Who is your Men's Rider of the Decade?

[SHAD0W93]

Why is Laporte not on the poll?

Better question, where is Vino?

 

[Red Rick]

Better question, where is Vino?

Valar Morghulis

All memes must die.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Ivan Basso. Case closed

 

[Breh]

Side note: Gilbert should not be in the conversation. I like the guy. I'd love him to complete the full set of monuments. But he had like three or four seasons in a row there where he was very sub par.

What? He's one of the best classics riders of this century. You can't possibly exclude him.

 

[Cassirer]

For me, also between Froome and Sagan. Dispite win-counting the look and feel of a riders performances do matter to me: when watching those two, for years you had the feeling of watching the worlds greatest athlete who is a class above the mortals he's competing with, winning or not. Of course that blatantly neglects tactical skills, but for me, nibali, valverde and the others too seldom seemed to be the worlds finest in this physical sense (valverde was in the niche of "upward sprinting", gilbert was that dominant 1-2 seasons, but none comparable to sagan/froome, imo).

Edit: Oh yeah, picked Sagan. Although that criterium arguably fits froome even better, went purely with sympathies between the two.

 

[Red Rick]

For all Sagans hype. He only won 2 monuments, and that's after Cancellara and Boonen fell off the wagon in those races.

He's one of the greats in cycling this decade, but I think he often gets way more credit than he should get for the results he gets. Yes, he's basically the only rider that combines ability to win flat bunch sprints, cobbled classics and even being a top puncheur, but he has not converted that in winning Sanremo, nor has he ever done anything in the Ardennes.

 

[RunningRouleur]

Sagan is a great rider and I love watching him, but I don't think he's even the best Classics Rider of the decade

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

If Gilbert had won MSR in the decade concerned, he would be the best of the decade by a mile. It would make him one of only four riders to sweep the monuments and one of only three to win all six of the big one day races. A legend of the sport in other words. He will still be that if he wins MSR, but he wouldn’t be eligible for this competition.

As it is there are five theoretical contenders, Froome, Nibali, Sagan, Valverde and Gilbert. The others are not in the same league over the period. At first glance, the decision appears to be reasonably easy: Froome has seven tier one wins and his seven are on average more prestigious than anyone else’s.

The thing that nags at me though is that he’s the most one sided of the five contenders. Even Sagan and Gilbert, the classics riders on the list, have won stage races. Froome is the best stage racer of the decade by a distance, but can you really be “rider of the decade” if the anatomic jock race is the pinnacle of your one day racing career?

It matters because his closest rival in terms of tier one wins is Nibali, who has multiple top class wins in both types of race. I’m just not sure. I’m still leaning a bit towards Froome, but one dimensionality surely has to matter when picking the very best of the best.

I agree by the way that Nibali is the least physically talented of the five contenders. All of the others have been very clearly the best in the world at some sub discipline of the sport for a prolonged period. He has never been that. But I don’t see why we should prefer physical strength to mental strength. Nibali has the mentality of an absolute all time great. He has a combination of steely determination and cunning that no other top rider of his generation can match. That’s at least as admirable as just happening to be born with freak physical capacities.

 

[red_flanders]

Sagan easily. So many great wins, done with style and panache, 3 years in the rainbow, racking up exciting victories in different ways. So many wins against great competition and so many podiums when he didn’t quite make it. Amazing bike handling. Iconic moments in victory and defeat. He elevated bike racing

You have to consider Froome but his wins are utterly limited to one type of race. For me he detracted from the sport rather than elevated it, and he was the most appallingly style-bereft rider since Fernando Escartin. A profound displeasure to watch.

 

[Nirvana]

I'd say Froome but the 10s decade run from 2011 to 2020 so this thread should have been opened next year not now.

 

[Blanco]

I did so for this decade, for their full careers it’s a very different story and I would have GVA 4th out of the 4 of them.

It applies also on this decade.

Contador won 2 Vuelta's and Giro (plus Tour 2010 and Giro 2011?), winning 5(7) stages in the process. He also won 4(5) week long WT stage races, 20(26) WT races , and 32(44) races in total.

Cancellara won 5 Monuments (+ 8 podiums), WC ITT Gold, OG ITT Gold, 4 GT stages, won 5 Classics (3x E3, 2x Strade), 22 WT races, and total of 36 races.

