernard Hinault (FRA) 14069
10. Jacques Anquetil (FRA) 13841
11. Roger de Vlaeminck (BEL) 13501
12. Rik van Looy (BEL) 13435
13. Felice Gimondi (ITA) 13306
14. Louison Bobet (FRA) 12347
15.Lance Armstrong (USA) 12340

I'm not sure what points-system this ranking is using, but any list that puts Hinault behind Jalabert and Zabel is probably distributing the points in a disputable way -- e.g. giving too much weight to stage wins or placings as compared to overall wins.

I personally like to rank cyclists in a system of tiers. Top tier goes to all-rounders, and runs Merckx, Hinault, Coppi. Then there are separate tiers for stage-race specialists (Armstrong, Indurain, Anquetil) and classics specialists (Van Looy, De Vlaeminck).

 

[Ferdinand Artichoke]

comparitive obsession

I wonder if penis envy is an issue for posters in this thread.

 

[MacRoadie]

I'm not sure what points-system this ranking is using, but any list that puts Hinault behind Jalabert and Zabel is probably distributing the points in a disputable way -- e.g. giving too much weight to stage wins or placings as compared to overall wins.

Hinault:


5 Tours de France
3 Giros d'Italia
2 Vueltas a Espana

World Professional Championship
3 Dauphine' Libere

15 Classics and Semi-Classics

34 Grand Tour Stage Wins
74 days in the Yellow Jersey
30 days in the Pink Jersey
1 overall Green Jersey
1 overall Polka Dot Jersey

2 additional podiums in the Tour

That makes a total of 12 Grand Tour podium finishes.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Armstrong is not even fit to clean Merckx's BALLS

He's not even fit to clean his own Ball

 

[auscyclefan94]

"Merckx did drugs but it wasn't as bad as what Lance did"

Sorry, it's a load of crap. Coppi was a famous crank head too. There was plenty of science on stimulants in Merckx era. Where not talking the dark ages. I did some Dexedrine on rare occasion in those, Benzedrine on road trips. Meth when I had to do things like install a new floor behind a bar overnight. There was plenty of science on that stuff. It is beneficial to performance and would still be in use if it wasn't so easy to catch.

EPO, CERA, growth homone, steriods, all medications.

One doper isn't holier than thou over another.

keep denying the obvious facts which are presented right in front of your tempered, screwed up head!
Merckx owns your Lord Pharmstrong. Though lord pharmstrong out dopes merckx any day!