Rider with most wins

Tusher
Tusher Posts: 2,762
edited April 2010 in Pro race
I am trying very hard not to use the term 'winningist' but can anyone tell me who has won most races on their palmares?

Wiki tells me that Cipo won 191 in all. Has anyone topped 200?

Comments

  • stagehopper
    stagehopper Posts: 1,593
    Merckx surely? By my quick calculations he won 86 races just in Grand Tour stages and Monuments.
    @stagehopper
  • Tusher
    Tusher Posts: 2,762
    I suspect you're probably right, but did he beat 200 wins?
  • solocp
    solocp Posts: 285
    Did he beat 200? Just about....525!
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    In the modern era, few riders ride for a full season and the opportunities to rack up the wins are more limited. The last of the all-rounders was probably Sean Kelly who retired in 1994 - he didn't win as many races as Cipo but most would rate him far above Cipo who was a sprinter and failed to finish many stage races as soon as they hit the mountains.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    In the past riders would spend the winter doing six day races, so even more chances to win. Merckx's win rate is astounding. In his prime Cipollini was winning 15 races a year. I think Cavendish won 23 races last year. If Cav repeated this for a whole decade then he'd be halfway towards Merckx.
    Monty Dog wrote:
    The last of the all-rounders was probably Sean Kelly who retired in 1994
    Don't forget Jalabert, although the Frenchman was never at ease on the cobbles. But he won the Green Jersey, the Tour King of the Mountains, the Vuelta and a variety of classics.
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    How many's Petacchi and McEwen on? I know around 150 or so.
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    From a quick trawl the following legends came up:

    Merckx: 525
    Rik Van Looy: 379
    Hinault: 250+
    Anquetil: 200+

    I'm sure Binda, Van Steenburgen and possibly Kelly and Zabel are above the 200 mark.
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • Bronzie
    Bronzie Posts: 4,927
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    How many's Petacchi and McEwen on? I know around 150 or so.
    Upto the end of 2009...........Peta 145, Robbie 110...........the only current riders on ProTour teams above 100
    It's a Lifestyle! -+-+- Coggan Training Levels
  • disquieting_museeuws
    disquieting_museeuws Posts: 601
    According to the insert of the Sean Kelly Story video, Kelly had 181 victories up to the end of 1993. It looks like criterium victories are included in this.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,259
    A lot of Merckx's 525 victories were criteriums (the same with van Looy and others). The real figure is nearer 400. Still absolutely staggering though.
    Twitter: @RichN95

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