Valverde hasn't won any GT, but he has 6 podiums, he won 2 Monuments (+ 5 podiums), won WC RR Gold (+ 3 podiums), 9 GT stages, 5 Classics (4x Fleche, San Sebastian), 3 WT stage races, 34 WT races, and total of 67 races.

And finally Van Avermaet won one Monument (+ 4 podiums), Olympics RR Gold, 2 GT stages, 6 Classics (2x Omloop, GW, E3, 2x Montreal), 1 WT stage race, 13 WT races, and 34 races total.

I would say that Greg is clearly below all three.

 

[Blanco]

I agree by the way that Nibali is the least physically talented of the five contenders. All of the others have been very clearly the best in the world at some sub discipline of the sport for a prolonged period. He has never been that. But I don’t see why we should prefer physical strength to mental strength. Nibali has the mentality of an absolute all time great. He has a combination of steely determination and cunning that no other top rider of his generation can match. That’s at least as admirable as just happening to be born with freak physical capacities.

I admire Nibali very much, he's one hell of a rider, a legend! Many of his rides become legendary, like his San Remo win, his Giro 2016 third week, his 2015 Civiglio descent, and many more...
But I have a problem with him being No.1 rider of the decade, despite his flawless palmares. He never, ever, was a No.1 rider in the peloton, a reference point, like for example Gilbert, Cancellara, Contador, Valverde, Froome and Sagan all were. He was never even the best rider in his own domain, being it a Grand Tours or a hilly Classics. There was always someone else who was a reference point, someone everyone watched at, like Contador and Froome in GT's, or Gilbert, Valverde and nowadays Alaphilippe in hilly Classics. He was never, for example, a rider of the year, also something others were. He never stood atop of any ranking, something others did.
He certainly is at the very top, but for me not on the highest step.

 

[PrimusPilus12]

Sagan
Nibali
Froome

I won't repeat all of the good arguments.
This is a good debate, everyone has valid points, but I also think despite GTs being so so difficult, 3 weeks do not define a year, and beng on such a dominant team for the last decade lessens at least part of those achievements. In addition, I prefer Sagan and Nibali's attacking style, and lastly,as professionals, feel they are superior bike handlers. The do things on descents that are so impressive.
EDIT- This is not a cheap shot about the crash. I think even Froome's fans can admit he's a little unwieldy on the bike,

 

[starlord]

I'd say Froome but the 10s decade run from 2011 to 2020 so this thread should have been opened next year not now.

A decade is simply a period of 10 years. Name of the thread is: Who is your Men's Rider of the Decade and OP is specifically asking: Who is your men's rider of the decade 2010-2019? No one mentioned a 10s decade.
And although you're probably right that 10s decade is 2011-2020 general consent and common use is that despite the non-existent year 0 a decade is 0-9. What do you understand under let's say 'nineties'?

Froome for me.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Sagan easily. So many great wins, done with style and panache, 3 years in the rainbow, racking up exciting victories in different ways. So many wins against great competition and so many podiums when he didn’t quite make it. Amazing bike handling. Iconic moments in victory and defeat. He elevated bike racing

I admire Nibali very much, he's one hell of a rider, a legend! Many of his rides become legendary, like his San Remo win, his Giro 2016 third week, his 2015 Civiglio descent, and many more...
But I have a problem with him being No.1 rider of the decade, despite his flawless palmares. He never, ever, was a No.1 rider in the peloton, a reference point, like for example Gilbert, Cancellara, Contador, Valverde, Froome and Sagan all were. He was never even the best rider in his own domain, being it a Grand Tours or a hilly Classics. There was always someone else who was a reference point, someone everyone watched at, like Contador and Froome in GT's, or Gilbert, Valverde and nowadays Alaphilippe in hilly Classics. He was never, for example, a rider of the year, also something others were. He never stood atop of any ranking, something others did.
He certainly is at the very top, but for me not on the highest step.

I completely agree with both of these quotes. To me, Contador is my favorite rider of the decade, but for rider of the decade, it goes:

1. Sagan - just a total legend who brought excitement to every race he entered, win or lose
2. Froome - unstoppable force who ultimately showed panache (attacking with Sagan, attacking on descents, Stelvio, etc.)

