A select few riders stand out significantly for me. These are the riders whose performances and personas I have looked especially up to.
Fabian Cancellara - Easily nr. 1 on my list. His performances in time trials and classics in the late 2000s were what dragged me fully into cycling, as the grand tours was mainly what I was following before. Even with the current 'golden' generation in mind, I have yet to see a rider as powerful and elegant at the same time as prime-Cancellara.
Roberto Heras - My favourite climber of all time. I always look back with nostalgia on the time where Heras rode for Postal as super dom for Lance, and his time with Liberty Seguros when he rode to spectacular victories in some epic editions of La Vuelta. In my opinion, he was the archetype of a real climber.
Jakob Fuglsang - I really fell in love with Jakobs style and persona, when he rode to 6th in Dauphiné 2009, in particular the stage to Saint Francois Longchamp. The fact that he never really delivered big in the grand tours was intriguing to me and made his other big victories in LBL and Dauphiné that much sweeter.
Alberto Contador - Love-hate-love relationship with AC, as I initially liked him when he rode as a young rider for Liberty Seguros riding alongside Heras, Jacksche and co. I since then sided with Schleck in their short rivalry, but as Sky started to dominate the Tour, I found myself a Contador-fan once again. In the 2010s Contador's role as the opportunist and underdog really appealed to me.
I don't feel the same attachment to any riders before the 2000s probably because I was too young at the time to have any memory of them. And in the latter years (2020 to now), no rider has really struck a chord with me.
Fabian Cancellara - Easily nr. 1 on my list. His performances in time trials and classics in the late 2000s were what dragged me fully into cycling, as the grand tours was mainly what I was following before. Even with the current 'golden' generation in mind, I have yet to see a rider as powerful and elegant at the same time as prime-Cancellara.
Roberto Heras - My favourite climber of all time. I always look back with nostalgia on the time where Heras rode for Postal as super dom for Lance, and his time with Liberty Seguros when he rode to spectacular victories in some epic editions of La Vuelta. In my opinion, he was the archetype of a real climber.
Jakob Fuglsang - I really fell in love with Jakobs style and persona, when he rode to 6th in Dauphiné 2009, in particular the stage to Saint Francois Longchamp. The fact that he never really delivered big in the grand tours was intriguing to me and made his other big victories in LBL and Dauphiné that much sweeter.
Alberto Contador - Love-hate-love relationship with AC, as I initially liked him when he rode as a young rider for Liberty Seguros riding alongside Heras, Jacksche and co. I since then sided with Schleck in their short rivalry, but as Sky started to dominate the Tour, I found myself a Contador-fan once again. In the 2010s Contador's role as the opportunist and underdog really appealed to me.
I don't feel the same attachment to any riders before the 2000s probably because I was too young at the time to have any memory of them. And in the latter years (2020 to now), no rider has really struck a chord with me.