Top 25 Cyclists of the Modern Era

[John the Monkey]

On the Virtual Musette Blog.

I've been following this project with interest since the Team Chef first mooted it.

The scoring methodology is here;

http://www.thevirtualmusette.com/posts/category/scoring-races-and-adjustments

And the results are here;

http://www.thevirtualmusette.com/po...-of-the-modern-era-tvm-official-rankings.html

well worth a read, as is the rest of the blog.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

no arguments with no. 1…

 

[Smokin Joe]

Seems a fair assessment.

Glad to see Armstrong recognised as mainly a Tour de France specialist, I wonder how many Tours Merckx, Anquetil and Hinault would have one had they followed the same programme?

 

[Flying_Monkey]

It all seems fair enough. I like the missing years formulation: it gives Anquetil in particular the position he deserves. But this starts to make me wonder. In terms of raw talent, there are riders who would have won more had their nationality and various kinds of prejudice prevented them from competing in the big European races on very many occasions or until they were almost past it - most of the great Columbian cyclists come into this category... how much can you compensate for 'circumstances beyond our control'...?

 

[Keith Oates]

It's a good list and seems pretty fair to me, I suppose we would all change something a little bit but in general there is nothing that I find totally out of place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rich p]

Interesting that Sean Kelly gets such a high ranking.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Interesting that Sean Kelly gets such a high ranking.

Look at his record and it becomes clear why.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Look at his record and it becomes clear why.

Exactly, the man was a frickin animal! He was one of those total hard men of the sport.

 

[mondobongo]

Not much argument so far about placing has to be a good sign. Good piece about Sean Kelly's Classic wins in the current Cycle Sport.

 

[Steve Austin]

Great ratings and I'm not arguing with any of it.

Would Merckx have won all his races now that he won then. I don't think he would, so its impossible to compare any rider from the modern era with his.
I like the thought behind the charts, but its a bit flawed as modern day riding ain't like the old days

 

[jimboalee]

If you dig through the records and stats, you can plot some charts of Climbing speed vs bike weight and then Power required to climb the gradients.

I did this several years ago when Big Mig was winning year after year.

Work loads in kWhrs were similar, edging on Big Mig's side. Prob due to nutritional advances and feeding strategy. Plus he was a giant of a man.

The number of wins in a rider's career is dependent upon the capabilities of his opposition. This indicates Merckx had inferior riders riding against him.

Richard Virenque won the KoM seven times.
Marco Pantani was strong for his size.
Where are these two?

 

[Smokin Joe]

If you dig through the records and stats, you can plot some charts of Climbing speed vs bike weight and then Power required to climb the gradients.

I did this several years ago when Big Mig was winning year after year.

Work loads in kWhrs were similar, edging on Big Mig's side. Prob due to nutritional advances and feeding strategy. Plus he was a giant of a man.

The number of wins in a rider's career is dependent upon the capabilities of his opposition. This indicates Merckx had inferior riders riding against him.

Richard Virenque won the KoM seven times.
Marco Pantani was strong for his size.
Where are these two?

De Vlaemink, Gimondi, Adorni, Poulidor, Van Springel, Maertins, Ocana etc etc.

Maybe it just indicates that Merckx was in a class of his own, like Tiger Woods or Cassius Clay.

 

[Ludwig]

Its interesting pub talk but one can't really compare people from different eras ie can you campare Stanley Matthews and Nat Lofthouse alongside David Beckham or Maradona and George Best.Of course not.