Who was the best Sprinter?

[Buffalo Soldier]

I'm not that old, so i can't say anything about the pre-98 or so

1.Zabel
2.Cipo

other dimension: Freire

 

[Roland Rat]

Another vote for the legend that is Super Mario.

I can't take Van Poppel seriously any more after seeing his bungling on Beyond the Peloton last year. It was like David Brent does Cycle Racing.

 

[Old School]

I didn't see it Roland Rat...some documentary or something?

Thanks Sublimit...I was starting to think no one had any memory of Poppel..or Ludwig either.

I only saw Vanderarden as he got older...did get to see him racing Phinney back when the Tour de Trump (du Pont) ran through the NE.

 

[peacefultribe]

I think that Mario Cipollini had the Gretzky sixth sense when it came to being in the right place at the right time. I used to watch when they ran slow motion clips of his finishes. He would take one look right, one look left, and go exactly where he needed to be, almost always. He could tell who was going to do what, and when it was going to happen, with just a quick look back at the field. All of this done at lightning fast speeds.

 

[Zoncolan]

The Tashkent Terror for me. Also McEwen.
I always held sprinters that don't need a lead-out train in higher regard.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

I felt Zabel was probably the most consistent sprinter during his time on the road, but he never really had that GREAT speed of Cipo.

I believe a lot of people are blinded by Zabels late years.
In which he didn't win very much but got millions of second places and top 10 finishes, all year long.
But there was a time in which he won a lot. Very much not only mass sprint stages.
He won more than 200 times as a professional.

 

[Angliru]

Hard to separate my "favorite" sprinters from who I think were the "best" so I'm just going to be honest and go with my heart:

Super Mario was at the highest of form of where sports and entertainment meets. Flash with the substance to more than back it up. One of a kind never to be emulated. We should treasure any memories and videos of his performances: before, during and after the races. On video and in the press.
He showed up on the podium in an all white Armani suit!

Oscar "The Cat" Freire: my name for him is Big Game Oscar. He doesn't win as often as other sprinters but when he does they are quite often major events. Someone recently compared Freire to a ghost or a phantom who is invisible for most of the race but reappears in the exact right spot and takes the win.
Class rider, clutch with minimal train to take him to the line. Just wins the big ones.

Edit: Just noticed I was speaking about Oscar in the past-tense as if his career were over which of course it definitely is not. My bad. I have since corrected my mistake.

 

[Notso Swift]

Gotta be the Tashkent Terror.

Does anyone remember the CN article about the author trying to track down Abdu for an interview? Even though Abdu was never to be found it was an excellent article.

Yep, I loved it, well written and suitable amount of Eastern Bloc mystery/dodginess)
(I think it may have originally been in Pro cycling, and put on to CN)

Comparing Cippo and Abdujaparov is like comparing a F1 Ferrari with a top duel dragster

They are(were) both the fastest things on earth for their intended purpose. At the height of their powers I have no doubt that Abdu would win a sprint with no organised trains, but Chippo would have 5 lengths is it was an organised high speed run to the line

McEwan has an innate ability for positioning without the need to use a train, which makes him "a" great, but not in the same ways these guys are.

Personally my favourite of this group is Kelly, however. I see him as one of the most complete riders, but not a sprinter in the same mold as these guys (same with Zabel).

 

[Roland Rat]

Yep, I loved it, well written and suitable amount of Eastern Bloc mystery/dodginess)
(I think it may have originally been in Pro cycling, and put on to CN)

Comparing Cippo and Abdujaparov is like comparing a F1 Ferrari with a top duel dragster

They are(were) both the fastest things on earth for their intended purpose. At the height of their powers I have no doubt that Abdu would win a sprint with no organised trains, but Chippo would have 5 lengths is it was an organised high speed run to the line

McEwan has an innate ability for positioning without the need to use a train, which makes him "a" great, but not in the same ways these guys are.

Personally my favourite of this group is Kelly, however. I see him as one of the most complete riders, but not a sprinter in the same mold as these guys (same with Zabel).

Agree re Cipo v Abdu. Abdu had phenomenal acceleration, but he also had the advantage that no-one dared go anywhere near him. That infamous crash was always going to happen with his style. Head down, elbows out, no sense of direction at all. He was worse than the 4th cats down at Hillingdon are.

Whereas Cipo wasn't so much about acceleration, but just hitting top speed and staying there. I read a great piece on Cipo recently (procycling mag?), where a team boss said Cipo wasn't a "sprinter" in the truest sense as he could keep at top speed for much longer than usual. The train developed as they knew if they took Cipo to top speed with say 400m to go, no-one would get round him.

 

[il_fiammingo]

No doubt Maertens would crush them all.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Cipollini no doubt.

Also, who can compete with a man who was making phone calls with a cell phone during races because he was bored?

 

[Echoes]

I'm sad every time I see someone say Cipollini. That guy must be the crappiest cyclist of all time. Staying comfortably in the peloton all day and an effort of 200m, no thanks. And the babies-Cipollini we have nowadays, no thanks.


Van Looy is the greatest.
Pélissier C., Poblet, Darrigade were good ones.

I think Poblet once said that the fastest sprinter he ever faced was Willy Vannitsen.

 

[JA.Tri]

for toughness and well-rounded strength: Kelly
for fair-weather/flat domination: Cipo
for surviving a knife fight: Abdu

For balls out leave nothing left (as per Bala Verde I was thinking of "that sprint") Abdu

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Agree on Cipo. Think Ronald Rat said it best about him versus Abu.

As an aside here, there is no way I would compare Boonen to Kelly. Not even close. King Kelly could climb, Kelly won GT's, classics, everything. Kelly tried to win the Tour several times and once got third. He won the Veulta once and should have won it twice. Kelly was an all rounder, with a fearsome sprint, and extremely tough.

Boonen a great one-day racer, especially for the classics and cobbles, and he can content for sprinter's jerseys, but he'll never finish a GT anywhere close on GC, as soon they hit the mountains he's done. I can't ever see him winning Paris-Nice, or Tirreno even.