Who was/is the greatest cyclist of all time?

Drug free rider i would have to say Greg LeMond , if his brother in law had not shoot him i think its fair to say he would have won a few more Tour,s de France.

Rider with drug conviction Eddy Merckx .

Miguel Indurain was the guy I was in awe of as I grew up so he’s my choice.

If you go back to before the wars there were some riders that did truly amazing things, sadly in my boozy state I can’t remember any names 😳
Races were flippin truly epic and think what they were riding and the roads they cycled on.
Even the famous six day events were actually run non stop over six days….people actually died.

MrSparkle – Member
No contest.

MrSparkle, what, when, where is that picture? have you got the wider shot?

This isn’t greatest road racer of all time! This is a mountain bike forum. Anne-Caro has to be up there. Multiple world DH champion, BMX gold etc. Also Chris Akrigg seems to be able to turn his hand to anything, though not in terms of competitive cycling. Mind you he surprised a few roadies at that hill climb thing last year. 😉

MrSparkle…. MRSPARKLE…. oi… OI…

Got to be ” The Big Mig “,

Heart the size of an ox !!!!!.

Still close one with, Mercx and Lance, all super athletes and way a head of the competition in their day !!!!!!!

Gave me my dreams and goals.

adstick – Member
This isn’t greatest road racer of all time!

Read the title…”Greatest cyclist”.

😉

i’d say tomac all round

Roger De Vlaeminck for me. MR Paris Roubaix.

No question Merckx

matt hofman too

Gino Bartali
3 Giros and 2 TdFs split by WW2. So without the war getting in the way the tally could have been far, far greater.

Bit busy in the war too, with long “training” rides smuggling documents for the Italian resistance and looked after a Jewish family hidden in his cellar. He would have been shot if found out.

In the 1948 TdF (which he won), he averted a civil war in Italy simply by mesmerising his fellow countrymen with his exploits that they stopped fighting.

That’s pretty great!

Elfinsafety’s mum.

Jonny T, how many people have crossed as many disciplines has him with his level of success. He may not have been an amazing road racer, but good enough to hold his own with the big names.

if you are just going to name roadies….. why not matt hoffman or jamie bestwick………….. unbeatable

my mum 😀

50 mile TT
100 mile TT
12 hour

Records still standing after 46 years

I think as sports evolve and diversify it get hard to be an all rounder. Even if you are equally good at all disciplines you have to choose to specialise to some extent to progress.

I think a better question for me is possibly something like favourite / best cycling legend.

Road / track: Eddy Merckx
Head banger: Tommy Goowdin
MTB: has to be Tomac
BMX: is a tie between Matt Hoffman, Dennis Mccoy and Jamie Beswick, I can’t separate them.

MTB: Tinker Juarex

http://www.tinkerjuarex.com

Road: Richard Virenque

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Virenque

Got to be ” The Big Mig “,

Heart the size of an ox !!!!!.
hemocrit level constantly around 49.9% and within 1% of all his team mates, first of the EPO generation….

Eddy Merckx won the yellow, green and polka in the tour de france all at the same time (and would have counted for the u24 white jersey if they’d have been presenting it)

underthewood, classy call for Gino Bartali

mountain biking and road? Cadel Evans ?

Greg LeMond was class, as was Fignon

Virenque? 😆

Coppi,Merckx,JT,JMC.

MTB – Tomac, Frishi, Tim Gould, JMc
Road – Merckx, Burton, Armstrong
Track – Hoy, Merckx, Obree

10x world DH Champ, and currently spanking all comers at various enduro Dh events. Nico!

No rider comes even close to what Merckx did and no one ever will.

these days you have classics specialists, grand tour specialists,tt specialists etc drugs test. Not Eddy, he won took the lot. everything. Hour record, all the classics, all the tours (tour de france and Giro 5 times), all the jerseys in Tour de France in 1969, world champion 3 times. He will never be bettered
FTFY

Among many other feats his hour record remains, effectively, unbroken – it has been surpassed, but indoors and with meticulous preparation and understanding of aerodynamics

So if meticulous prep isn’t allowed, how exactly is anybody supposed to break it? You have to also bear in mind that he took the record at altitude, which is worth far more than indoors, and that the meticulous aero prep gained Boardman and Sosenka relatively little.

