rather than wasting time hating ... WHO DO YOU GUYS LIKE?

6288

every thread on this forum descends into someone not liking some cyclist/team/whoever ... so lets get all the haters to tell us who in the cycling world they do like.

ps. when this then descends into allegations of doping of your favourite rider don't blame me ... it's kinda just illustrating my point ...

iainf72

I like some dopers.

I dislike some clean riders.

secretsqirrel

I like them all except Floyd Landis.

moorjohn

Cadel.

It took 3 of the best of the year (schleck, schleck, sastre) to finish him off up the Alpe in the summer. Even then he didn't lose on the day, just didn't have enough for the TT later.

He had no team support and fought with courage to keep the jersey.

I thought it was an awesome performance when I watched it, and I still think it is now I know the result of the Tour overall.

What d'all reckon?

6288

i like Floyd ... if for no other reason than he won me £100 at the bookies and i bought myself a lovely pair of dmt's with my (soon to be) ill gotten gains.

6288

moorjohn wrote:

Cadel.

It took 3 of the best of the year (schleck, schleck, sastre) to finish him off up the Alpe in the summer. Even then he didn't lose on the day, just didn't have enough for the TT later.

He had no team support and fought with courage to keep the jersey.

I thought it was an awesome performance when I watched it, and I still think it is now I know the result of the Tour overall.

What d'all reckon?

i'll agree he put in some effort ... same that day when he lost pink in the giro ... but he is just not likeable ... i think it is to do with whining when u ain't winning ... robbie mcewen used to be the same ... but once he got results to back it up you had to admire his attitude.

cadel has had 2 lucky shots at the tour due to suspensions/ejections etc ... he ain't getting 3 ...

disgruntledgoat

moorjohn wrote:

Cadel.

It took 3 of the best of the year (schleck, schleck, sastre) to finish him off up the Alpe in the summer. Even then he didn't lose on the day, just didn't have enough for the TT later.

He had no team support and fought with courage to keep the jersey.

I thought it was an awesome performance when I watched it, and I still think it is now I know the result of the Tour overall.

What d'all reckon?

I reckon if you step on his dog... he'll cut your head off.

GeorgeShaw

I'm a relative newbie, but for me this year it's been Bettini - having seen him work for his colleagues when it's not going to be his day, and for his attacking style.

mrushton

Cunego - savvy rider, takes what he can and supported Ballan so well in Varese
Voigt - tough, classy rider
Bettini - nuff said
Di Luca - suspect but oozes class
Cavendish - when it's right he does the job perfectly
Levi - can do it all and does so without bitching.
Ballan - class again. Classics and World champ
Boonen - poss. a bit 'Hollywood' but in those Belgian classics he delivers the goods
Cancellara - i wish I could tt like that but he can still take stages as well (great hair as well)

afx237vi

Schleck Jr - Just amazing on Alpe d'Huez. Looked a mile better than everyone else, but played the team role perfectly.

Cavendish - No, not because he's British. Because he has an attitude, but also has the speed to back it up.

Valverde - Yeah, yeah, whatever. Mr Teflon. I don't care though, he's just a classy bike rider. Sprints, climbs, even TTs on certain (ahem) days. Liked seeing him do well at the start of his career, still like seeing him do well.

dennisn

disgruntledgoat wrote:

moorjohn wrote:

Cadel.

It took 3 of the best of the year (schleck, schleck, sastre) to finish him off up the Alpe in the summer. Even then he didn't lose on the day, just didn't have enough for the TT later.

He had no team support and fought with courage to keep the jersey.

I thought it was an awesome performance when I watched it, and I still think it is now I know the result of the Tour overall.

What d'all reckon?

I reckon if you step on his dog... he'll cut your head off.

If he's got a dog I like him already. Well, at least his dog.

Dennis Noward

skavanagh.bikeradar

Cav. He's a winner and he's a Brit. Often this makes you unpopular in the UK, and it has split opinion on him. But he does what he says and gets results. Lots of 'em.

Cadel. For reasons posted above - abandoned by his team and left to fend for himself against a team of three CSC riders and the rest of the contenders. He's not likeable as the off-camera (but caught on camera) moments show but you've got to admire his stickability.

Nicole Cooke. World and Olympic champion and a super role model. Deserves far more exposure and plaudits than she gets. Chris Hoy does better and he's got a very specific skill set and a smaller field of rivals by comparison.

Cunego. I don't know why but I've fallen in love with the bloke as a bike rider despite him disappointing me nearly every day on the Tour. Good wins elsewhere though.

LingfieldXC

Schleck brothers, because they just seemed to toy with Cadel on the Alpe d'Huez, it looked like fun, the sort of thing i would love to be able to do.

Wiggins, because of that hair(sadly no longer) and a race i once saw hime make a massive brake in only to be caught like 5km from the finish.

Cavendish, cheeky/clever/joker personality seems to be reflected in his riding.

Ciolek, talented but in the shadow of cavendish.

SCR Pedro

GeorgeShaw wrote:

I'm a relative newbie, but for me this year it's been Bettini - having seen him work for his colleagues when it's not going to be his day, and for his attacking style.

Another here vote for Bettini. He'll be missed for sure. His stage wins in this years Vuelta were probably the only exciting highlights.

I quite like Wiggins' style too, but I have no time whatsoever for Cavendish.

Pedro

Tempestas

Miguel Indurain must be one of the greatest tour winners, he also rode with a class that gained respect from other riders.

