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OPINION

Lance Watch 13: Our hero makes top 10 list of all time great cyclists…

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by Tony Farrelly
Tue, Jun 02, 2009 13:20
7

Just. Lance is in in 9th place!  (shurely some mishtake?) as ever Jan Ulrich is right on his shoulder in 10th place.

Mind you, this internet list  might not be the most authoritative poll of the Top 10 cyclists of all time, the picture accompanying Miguel Induarain's spot in 8th place is of Marco Pantani. And Jacques Anquetil in 3rd looks to be on a Rapha photoshoot - it's the Rapha jacket and cap that's the giveaway. If he is wearing Rapha Maitre Jacques looks to be in pretty good shape for someone who's been dead for 22 years… riding the bike is a pretty neat trick too.

Lance Armstrong
Tony Farrelly

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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7 comments

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Mr Sock | 15 years ago
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yeah it's more like a list of the Top 10 cyclists I've heard of

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wild man | 15 years ago
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Theirs does seem an odd list- why not have Zotemelk instead of Ullrich for an almost eternal runner- up. (Or Poulidor, if you're the sort of person who used to cheer for Tim Henman.)

Also, I'd stick Koblet and Pantani in there somewhere for sheer flair even if a points based ranking system would screw them.

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Tony Farrelly | 15 years ago
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Coppi and Bartali come in at three and four on the Virtual Musette's list (below) their scores are very similar, and they both raced in the same era - restricting the other's chances of winning whereas all the other top riders had periods of time that they dominated. Makes you wonder what either Coppi or Bartali's rankings would have been had the other one not been around scooping up prizes at the same time?

1) Eddy Merckx, 410.5
2) Bernard Hinault, 232.5
3) Fausto Coppi, 219.5
4) Gino Bartali, 213
5) Jacques Anquetil, 184
6) Rik Van Looy, 152
7) Sean Kelly, 146.5
8) Roger De Vlaeminck, 139.5
9) Francesco Moser, 131.5
10) Felice Gimondi, 114 (higher raw score)
11) Lance Armstrong, 114*

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purplecup | 15 years ago
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yikes, that's some pretty thorough number crunching. i was just going to do it on a whim, but i'd feel pretty shallow if i attempted that now 1

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John_the_Monkey replied to purplecup | 15 years ago
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Bah, do a whim one anyway, and just claim that your methodology is top secret. I won't let on, honest 3

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John_the_Monkey | 15 years ago
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Probably old news, but I like "The Virtual Musette"'s round up best;

http://www.thevirtualmusette.com/posts/2009/3/18/the-top-50-dave-brinton...

If you disagree, the author provides the scoring methodology for you to pick apart too.

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Barry Fry-up | 15 years ago
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ullrich in the top ten? lance below bartali? never mind the pics, it's the order that's getting my goat!

here's my top 10, apropos of nothing:
1) Merckx
2) Coppi
3) Anquetil
4) Armstrong
5) Hinault
6) Gimondi
7) Indurain
8) Kelly
9) Lemond
10) Bartali

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