Favourite current Pro

disgruntledgoat

And I forgot Oscar Friere... after whom my dog is named.

federalski

I have a good team who I like to support...

Anton and Nieve for their mountain billy goat quallities and Txurruka for his attacks.
I like the Euskatels so these are quite biased.

Hushovd for his Green jersey win, even though he was'nt the fastest sprinter... :roll:

Chris Anker Sorensen for the face of doom we all know all too well, especially his effort in last years Giro.

Cadel for reasons stated, the wheelsucker shouters a few years got right on my nipples...

Prob more whom I cannot recall just now, though of the new breed Thomas and Boom I like.

mroli

I like Tyler Farrar - liked him before, liked him despite the terrible transitions advert and since the Giro can't believe that he is able to climb on a bike and race.

Any british rider through nationality reasons - same for Japanese riders.

SCR Pedro

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.

This.

My favourite GC rider is probably Ivan Basso
Favourite Classics rider is Damiano Cunego
I like Fränk Schleck, cause he is the rider I am most like, albeit a lot slower.

Just to balance out the positivity of it all, I can't be done with Chavendish, Hushovd is a whinger, and I don't like Renshaw. Infact, most of HTC do my head in.

Pedro

DeadCalm

David Millar above all.

As an adoptive Breton I've started rooting for Christophe Le Mevel. I also like that he's prepared to chance his arm.

I'd started cheering on Xavier Tondo at the start of the year at first because of that Vaughters article but then because I liked the plucky way he rode. Tragically he's no longer a current rider.

camerone

unashamed Cav fan. love his bolshiness, the fact he has to grovel up climbs, and the sheer speed.
cadel , used to dislike him, started warming to him when he threatened that camera man.
geraint, seems like a nice lad, clearly lots of talent.
others - a schleck, gilbert,
canc and gilbert solely for their descending.

cannot stand hushovd, he might as well shit on the jersey the way he's ridden to date (cue good tdf...)
also hugely dislike contador, nothing to do with latest positive, always been something about him thats abit odd, cannot explain it.
and farrar. he annoys me for no particular reason..

fave older one Gert Jan thernisse (sp) i loved him in the '89 tour.

iainf72

It would be intriguing to figure out where the public perception differs from the peloton's take on riders.

The public loved Poulidor, but the riders didn't really like him, much preferring Anquetil, things like that.

mididoctors

quite like a lot

Ryder

Stannard

Nibali

Russ

G

Sammy sanchez.....

Tommy V

cav (surprisingly)

rubertoe

Vino, G and Tommy V.

also for the insane attacks Jonny Hoogerland and Thomas de Gendt

Cakegirl

Emma Pooley is wonderful - ability, character, attitude, icecream , organisation and that mag interview..
Jens Voigt, for all the obvious reasons.
Cancellara - absolute power and grace. Could watch him descending forever.
Gilbert - attitude
G.Thomas - all round good funny guy
Malcolm Elliott. Teenage crush 25 years ago has never worn off.
Ed Clancy - spoke to him at the Cycle Show a couple of years back - really nice and totally generous to an ordinary bikie

Abdoujaparov

All the British riders especially Thomas - and Swift and Kennaugh could be faves if they keep improving.

Support Cav (shouting at the screen during sprints etc), but he's probably my least favourite British rider.

Not many mentions of climbing domestiques - love seeing them outclimbing GC contenders. Navarro, Szmyd, Nieve - all great.

Really like watching riders with great technique - e.g. Contador, Cav (just don't let him speak), Cancellara. Not a fan at all of Wiggo's climbing technique, but aside from that he's good.

finchy

The Brits.

The Euskaltel team (I've got an Orbea).

Damiano Cunego - as long as the current allegations turn out to be false.

Gilbert.

Cadel Evans.

That dead fit Swedish rider from the HTC women's team.

shinyhelmut

That dead fit Swedish rider from the HTC women's team.

Emilia Fahlin?

finchy

ShinyHelmut wrote:

That dead fit Swedish rider from the HTC women's team.

Emilia Fahlin?

You owe me a new computer screen.

shinyhelmut

johnfinch wrote:

You owe me a new computer screen.

It'll wipe clean

Wheelspinner

ShinyHelmut wrote:

That dead fit Swedish rider from the HTC women's team.

Emilia Fahlin?

Nice wheels on that bike.

P_Tucker

frenchfighter wrote:

Never understood the liking a rider due to Nationality.

I like riders for how they ride and who they are and not where they come from.

+1

Nationalism is no less stupid than racism, it's just more socially acceptable.

finchy

P_Tucker wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Never understood the liking a rider due to Nationality.