I should point out I’m not an EM hater at all – he has my vote as the greatest.

As a man, Poulidor.
As an athlete, Merckx.
As a test as to whether you’re pissed or not, Djamolidine Abdoujaparov.

How hard a question?

coolest, without a doubt! :-

best??? Too tough, there are so many amazing riders!) People like Mark Weir, remy Absalon Jared Graves, Cedric, Matt Hunter, Berrecloth, semenuik, kyle straight, Kirt Voreis Akrigg, Madskills???? They are all amazing all round riders and in my book that makes brilliant riders to watch! then there are the pure racers, sam hill, peaty, barel? But my preference the best rider to watch is brendon fairclough he’s just sooooooo smooooth and always looks like he is having fun; even when racing!!

oh yeah and victoria pendleton! and emily batty!

I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned Steve Peat yet. A UK XC champ and UK and World Champ in his chosen discipline over a 15 year + period, and remain competitive at the top level of a brutal sport well into his 30’s.
While age isn’t such a big issue for a road racer, the nature of WC DH at the top level these days takes a far higher toll on more muscle groups. And to stay at the top of such a demanding discipline for such a long period deserves some recognition IMHO.
But would he class himself as a cyclist? i don’t know.
So I’d have to go for Jonny T.

Sure Merckx has to be up there, but I can say that he is the greatest, for the reason alone that he would not be a great ridding buddy. 1st off he’d always have to beat you, up the hill, to the cafe, every where all the bloody time, that’d get annoying. And secondly has anyone ever seen A Sunday in hell? Who’s ever been riding with someone like that, who just CAN NOT stop fiddling with bars, seats, everthing. Do it before you go for a ride you git, you-are-getting-one-my-tits.

So I’ll go for Ulrich. He could keep up with Lance even with a tummy full of Bratwurst.

Was peaty a uk xc champ? I know he raced xc, but i thought he never went beyond expert cat.

I am likely to be wrong though, not followed the race scene to much for a few years.

Jmc? I know he was a big personality and an expert bike handler, but was know way in the same leagues as John Tomac or Eddie M.

I never really thought of John T in this way before, but I reckon he would be near the top

may i introduce…

http://www.bigringriding.com/

cracking site.

quote from the pic.

THERE IS SO MUCH MID-90S BADNESS GOING ON HERE. NO SURPRISE NOBODY COULD STEP TO BIG MIG.
SO **** TOUGH A SOVIET FIGHTER JET WAS NAMED AFTER HIM.
CYCLING’S EQUIVALENT OF ARNIE IN BLACK LEATHER AND SHADES ON A **** HARLEY.

Women MTB

Alison Sydor and I wonder how much more Juliana Furtado could have won if she never contracted Lupus.

Beryl Burton deserves to be up there too. beat men and women, held a record for 28 years. Untouchable for many years.

hughjengin – Member
I know, everyones going to say “he only really tried in the TDF blah blah, Mercx rode 100 races a year etc etc” but Lance Armstrong may not be the most likeable character but as a bike rider, phenomenal. And Big Mig wasnt too shabby either.

Both great TdF riders, but there are riders who haven’t been mentioned who won more Grand Tours overall than Armstrong.

Hinault, for instance, won 10 Tours of France, Italy and Spain, PLUS numerous classics, etc. Even his record doesn’t compare to Merckx.

Anyway, Merckx for my vote – if MTBs had been around, what’s the betting that he would have won everything? (And he’s got an X in his name for that added something-factor. 🙂 )

I can’t believe that someone mentioned Virenque! The greatest actor in the history of cycling?