Favourite current Pro

paulcuthbert

Your thoughts...

Be it for their riding, anti-doping stance, or even sunglasses- who's your fave?

rick_chasey

You really need to ask?

paulcuthbert

Just trying to create a discussion on a forum (heaven forbid!). What's the harm?

Anonymous

I love em all.

paulcuthbert

No preference Nap?

RichN95.

Favourite rider: Geraint Thomas (local boy)

Favourite star: Cav - for a combination of talent, interest and charisma, he's without equal (since Tom has stopped winning races)

Favourite non-Brit, non-Sky: Evans, probably - I can relate to him. I liked him even when everyone slagged him off as a wheel-sucker (where are those wheels now? Serving bans, that's where). He's was also responsible for my best PTP season ever, almost single handed.

Favourite non-star: Samuel Dumoulin - a fellow short man (I'm taller than him though).

RichN95.

paulcuthbert wrote:

Just trying to create a discussion on a forum (heaven forbid!). What's the harm?

I think RC was referring to his well known devotion to Mr Boonen, rather than commenting on your post.

Similarly, it is well known that:

Tusher loves Cavendish
FrenchFighter loves Contador
IainF72 loves Basso
& BikingBernie loves Armstrong (they're just going through a bad patch)

nakita222

corneradye loves Cavy

csp

Everybody loves Ricco.

all show no go

Jens Voigt. Obvious I know. But he kicks ass and is not some anodyne perfumed pro like so many rolling around him on a silly wage in the peloton these days.

Special good-pro award goes to Geraint Thomas though. Funny guy and a professional professional.

Trust me, you'll all be naming your next newborn son after him.......!

B3rnieMac

Nico Roche for the whole Irish thing, but Evans mainly.

Cleat Eastwood

Nice thread, a bit of positivity.

Gilbert and for a reason I cant explain Hesjedal. I think its to do with attacking riders. Oh and Thor, just wish he would wear the jersey with all the honour/pride Cadel did, which reminds me since last year I'm warming to cuddles too....oh and Millar ever since he make a break for it when the tour started in London and he said he did it to 'pay something back to fans who came out to support the tour'.

Old time fave would be Pantani.

luckao

Nibali. "Watch me tear down this mountain for fun".

suspectdevice

Tommy Voeckler for me, he just doesn't seem to care when he attacks or even if most of the time it's futile, he just attacks anyway because he can.

On a seperatre note i also admire any rider who finished this years Giro.

zippypablo

got a few really, in no particular order: Boonen, Samuel Sanchez and Geraint Thomas.

inkyfingers

My fairly predictable picks would be Voeckler, Voigt for entertainment value and Evans and Cav for just being great at what they do.

cal_stewart

cav, gilbert and very oddly ricco because he's like a panto bad guy.

TMR

George Hincapie has always been, and always will be my favourite.

Mark Cavendish is a very close second. My heart's always in my throat watching him sprint - such a character!

RowCycle

Think I'm going for Geraint Thomas. Then probably Wiggo.

RowCycle

RowCycle wrote:

Then probably Wiggo.

But only when he had his mutton chop sideburns

MrTapir

suspectdevice wrote:

Tommy Voeckler for me, he just doesn't seem to care when he attacks or even if most of the time it's futile, he just attacks anyway because he can.

On a seperatre note i also admire any rider who finished this years Giro.

There's a good interview with Voeckler in Rouleur, he sounds like a really decent chap. I like him also cos of his attacking style. I also like Gilbert, Sylvain Chavanel, Cav. I always admire Cav for the way he thanks his team, and what he did during the commonwealth games.

Pross

Hunt as he used to ride in some of the same races as me and Geraint as a local boy but purely on riding it has to be Gilbert and Voeckler for their attacking styles. I do like Cav as well for his talent and his honest opinions - as with any person like that, he divides opinion as we know!

disgruntledgoat

Well, now Gibo's gone they all just seem so second rate

I'm not sure I have a favourite. I like Millar, Jurgen VDB, Boonen, Devolder (who surely must be the most underrated double Flanders winner of all time!) and I like all of Euskaltel, partly for the Basque thing (had some good times there!) and partly for the amazing names, Amets Txurruka, Gorka Verdigo et al.

LangerDan

Freire, Menchov, Boonen and anyone of the Brutt / Ignatiev school of "grenade" breaks - pull the pin and see how far you get before you explode.

cogidubnus

Any of the British riders, though Wiggo and G my favourites.

Of the non Brits: Samuel Sanchez, Tommy Voekler and Bertie

andyjr

Cav, Nibali for his descending

deejay

RichN95 wrote:

Favourite rider:Geraint Thomas

I very much like Geraint Thomas the winner of the 5 day Bayern Rundfahrt (Tour of Bavaria) 25-29 May 2011 & lying 6th at the moment in the Dauphine.

Emma Pooley the Pantani of Ladies Road Racing

I hope Robert Gesink can improve with maturity

Gazzaputt

Got be Geriant for me to.

I do like Cav cracking character and his tweets are great.

Fave foreign rider has to be Jens.

guinea

I like Cancellara.

How about you OP?

rick_chasey

paulcuthbert wrote:

Just trying to create a discussion on a forum (heaven forbid!). What's the harm?

I'm probably the biggest fanboy on here.

Boonen.

I like Boonen for many reasons.

1) I like the way he races - I think he has an excellent balance between properly racing ("koersen" - i.e. trying to create selections, attacking, taking turns in breaks), and racing smart. There's little of that leukemans suicidal "koresen" just for honour or valour.

2) He's consistently a main protagonist and enlivener of my favourite races - the flat classics.

3) It helps he's good looking > not that i'm sitting there rubbing one out (a surprise to some of you I know ), but it helps him look cool. Girlfriend also approves which helps

4) He's an excellent racer - the way he can move through the middle of the peloton and position himself - the way he attacks (when he does) - the way he can smash the cobbles hard. He's also a smart racer.

5) I like his interviews - he's not got verbal diarrhea, nor does he give bland answers, but he's still pretty honest They're a little guarded, but he often lets it known how he feels. I also like how, whenever he's criticsed, there's a polite, but confident refusal to acknowledge he did wrong, at least, publicly. He's interesting. He's also very open about his training, diet, etc, which I'm keen on.

6) He's quite human. He's got an ego, he needs to be boss, he finds living with being good and popular tough > he already talks about retirement and he's honest that he doesn't love it all that much.

7) He couldn't be further away from the type of rider I am. He's fast, I'm slow, I'm a tiny waif, he's tall and weighs in at 80 kilos.

rick_chasey

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Devolder (who surely must be the most underrated double Flanders winner of all time!)

I see your Devolder and raise you Nuyens...