Who is the most underrated rider

[issoisso]

Another couple - I calculated up the time gained in breakaways for the Tour and Vuelta last year, and only one rider was in the top 10 in both - Christophe Riblon.

The reason I mentioned him as underrated is that I feel he could do so much more if he used his energy more wisely.

He was the rider with the most breakaway kms of anyone in the peloton last season. By quite some margin.

 

[Thee_chisa]

russell downing - a great domestic racer who has stepped up to the international ranks, probably not a name on most peoples' lips but a true hard-worker and a guy who gives his all.

brice fellieu - shame he won't be riding the tour the new great french hope?

jurgen van den broeck - usually up there with the big guys in the tours lately, i like his style.

dan martin - the irish fella who has been going well recently.

 

[issoisso]

russell downing - a great domestic racer who has stepped up to the international ranks, probably not a name on most peoples' lips but a true hard-worker and a guy who gives his all.

I think I'm yet to meet a british person who doesn't severely overrate this guy. At one point this year some were arguing he was "a punchier Freire" with a straight face.

 

[Boeing]

Evgueni Petrov

 

[blaxland]

What about Adam Hansen HTC....True work horse from the old school.

 

[nowhereman]

Janez Brajkovic. Labors away in no man's land, in the kingdom of Bruyneel. Should have broken away long ago.

 

[ericthesportsman6]

russell downing - a great domestic racer who has stepped up to the international ranks, probably not a name on most peoples' lips but a true hard-worker and a guy who gives his all.

brice fellieu - shame he won't be riding the tour the new great french hope?

jurgen van den broeck - usually up there with the big guys in the tours lately, i like his style.

dan martin - the irish fella who has been going well recently.

Dan Martin is not underrated anymore, people definitely realize what a talent he is. Same would go for Van Den Broeck, and if anything, I think Felliu might be a little overrated. You know how the French get when they win a stage. Downing's a good pick though.

 

[craig1985]

Julian Dean. Set up Farrar with two stage wins at the Giro and has done the same for Hushovd at CA at the Tour. If he rode for HTC - Columbia and was part of Cav's lead out train at the Tour he would waxing lyrical about him. Both Hushovd and Farrar have praised Dean quite highly as a lead out rider.

 

[theyoungest]

russell downing - a great domestic racer who has stepped up to the international ranks, probably not a name on most peoples' lips but a true hard-worker and a guy who gives his all.

brice fellieu - shame he won't be riding the tour the new great french hope?

jurgen van den broeck - usually up there with the big guys in the tours lately, i like his style.

dan martin - the irish fella who has been going well recently.

Dan Martin is most certainly not underrated, on this website and in the Anglophone cycling media in general. He has two good days in the Giro, and boom, there he is again on the Cyclingnews front page, touted as a talent for the GTs. But what about his 19 bad days? He's so inconsistent, I don't see how he'll ever be up there on GC.

 

[van nelle]

just active + not exactly underrated, but not rated equaly to their qualities/results

Oscar Freire
Ivan Gutierrez
David Arroyo (still)
Vlad Karpets (people don't like/rate him, but he's got some good results)

+ since Andy's got BIG, I thing Frank too

 

[eljimberino]

Vlad Karpets (people don't like/rate him, but he's got some good results)

Agreed, he's always laying everything on the line. Ignored by every one as if he were beneath them.

 

[tgsgirl]

Julian Dean. Set up Farrar with two stage wins at the Giro and has done the same for Hushovd at CA at the Tour. If he rode for HTC - Columbia and was part of Cav's lead out train at the Tour he would waxing lyrical about him. Both Hushovd and Farrar have praised Dean quite highly as a lead out rider.

On the other hand, Julian Dean got lost on the Champs Elysées.

 

[falcon]

Kloden, Spilak, Dan and Tony Martin.

 

[Race Radio]

Tejay Van Garderen is realizing his potential.

 

[josekaubeda]

Johan Vansummeren.

 

[Boeing]

Agreed, he's always laying everything on the line. Ignored by every one as if he were beneath them.

I was going to say the same but there are expectations for the guy to do well and he is thought of in the elite by many.

If you are expected to be a GC contender in a GT by your Team then you are not underrated IMHO

 

[Claudiu]

Ignatas Konovalovas
Dmitry Muraviev
Peter Velits
Andrey Grivko

 

[nowhereman]

Janez Brajkovic. Labors away in no man's land, in the kingdom of Bruyneel. Should have broken away long ago.

I told myself so, a few days ago. And now he leads the Criterium du Daphine.

 

[nowhereman]

Agreed, he's always laying everything on the line. Ignored by every one as if he were beneath them.

That's because he's not REALLY a contendah. You may not like this, But He's sort of like Jaroslav Popovych revisited. There was lots of potential there in the beginning, but now it's all quieted down to a mellow simmer. Good Domestique though! Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[nowhereman]

Tejay Van Garderen is realizing his potential.

You're not really the addressing the original question. He's a youngster on the rise( and a nicely rapid one, I might say) But he's NOT underrated. People are just getting used to him, and the fact that he's American. He's having a sweeeeet Dauphine, so far!

 

[nowhereman]

C'mon boys and Girls! let's put some people out there that have good results but sit so squarely in the shadows of bigger names that they are very overlooked, though they are always provacateurs in races. Men like:
Matti Breschel, sitting behind Spartacus and the Schleck Bros. or
Johnny Hoogerland of Vacansoleil who really lit up last year, but whose team won't be at the TdF this year, which is also leaving out Bjorn Leukeman too, who is on the same team, and who is a real go getter.
IMHO, those are some underrated boys that we should be paying attention to, moving forward into the future.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

and let's not forget about the earlier mentioned visconti! I don't understand he's not riding protour. espescially after the Giro he had when he was national champion!

 

[nowhereman]

and let's not forget about the earlier mentioned visconti! I don't understand he's not riding protour. espescially after the Giro he had when he was national champion!

Good one! Now we're talkin'! He has been overlooked while in the Outland, a Pro Tour Team should have room for him somewhere.

 

[MADRAZO]

Sergio Pardilla is very underrated I think and has been so for years.

His win in Rota Del Sol perhaps put him a bit on the map now, but still he is very underrated as an extremely good climber/stageracer.

Another rider is Robert Wagner, clearly underrated as a very fast sprinter and often having to leadout Kenny VAn Hummel despite being clearly faster than him.

 

[Michele]

What about Ventoso?
Last year he won a couple of sprints in a nice way.