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Worst cyclist that won a monument

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Franklin said:
RVV:
- Cees Bal: Won quite a bit but rode for smaller teams
- Johan Lammerts 1 TdF stage, 1 classic win, 4 other classic top tens, 3 top 20's. Definitely a classics man, master domestique of GL
- Evert Dolman. Olympic champion, Amateur WC, Vuelta stage, Dutch Champion.
- René Martens TdF stage, 1 classic, Bordeaux-Paris.
- Johan Vansummeren. 1 Pr, three other top ten in PR
- Magnus Backstedt. Giro stage, Giro intermediate sprint classification. 1 PR win. 4th in PR
- Servais Knaven TdF stage, PR
- Fréderic Guesdon 2 classics, two other top ten. Many top 20 classifications in classics.
- Dirk Demol Uhm well. PR really.

1 TDF stage '98 too
 
search said:
Zaugg was simply the best on that day



...and who names Knaven in here simply did not watch that race. That was an epic performance. Also Guesdon has proven several times that he was a worthy winner.

This is what I don't quite understand about this thread.

If its about guys who won a classic but were not great cyclists overall, then the like of Geusedon, Knaven and Zaugg and a few others listed fall into that category but they were still deserving winners.

However, if its about guys who got lucky once because of luck or strange tactics or team help or whatever, then that brings in another totally different group of riders.
 
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I meant it not to be like, who deserved it the least or who had a surprise win but more like, who do you think is the "least good" of the winners. It wasn't a real big surprise that Nuyens won the RvV since he was a guy who was already around in RvV the years prior to his win and he won occasionally smaller races. A guy like Van Summeren was a bigger surprise since he almost never won a race before, but I find him a "better" rider than Nuyens because he is regarded one of the best domestiques out there
 
El Pistolero said:
Zaugg.

......

Milan-San Remo has the weakest palmares of classics though. Cavendish, Goss, Gerrans, Ciolek.
Gerrans? Really? Yes, he won MSR in the ugliest way possible but his palmares is fairly solid (Stages in all 3 GT's, multiple top 10's in all Ardennes classics, GP Plouay, GP Montreal, GC TdU to name a few).

Having said that he's not the type of rider you'd expect to win there, a LBL win would be less surprising.
 
May 26, 2009
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IMHO this is a fun thread with generally no real disrespect. The thread title might be a bit of, so perhaps chance it to "surprising classic wins"?
 
May 26, 2009
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42x16ss said:
Gerrans? Really? Yes, he won MSR in the ugliest way possible but his palmares is fairly solid (Stages in all 3 GT's, multiple top 10's in all Ardennes classics, GP Plouay, GP Montreal, GC TdU to name a few).

Having said that he's not the type of rider you'd expect to win there, a LBL win would be less surprising.

First of, the MSR list of winners isn't weak, but what is true that it's usually either sprinters or explosive climbers. This is why MSR is so much fun.

Are the strong men and their domestiques strong enough to get it all back together? Or is the spectacle on the Poggio enough to blow it all up?
 
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42x16ss said:
Gerrans? Really? Yes, he won MSR in the ugliest way possible but his palmares is fairly solid (Stages in all 3 GT's, multiple top 10's in all Ardennes classics, GP Plouay, GP Montreal, GC TdU to name a few).

Having said that he's not the type of rider you'd expect to win there, a LBL win would be less surprising.

Meaningless races. He's a wheelsucker.

Milan-San Remo:

Cavendish
Freire
Goss
Gerrans
Ciolek

Ronde van Vlaanderen:

Stijn Devolder
Stijn Devolder
Fabian Cancellara
Nick Nuyens
Tom Boonen

Paris-Roubaix:

Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen
Fabian Cancellara
Johan Van Summeren
Tom Boonen

LBL:

Alejandro Valverde
Andy Schleck
Alexandr Vinokourov
Philippe Gilbert
Maxim Iglinsky

Giro di Lombardia:

Damiano Cunego
Philippe Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert
Oliver Zaugg
Joaquim Rodriguez

--

Bolded names have in common that they only won one classic in their career. And Andy Schleck is by far the most talented one of the bolded names.
 
El Pistolero said:
Meaningless races. He's a wheelsucker.

Milan-San Remo:

Cavendish
Freire
Goss
Gerrans
Ciolek

Ronde van Vlaanderen:

Stijn Devolder
Stijn Devolder
Fabian Cancellara
Nick Nuyens
Tom Boonen

Paris-Roubaix:

Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen
Fabian Cancellara
Johan Van Summeren
Tom Boonen

LBL:

Alejandro Valverde
Andy Schleck
Alexandr Vinokourov
Philippe Gilbert
Maxim Iglinsky

Giro di Lombardia:

Damiano Cunego
Philippe Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert
Oliver Zaugg
Joaquim Rodriguez

--

Bolded names have in common that they only won one classic in their career. And Andy Schleck is by far the most talented one of the bolded names.

And so what?
MSR is cleary different from other Monuments, in fact only monument where sprinters have a chance, so it is pretty logical that it produces different kind of winners.

