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Who is the most versatile rider ?

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Jun 24, 2013
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Netserk said:
His biggest weakness for RVV is that he lacks a bit of absolute power compared to Canc, Vanmarcke, Terpstra and Boonen.

.. and this is exactly why I doubt him being able to contend for RVV at this moment, and especially PR. He doesn't have the body (yet), which doesn't mean he can't win but he won't be one that dominates these races I think. Especially when Sagan and Vanmarcke are almost the same age.
 
Oct 5, 2014
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Buffalo Soldier said:
Some have the potential (Contador and Wiggins could win LBL/PR I believe) but didn't show it yet.

It's true they do not have the opportunity. GT winner and TT specialist Miguel Indurain was not bad at the sprint for example: World Championships in Oslo 93

Buffalo Soldier said:
I know, it's a bit premature to call Kwiatkowski all that, but he is the only one that has shown potential to be the best in all 5 categories.

Kwiatkowski probably has the greatest potential to become the most versatile but he needs time
 
Sean Kelly...sprinter , rouler, cobbles classics, stage race & GT winner ... who comes close these days ?

I think CadelEvans must be up there ...mountain biker , TT, rouler, climber and can sprint abit. Nibali is also versatile as is Wiggins ( if he targetted races) although sprinting is not great
Chava is a great all rounder if now past his best
 
De Snelle Duif said:
.. and this is exactly why I doubt him being able to contend for RVV at this moment, and especially PR. He doesn't have the body (yet), which doesn't mean he can't win but he won't be one that dominates these races I think. Especially when Sagan and Vanmarcke are almost the same age.
Well I doubt Nuyens could put out more power than Kwiat can, so while it's a disadvantage I don't think it should rule him out.
 
Aug 4, 2011
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King Of The Wolds said:
If your hatred for Brad is such that you can erase from your memory the fact that he's the current World and Olympic TT champion, you're probably best off avoiding discussing him, for fear of embarrassing yourself again.

No your embarrassing yourself with your fan boy worship.

Luckiest/worse tour winner ever "wheel sucked his way to victory behind a better rider"

And we all know why he started winning TT's ....but this is not place.

Versatile. He cannot even ride downhill in the rain...

:D
 
inthepink said:
Sean Kelly...sprinter , rouler, cobbles classics, stage race & GT winner ... who comes close these days ?

These days, no one really but in the past many. Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Louison Bobet, Ferdi Kubler, Octave Lapize, Jan Raas was pretty good too. Not really fair to compare guys from different eras I don't think.
 
Aug 4, 2011
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King Boonen said:
These days, no one really but in the past many. Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Louison Bobet, Ferdi Kubler, Octave Lapize, Jan Raas was pretty good too. Not really fair to compare guys from different eras I don't think.

All great riders but Merckx was just amazeballs.

The amount of racing he used to do was quite incredible.

I would love to have seen him race. When ever I see footage of Merckx I get the impression it does not do him justice.
 
King Boonen said:
These days, no one really but in the past many. Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Louison Bobet, Ferdi Kubler, Octave Lapize, Jan Raas was pretty good too. Not really fair to compare guys from different eras I don't think.

Yea...not fair to compare but it is a good reference point

Just shows how specialised riders are today

Also shows that you my have to start as a sprinter?TT and move to rouler and then GTs if you want to be very verstile ....which would suggest Sagan could do be one
 
Apr 12, 2009
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Dazed and Confused said:
Lots of riders did many race days back then, but only one delivered from Jan to Dec.
In terms of delivering from Jan to Dec, I think Roger De Vlaeminck takes the price, since he was a top CX rider as well.
(although Merckx did do some track racing in winter)

But that era there were many (Gimondi for example)
 
May 2, 2013
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One name that hasn't yet been mentioned is Dan Martin.

Great endurance. Great over the punchy climbs. Good climbing. Amazing race awareness. GC ability. Not a bad sprint from a reduced group.
 
Aug 4, 2011
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Dazed and Confused said:
Don't want to get into a deeper discussion on the matter. Just pointing out many riders were active from Jan to Dec.

It would be interesting to see if any of todays riders could handle a schedule like that.
Contador has at least thrown down a small gauntlet. It would have been great to see all his rivals accept. There would be no shame in not winning.
Ego's aside and we could have had a really exciting GT season with all the big guns riding the big 3 tours,,,,,,,,,,:(
 
May 2, 2013
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Netserk said:
He hasn't?

See the discussion between post #48 and #71

Cheers. I must have missed it as I tried to get caught up in the thread (oops!). To rephrase then:

I concur with earlier discussions that Dan Martin is a well rounded rider.:eek:
 
Not one mention of Vino

sad-crying-cat.gif
 
Oct 5, 2014
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Rafal Majka should be mentioned he is a good climber in high mountains, good rider on hilly clasics and even overall GT classification , but he needs to improve TT ( he is a weak sprinter obviously )
his situation is reminiscent of Kwiatkowski
he is just beginning competition at the highest level

Majka:
Grand Tours
Giro 2013 -(7) 2014 - (6)
One-Week races
Tour de Pologne 2013 - (4) 2014 - (1) -defended the yellow jersey on the last stage of Time Trial
One-Day Races
Giro di Lombardia 2013 - (3)
Milan-Torino 2013 - (2)
high mountains
the best climber jersey on TdF and two stages winner
 
ray j willings said:
It would be interesting to see if any of todays riders could handle a schedule like that.
Contador has at least thrown down a small gauntlet. It would have been great to see all his rivals accept. There would be no shame in not winning.
Ego's aside and we could have had a really exciting GT season with all the big guns riding the big 3 tours,,,,,,,,,,:(

Terpstra could probably do it, but hes too big to feature in GTs and the uphill stuff.

Not sure I can handle 3 x 3 weeks of uphill circus involving the same 3-4 riders.

I like to see Contador in MSR, RVV and LBL as well rather than 3 GTs.
 
May 23, 2013
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Of the men riding at the moment: Cancellara, Evans, Kwiatkowski, Valverde, Wiggins.

I think part the question of who's the most versatile depends on whether versatility refers to the ability to in a range of different kinds of races and on a variety of parcours, or to the ability to win races in different ways.

(Note that by neither definition does either Sagan or Gerrans count as versatile.)
 

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