----

1. Cancellara
2. Valverde
3. Gilbert
4. Nibali (see Blanco's post above)
5. Contador

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

A decade is simply a period of 10 years. Name of the thread is: Who is your Men's Rider of the Decade and OP is specifically asking: Who is your men's rider of the decade 2010-2019? No one mentioned a 10s decade.
And although you're probably right that 10s decade is 2011-2020 general consent and common use is that despite the non-existent year 0 a decade is 0-9. What do you understand under let's say 'nineties'?

Froome for me.

Intuitively, it makes no sense to ask for 2011-2020. I have never met anyone else who understood a decade as beginning with the year ending 1 (e.g., 2011). Effectively, that means that, pedantic assertions aside, decades begin with the year ending 0.

 

[Breezy1985]

For all Sagans hype. He only won 2 monuments, and that's after Cancellara and Boonen fell off the wagon in those races.

He's one of the greats in cycling this decade, but I think he often gets way more credit than he should get for the results he gets. Yes, he's basically the only rider that combines ability to win flat bunch sprints, cobbled classics and even being a top puncheur, but he has not converted that in winning Sanremo, nor has he ever done anything in the Ardennes.

Sagans detractors always leave out his 3 WCs and 7 green jerseys when listing his achievements

 

[Red Rick]

Intuitively, it makes no sense to ask for 2011-2020. I have never met anyone else who understood a decade as beginning with the year ending 1 (e.g., 2011). Effectively, that means that, pedantic assertions aside, decades begin with the year ending 0.

Because the year count started with 1 AD

 

[Red Rick]

Sagans detractors always leave out his 3 WCs and 7 green jerseys when listing his achievements

I previously mentioned Sagan has 5 major wins. I didn't exclude them. I simply didn't talk abou them.

As for the green. Nobody is mentioning Contador, Froome, or Valverde winning minor classifications in GTs. I wonder why.

Sagan doesn't lead this group for wins in GTs/Monuments/WC/OGs/. He doesn't lead this group in podiums in these races either, he has less than half of Nibali and Valverde. He also has limited versatility in these races, with all wins and podiums being one day races. He also doesn't lead in 2nd tier races.

The only thing where Sagan leads is GT stages. He has 1 more than Nibali.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Intuitively, it makes no sense to ask for 2011-2020. I have never met anyone else who understood a decade as beginning with the year ending 1 (e.g., 2011). Effectively, that means that, pedantic assertions aside, decades begin with the year ending 0.

It's because Jesus wasn't just not "conceived", he was also 1 year old when he was born. Poor Mary.

 

[Breezy1985]

I previously mentioned Sagan has 5 major wins. I didn't exclude them. I simply didn't talk abou them.

As for the green. Nobody is mentioning Contador, Froome, or Valverde winning minor classifications in GTs. I wonder why.

I know you werent trying to put him down but the only 2 monuments thing get thrown around same as the he never won P-R until he did. And green for a sprinter is way bigger than a GC yuy picking up polkadots or combis on the way to a GC win or Bala winning the points in a Vuelta that doesnt have a meter of flat road.

Of course comparing anything he does to the GC guys is tough as trying to pick the best cyclist is like trying to pick the best overall runner

 

[Blanco]

I previously mentioned Sagan has 5 major wins. I didn't exclude them. I simply didn't talk abou them.

As for the green. Nobody is mentioning Contador, Froome, or Valverde winning minor classifications in GTs. I wonder why.

Sagan doesn't lead this group for wins in GTs/Monuments/WC/OGs/. He doesn't lead this group in podiums in these races either, he has less than half of Nibali and Valverde. He also has limited versatility in these races, with all wins and podiums being one day races. He also doesn't lead in 2nd tier races.

The only thing where Sagan leads is GT stages. He has 1 more than Nibali.

He actually leads in two more categories (important to me, don't know about you though...), in number of wins (113) and in number of WT wins (67). And he leads by far...

 

[Red Rick]

He actually leads in two more categories (important to me, don't know about you though...), in number of wins (113) and in number of WT wins (67). And he leads by far...

Yeah all those Tirreno , Cali and Suisse stages I really don't care about.

 

[tobydawq]

Yeah all those Tirreno , Cali and Suisse stages I really don't care about.

Good for you.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evv5cKN5eAc

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhCxLglE0X4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgGcSXf4x04



All completely regular stuff...

 

[Red Rick]

Ivan Basso. Case closed

Testing the bounds of reality indeed.