Favourite descenders

campagchris
campagchris Posts: 773
edited July 2008 in Pro race
Who is your favourite descender or what was your favourite descent in a race.I loved watching Sean Kelly in Milan Sanremo catching Argentin in 92.Samuel Sanchez is the one I love to watch the most now though as his descents in Paris-Nice and the Vuelta were amazing.I know Salvodelli was good but don't have much on dvd with him on.

Comments

  • ms_tree
    ms_tree Posts: 1,405
    I've never ever seen Kelly but I've got a nice bit of tape off Eurosport of Salvodelli in the Giro he won by himself the other year. The TV motorbike couldn't keep up. Bettini was pretty spectacular in Lombardy the year before last. Both of the Sanchez are good and I would have liked to have seen Pereiro come down the Joux Plan in 2006 (but they kept the camera on Shonky Landis all the time.) as he was pretty good today. For me Pantani was great. :cry::cry:
    'Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.'
    Neil Gaiman
  • weyayeman
    weyayeman Posts: 1,141
    Merckx took some beating,so Im told :wink: L.L. Sanchez seems to be good.Agree with Kelly but we didnt have t.v. coverage then.Il falco was great,but Samuel Sanchez is very good,and the T.V. bikes can give us a great view now.
    How son yee divent need gaan doon the Pit,coz thas plenty coal in the coal hoose
  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    I’ve not seen Sanchez descend but I heard he was as much foolhardy as talented.
    Savoldelli is considered to have been the best ever descender, but he wasn’t fastest – that is supposed to have been Aimar, Tour winner in 1966. In the following year he apparently reached 140 km/hr in one descent.

    Top speeds in more recent times include Konychev in the 1987 Tour of Austria (120 km/hr on a long descent up to 12% from the Glockner-Pass - I remember being impressed by Konychev in other descents, so probably my favourite), Pantani at the 1995 World Championships (115 km/hr on a curvy descent with up to 15% slope), Zoetemelk in the 1980 Tour (110 km/hr on the long 7-10% descent from the Col de Galibier).

    Delgado was known for his (then new) unorthodox posture when descending, which was thought to be efficient, but in 1987 Roche actually descended quicker than Delgado using a more orthodox pose.

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