And you can call these races meaningless, but lets be honest from your list GdL is probably even more meaningless. GP Montreals field is better than GdL's.
 
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Von Mises said:
And so what?
MSR is cleary different from other Monuments, in fact only monument where sprinters have a chance, so it is pretty logical that it produces different kind of winners.

And you can call these races meaningless, but lets be honest from your list GdL is probably even more meaningless. GP Montreals field is better than GdL's.

Lol, are you trolling?

How many sprints do Ciolek, Goss and Gerrans win? Not many lol.
 
El Pistolero said:
Meaningless races. He's a wheelsucker.

Milan-San Remo:

Cavendish
Freire
Goss
Gerrans
Ciolek

Ronde van Vlaanderen:

Stijn Devolder
Stijn Devolder
Fabian Cancellara
Nick Nuyens
Tom Boonen

Paris-Roubaix:

Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen
Fabian Cancellara
Johan Van Summeren
Tom Boonen

LBL:

Alejandro Valverde
Andy Schleck
Alexandr Vinokourov
Philippe Gilbert
Maxim Iglinsky

Giro di Lombardia:

Damiano Cunego
Philippe Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert
Oliver Zaugg
Joaquim Rodriguez

--

Bolded names have in common that they only won one classic in their career. And Andy Schleck is by far the most talented one of the bolded names.

I would say in Cav is more talented a sprinter than Andy is a climber
 
El Pistolero said:
Lol, are you trolling?

How many sprints do Ciolek, Goss and Gerrans win? Not many lol.
Ni, I am not. Lombardia, though nice race, its position in calendar hurts it. Half of guys who enter this race (and they enter only because teams need to fill theses places) dont even try to finish it. Most of them who enter are totally out and there are only few who target (so-so) it.
 
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Von Mises said:
Ni, I am not. Lombardia, though nice race, its position in calendar hurts it. Half of guys who enter this race (and they enter only because teams need to fill theses places) dont even try to finish it. Most of them who enter are totally out and there are only few who target (so-so) it.

Lombardia's field is twenty times better than Montreal. Gilbert could win one of those Canadian races in poor form, but not Lombardia(2011). Says enough.

Gesink, Nordhaug and Rui Costa would all be unlikely Monument winners. :eek:

How does Lombardia's position in the calender hurt it, when the Canadian races take place during the same period. :eek:

That's like saying the WC has a worse field than the Canadian races considering Lombardia's field isn't much different when the WC course is hilly.
 
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El Pistolero said:
Lombardia's field is twenty times better than Montreal. Gilbert could win one of those Canadian races in poor form, but not Lombardia(2011). Says enough.

Gesink, Nordhaug and Rui Costa would all be unlikely Monument winners. :eek:

How does Lombardia's position in the calender hurt it, when the Canadian races take place during the same period. :eek:

That's like saying the WC has a worse field than the Canadian races considering Lombardia's field isn't much different when the WC course is hilly.

The Canadian races take place before the WC, while Lombardia takes place after the WC when 50% of the peloton is already on vacation
 
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Roderick said:
The Canadian races take place before the WC, while Lombardia takes place after the WC when 50% of the peloton is already on vacation

The Canadian races take place during the Vuelta, where every WC comes from. :rolleyes:

Tell me one good rider that wasn't there last year that can win Lombardia. Valverde was sick, so he doesn't count. ;)
 
El Pistolero said:
Lombardia's field is twenty times better than Montreal. Gilbert could win one of those Canadian races in poor form, but not Lombardia(2011). Says enough.

Gilbert´s dorm doent matter if only him and two other guys think about Lomabradia but all others are thinking: "Can I go to the team car already?"
 
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Roderick said:
The Canadian races take place before the WC, while Lombardia takes place after the WC when 50% of the peloton is already on vacation

But the Canadian races proximity to the WC hurt them as well. Time zone changes and all that... guys either don't want to go, or, ride them soft if they are truly shooting for WC.

Voeckler has been vocal about the travel to Canada having an impact on his World's in 2010--of course that could also have been staying out to 5AM and the 40 oz bottle of Rye he put down in the clubs on the Grand Alle after his win in Quebec :D

Phil Gilbert specifically avoided them in 2012 - in favour of a European build up (Vuelta).
 
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Von Mises said:
Gilbert´s dorm doent matter if only him and two other guys think about Lomabradia but all others are thinking: "Can I go to the team car already?"

It doesn't really matter what someone like Cavendish thinks because he can't win Lombardia. ;)

Your 50% statistic are all riders who can't climb.
 
El Pistolero said:
It doesn't really matter what someone like Cavendish thinks because he can't win Lombardia. ;)

Your 50% statistic are all riders who can't climb.

Its not about Cavendish, it about the fact that Lomabrdia´s position in calendar hurts it. Riders will say about spring classics "it is my destiny", but they will not say it about Lombardia. I am sure than even in Gilberts mind Lombardia comes far behind spring races.
 

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