In the modern era I would say Chris Hoy and Brad Wiggins

rapid_uphill

once you accept that all cyclists cheat, then you can believe again.
i believe in Michael Rasmussen i also think Stephan Schumacher is an outstanding rider.
to me track cyclists are not proper cyclists so they dont count.

feersumendjinn

Cipollini for the flamboyance
Armstrong for the pure cold calculated way he beat down his rivals to win the Tour
Salvadeli for the awe inspiring descending

sing_for_absolution

Philippe Gilbert. A classy rider with a more realistic palmares than some other contemporary riders out there.

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

Like/dislike, I think I gave up on the whole idolising pro cyclists round about July 1998. It took me a while to get back into it, but for me it's really just about the racing now.

I like a gutsy rider - I even cheered for Virenque when he won Paris-Tours on his comeback.

This weather I'm mostly cheering on Sven Nys as he battles against the youngsters Alberts and Boom.

Cheers, Andy

mike ives

Fabian Cancellara for his amazing, gutsy performance in the Beijing Mens' Road Race. I watched it live and it was like soomething out of a boys' annual.

sicrow

David Millar for me, I appreciate his desire to improve the past and the way he conducts himself these days at Slipstream, I like his atitude to winning and his manner in interviews.

Plus he can throw a bike further than I can

Cav also - winning is everything for him and his team mates and if the press are a pain in the a**e to him they get it back - just how it should be

dennisn

Johan Museeuw. Watching him power over the cobbles of Paris - Roubaix some years
back I remember saying to myself "This guy is a gorilla on a bike". For me, "power" doesn't
really describe his ability to pedal a bike.

Dennis Noward

ms_tree

iainf72 wrote:

I like some dopers.

I dislike some clean riders.

I agree! Can't stand Armstrong or Millar or 'Kid Rock' Landis.
Always liked Pantani, sorta liked Ricco.
Not keen on Basso, like Simoni's guts and Sastre.
Think Valverde's a class rider. So was Bettini and Zabel (ride all year etc)
Like Gilbert, LL Sanchez, S Sanchez, Pellizzotti.
Find Cavendish a bit full on, admire Nicole Cooke.
Not sure about Boonen but thought Museuw was class as was Bartoli.

Basically tend to like riders who aren't shoved in your face by journos and commentators!

FJS

Riders I like? Those you know when they're at the start will make for spectacular racing; those that can win but don't mind going under in attack. Let's say:
Flecha, Voigt, Bettini , Cancellara
And some earlier that spring to mind: De Wolf, Van Hooijdonck, Boogerd, Dierckxens

dennisn

Ms Tree wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

I like some dopers.

I dislike some clean riders.

I agree! Can't stand Armstrong or Millar or 'Kid Rock' Landis.
Always liked Pantani, sorta liked Ricco.
Not keen on Basso, like Simoni's guts and Sastre.
Think Valverde's a class rider. So was Bettini and Zabel (ride all year etc)
Like Gilbert, LL Sanchez, S Sanchez, Pellizzotti.
Find Cavendish a bit full on, admire Nicole Cooke.
Not sure about Boonen but thought Museuw was class as was Bartoli.

Basically tend to like riders who aren't shoved in your face by journos and commentators!

You do bring up a good point. Maybe people hate the riders that DO get shoved at you
by the media on a constant basis. I've always said that if I hear "Stairway to Heaven"
too many more times I'm going to do something nuts. It's not really the riders or the song at all. It's the overload.

Dennis Noward

finchy

Best question on here for ages.

All the Brits, Gilbert, Valverde (if he's clean), Hushovd, Freire, all the Euskaltel riders (I've got an Orbea), Backstedt, Bodrogi ('cos I love Hungary), Contador, Evans.

There are many more, but these are my favourites.

dave milne

cav, contador, voight

iainf72

I've always liked Popvych - Especially when he does one of his rare attacking rides. Was it last year in Paris-Nice he did a pretty smart solo ride?

Rebellin. Sure he's cold and calculating but it takes a lot of talent to ride like that. Classy guy.

Contador.

I've always like Basso too. Some find him too emotionless but being fairly robot like myself I quite like him.

Hushovd. Big fellow, like myself, who always impresses. And seems like a sound chap with it.

Boonen always looks amazing in on the cobbles.

Pip Gilbert used to annoy me but some of his rides over the last 2 seasons have put me in the "fan" camp.

And George Hincapie. I really would like him to win a northern classic but part of his appeal is he won't. And I think he's got in the legs he just doesn't have the spirit and mental toughness required.

suspectdevice

Fondriest for me. Can't think of any other rider who looked that smooth on a bike.

Modern day, got to go with DiLuca, purely for his aggression.

richard wants a baum

Stuart Ogrady, cos his a hometown boy.

Schelcks because they gave an intreview with a local aus tv crew covering the tour and they seemed really down to earth and relaxed, even after a mountain stage.

As on Aussie i should almost have to say Cadel, but as much as i admire what his done but thats about it.

Cancellara, Voight (if only because i love hearing Paul and Phil say His a BEAST of a man and mention the fact that he speaks with a aussie accent when he speaks to english always has me chuckling)

And one you guys probably havent heard of, Jack Bobridge. His a young kid here thats starting to show some promise ive watched him on the boards and on the road and his got loads of heart and attacks. Youll see him at London in 2012 ( you would have seen him in Bejing in the team pursuit)

Schmidthouse

O'Grady, Voigt & Cancellara - funny how they are all with CSC. I just love their hard riding, individual styles.

Cooke - a superb all round rider. Has she ever done any track racing?

And from the past - Indurain, Roche, Rominger.