I like riders for how they ride and who they are and not where they come from.

+1

Nationalism is no less stupid than racism, it's just more socially acceptable.

So wanting British cyclists to do well so that cycling becomes more popular in the UK is stupid and as bad as racism?

P_Tucker

johnfinch wrote:

P_Tucker wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Never understood the liking a rider due to Nationality.

I like riders for how they ride and who they are and not where they come from.

+1

Nationalism is no less stupid than racism, it's just more socially acceptable.

So wanting British cyclists to do well so that cycling becomes more popular in the UK is stupid and as bad as racism?

Indeed. Why do british cyclists deserve a more popular sport vs foreign people?

And as an aside, other than possibly the safety aspect, WGAF about having a popular sport? Can you imagine if chavs started road racing? "Miss a turn again yerk*nt and I'll glass you". Jesus.

smithy21

P_Tucker wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Never understood the liking a rider due to Nationality.

I like riders for how they ride and who they are and not where they come from.

+1

Nationalism is no less stupid than racism, it's just more socially acceptable.

Oh Jesus, here we go.

Steve Cummings gets my vote.

Also like Evans, Thomas, Wiggo and Millar.

Dirty_Harry

Really enjoyed 'Beyond The Peloton' on Youtube as an opener to pro-cycling, so I like most of the Cervelo team, especially Haussler. Besides that I also like Scarponi - don't know why, just something about him, I think he won the first stage I watched - could be wrong.

disgruntledgoat

iainf72 wrote:

It would be intriguing to figure out where the public perception differs from the peloton's take on riders.

The public loved Poulidor, but the riders didn't really like him, much preferring Anquetil, things like that.

Riders didn't like him cos he was a moaning bustard.

yourpaceormine

David Millar - used to live near us, my boys used to shout 'allez, allez, allez' whenever he rode past and he didn't take offence & of course he'd always say 'hi' in the corner shop

Cav - like people who wear their heart on their sleeve

G - fantastic ambassador for British cycling this year, has done the British National jersey proud

Gilbert - just awesome

Flecha - liked Juan before Sky, ever since the archer salute at le Tour. Seems to be going from strength to strength, the Sky setup seems to suit him

(list should include Jaja, Robert Millar and Eddy M)

finchy

P_Tucker wrote:

johnfinch wrote:

P_Tucker wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Never understood the liking a rider due to Nationality.

I like riders for how they ride and who they are and not where they come from.

+1

Nationalism is no less stupid than racism, it's just more socially acceptable.

So wanting British cyclists to do well so that cycling becomes more popular in the UK is stupid and as bad as racism?

Indeed. Why do british cyclists deserve a more popular sport vs foreign people?

And as an aside, other than possibly the safety aspect, WGAF about having a popular sport? Can you imagine if chavs started road racing? "Miss a turn again yerk*nt and I'll glass you". Jesus.

I've read the first question 5 times and it still doesn't make any sense.

Having a popular sport = more media coverage, more people participating will mean higher sales volumes in shops, which should translate into lower prices due to the economies of scale.

And surely the safety aspect alone should justify wanting cycling becoming more popular.

Besides, every person is free to choose which criteria they use to decide on which cyclists to support.

disgruntledgoat

if chavs started road racing? "Miss a turn again yerk*nt and I'll glass you". Jesus.

Yes, no agressive and sweary type has ever entered a road race. They are all aesthetes and the type of person who reads Rouleur. :roll:

RichN95.

P_Tucker wrote:

And as an aside, other than possibly the safety aspect, WGAF about having a popular sport?

The more popular a sport is, the more TV coverage it gets. I would have thought that was pretty bleeding obvious.

Tom Butcher

P_Tucker wrote:

johnfinch wrote:

P_Tucker wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Never understood the liking a rider due to Nationality.

I like riders for how they ride and who they are and not where they come from.

+1

Nationalism is no less stupid than racism, it's just more socially acceptable.

So wanting British cyclists to do well so that cycling becomes more popular in the UK is stupid and as bad as racism?

Indeed. Why do british cyclists deserve a more popular sport vs foreign people?

It's not a question of them deserving support - it's a question of the person watching feeling some affinity with a rider from the same country.

If it adds a bit of interest for some people and does no harm why not ? Just because nationalism can be a bad thing doesn't mean all forms of national pride are necessarily bad.

dbb

quick - we had better cancel the Olympics because it is racist and stupid. :twisted:

rjh299

Cavendish
Eisel
Nibali

ratsbeyfus

The Brits, the Japs, Nibali, Voeckler and Roche for me.