'Big' Riders

Pross
Pross Posts: 43,463
edited July 2010 in Pro race
Listening to the cliched commentary of Phil and Paul and their use of 'big' [insert rider name] I thought I'd do some research to see which riders are genuinely big. Now, using myself as the benchmark for average :wink: I have come to the conclusion that the only genuinely big top level pro in recent years was 'big' Magnus Backstedt at 1.91m and 94kg. Jens, George and Tom could be called 'tall' but are still lightweights by my yardstick (Jens is a paltry 74kg) whilst Thor comes in as 'medium sized' :wink:

What 'big' riders have I missed? Who is the biggest currently on the Pro Tour? Why doesn't Wiggo get called 'big' Brad when he is a similar size?

Comments

  • rapid_uphill
    rapid_uphill Posts: 841
    Gregory Rast might be biggest. he looked huge in the peleton this year.
  • dave milne
    dave milne Posts: 703
    Pross wrote:
    Listening to the cliched commentary of Phil and Paul and their use of 'big' [insert rider name] I thought I'd do some research to see which riders are genuinely big. Now, using myself as the benchmark for average :wink: I have come to the conclusion that the only genuinely big top level pro in recent years was 'big' Magnus Backstedt at 1.91m and 94kg. Jens, George and Tom could be called 'tall' but are still lightweights by my yardstick (Jens is a paltry 74kg) whilst Thor comes in as 'medium sized' :wink:

    What 'big' riders have I missed? Who is the biggest currently on the Pro Tour? Why doesn't Wiggo get called 'big' Brad when he is a similar size?

    I have heard him referred to as big Bradley Wiggins before. Think it might have been Harmon in the 2008 Giro
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    rapid_uphill wrote:
    Gregory Rast might be biggest. he looked huge in the peloton this year.

    A mere 1.86m and 76kg apparently. I would have put Eros Poli into the 'big' category although there's an Olympic athlete site on the web that has him down as 1.8m and 78kg :shock:
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Boonen. 80 odd kg, 192cm.
    _
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Dario Pieri was big. As in big and fat.

    Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle was also built like a bear.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,788
    Michael Schär BMC 196cm apparently and as thin as a stick.
    http://cyclinganddesign.blogspot.fr/
  • andy_wrx
    andy_wrx Posts: 3,396
    fatguyinspandex-1-01.jpg

    This guy is 'big', right ?
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Saw him on a sportive :lol:
  • Bernardus
    Bernardus Posts: 136
    Some tall riders

    Stijn Vandenbergh (Katusha) 1.99m
    Jens Mouris (Vacansoleil) 1.98m
    Johan Vansummeren (Garmin) 1.97m
    Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil) 1.95m

    last year during one of the smaller Belgian one day races, Mol and Ardila (1.65m) escaped together and Mol actually tried to draft behind Ardila,
  • msw
    msw Posts: 313
    As in football, though, being "big" isn't just (or even mainly) a physical thing, right? "Big Jens" fits Voigt perfectly and Jan Ullrich was surely "Big Jan Ullrich" at just 6'0 and 74 kg (presumably his racing weight....).
    "We're not holding up traffic. We are traffic."
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    Pross wrote:
    Saw him on a sportive :lol:


    He must have been the guy that ate all the food from the Bike Radar Sportive. 8)
  • alex16zx
    alex16zx Posts: 153
    Brajkovic looks like he has a beer belly the whole time at the moment (with his jersey undone), or perhaps more accurately it looks a bit swollen like a malnourished child. weird to see, i think it must be because his shorts sit just below his stomach and when he has his jersey undone it makes it stick out.
  • paulcuthbert
    paulcuthbert Posts: 1,016
    Brajkovic certainly isn't big! His arms are so skinny..

    Somebody's going to be on Wikipedia and getting height and weight and working out riders' BMI next.

    Or have some of you done that already... :wink:
    The most painful climb in Northern Ireland http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs200.snc1/6776_124247198694_548863694_2335754_8016178_n.jpg
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    Looking at my official Tour guide, the following are 80+ kg (not all in Tour)

    Said Haddou (BBox) 80kg
    Thor Hushovd (cervelo) - 83kg
    Brett Lancaster (cervelo) - 80kg
    Dominique Rollin (Cervelo) - 83kg
    Hayden Roulston (HTC) - 81kg
    Marcel Sieberg (HTC) - 80kg
    Stijn Vandenbergh (Katusha) - 83kg
    Marcin Sapa (Lampre) - 82kg
    Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) - 80kg
    Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas) - 80kg
    Jacopo Guanrnieri (Liquigas) - 80kg
    Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) - 80kg
    Robert Forster (Milram) - 81kg
    Roger Kluge (Milram) - 83kg
    Christian Knees (Milram) - 81kg
    Roy Sentjens (Milram) - 81kg
    Oliver Kaisen (OPL) - 83kg
    Tom Boonen (QS) - 82kg
    Andreas Stauff (QS) - 82kg
    Rick Flens (Rabo) - 82kg
    Maarten Tjallingii (Rabo) - 81kg
    Sam Bewley (RadioS) - 82kg
    Tomas Vaitkus - (RadioS) - 80kg
    Fabian Cancellara (Saxo) - 80kg
    Frank Hoj (Saxo) - 80kg
    Matthew Hayman (Sky) - 81kg
    Ian Stannard (Sky) - 80kg

    But the box of donuts goes to.....

    Alex Rasmussen (Saxo) - 88kg. What a contrast to his namesake.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • paulcuthbert
    paulcuthbert Posts: 1,016
    A few big names there (no pun intended)

    Question is - would they be as good if they were a little leaner?

    Cancellara can time trial like hell - so if he shed a few kilograms, and hung on in the mountains, surely he'd be a genuine stage race contender...
    The most painful climb in Northern Ireland http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs200.snc1/6776_124247198694_548863694_2335754_8016178_n.jpg
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    paulcuthbert wrote:
    A few big names there (no pun intended)

    Question is - would they be as good if they were a little leaner?

    Cancellara can time trial like hell - so if he shed a few kilograms, and hung on in the mountains, surely he'd be a genuine stage race contender...

    He shed quite a few Kilos for the olympics, last years Tour de Suisse and the worlds in Switzerland.

    He's always going to be a big guy, so high mountains are way out for him. Just look at his arse the next time he's gunning it. It's pretty massive for a roadie.
    _
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    They're all lightweight to me :lol: I know from experience how just a couple of kg can make a massive difference to climbing. Also, having seen Magnus climbing the Tumble way faster than I could when I was about 70kg it makes you realise just how good the genuine climbers must be as he would have been first out the back on the pro tour.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Rick Chasey wrote:

    He's always going to be a big guy, so high mountains are way out for him. Just look at his ars* the next time he's gunning it. It's pretty massive for a roadie.

    If Cancellera started challenging for a grand tour, I'd be switching off the computer and TV and going to the pub.

    It would be beyond a farce.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • sheffsimon
    sheffsimon Posts: 1,282
    andy_wrx wrote:
    fatguyinspandex-1-01.jpg

    This guy is 'big', right ?

    How many times has this photo been wheeled out used on numerous forums??

    Maybe the guy pictured gets royalties. :roll:

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