Ugliest Riding Style?

Pross
Pross Posts: 43,185
edited May 2012 in Pro race
Watching the Tour of Cali last night I saw one of the Yank pros riding a TT who looked like he'd never sat on a bike before, it was horrible to watch even though he finished just outside the top 10 somehow (I think the rider was Lawson Craddock but can't find any footage). So, who do you think has the ugliest riding style in pro cycling? Who would drive Frenchie to tears by the sheer aesthetic nastiness they create when turning pedals?
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Comments

  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Really quiet week at work for you! :wink:
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,185
    Yep - filling in time until the Giro goes live :(
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    OK, I'll bite. I'm bored too...

    Lets start with two French "housewives favourites" - Virenque ( the original "frog on a matchbox") and Voeckler, who rides like he's sitting on sea urchins.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    Merckx was no stylist; rode a big like a gorilla. Evans, looks like a bag of spanners on a bike.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Voigt.

    Soler.
    _
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    Kelly - all knees and elbows. Apparently he originally used to race on a bike that was too small for him and ended up settling into that position.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    edited May 2012
    Yeah, I'm bored as well! I'd go for Alex Zulle.

    vueltaganad-zulle.jpg

    Love the bottom right photo. "I'm off for a ride, wanna join me?" Err, no thanks...
  • Rule74Please
    Rule74Please Posts: 307
    Fernando Escartin
    Pavel Tonkov

    Both looked like it was torture to ride
    Don't know the Rules?

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  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,793
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Fernando Escartin
    Pavel Tonkov

    Both looked like it was torture to ride


    +1 escartin... made soler look smooth

    pavel looked ok if you sped up the video... the gears he pushed uphill where Riisesque

    luc leblanc was a bit loopsided and all
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    edited September 2015
    Interesting looking at the positions yesterday.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    edited September 2015
    Winner for comparison sake worth a look.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Lepheimer's awful too.
    _
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    Francisco Mancebo
    Armand de las Cuevas
    Tom Boonen sprinting
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  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,711
    I'll add Paxti Vila.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    What's interesting is that nearly all these ugly riders have been quite successful. So either riding style is an irrelevance or (more likely) there is a stack of unsuccessful riders with probably even uglier riding styles that we never get to see.

    (I'm trying to think of a rider who was so twisted on the bike it was said he could shelter beside himself in a crosswind.)
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,185
    LangerDan wrote:
    What's interesting is that nearly all these ugly riders have been quite successful. So either riding style is an irrelevance or (more likely) there is a stack of unsuccessful riders with probably even uglier riding styles that we never get to see.

    (I'm trying to think of a rider who was so twisted on the bike it was said he could shelter beside himself in a crosswind.)

    Yates was a bit wonky wasn't he? I think he had to have shoes built up due to leg length issues but can't recall it looking too bad.

    Surprised no-one has mentioned Dan Martin yet, he's the one rider I can spot in the bunch and know immediately who it is.

    Frenchie, the photos above really don't show how horrible Craddock looked! When I saw him wobbling to the finish line I assumed he would be 5 minutes behind the leader and was amazed when he made it into the top 10.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,550
    Watching either of the Schlecks trying to TT makes me want to cry. It's like Salvador Dali was commissioned to build a racing cyclist out of knees and elbows.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • Rigga
    Rigga Posts: 939
    +1 for Evans he always looks really hunched over and uncomfortable.
  • Gazzetta67
    Gazzetta67 Posts: 1,890
    Michel Dernies 1990s Motorola,Domex Weinmann,Lotto maybe - Cycling`s Mr Zebedee

    Francesco Mancebo - He kooked as if he was carrying a bag of coal on one shoulder 8)

    Chris Horner - whats with that gammy foot thing going on ?
  • nic_77
    nic_77 Posts: 929
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Winner for comparison sake.
    6d97dfd13732659e7419344441b14db8-getty-144693027.jpg
    Anyone know the model name of DZ's helmet? Couldn't see it on Giro website (I assume it is a Giro).
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  • ocdupalais
    ocdupalais Posts: 4,314
    Chris Anker Sorenson
  • shockedsoshocked
    shockedsoshocked Posts: 4,021
    Paul Curran.
    "A cyclist has nothing to lose but his chain"

    PTP Runner Up 2015
  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    Agree with those that said Escartin: looked like a frog on a bike
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    JonGinge wrote:
    Agree with those that said Escartin: looked like a frog on a bike

    Yep, Escartin the one who imeediately sprang to mind. Wasn't he called "the crab"? Somehow looked like he was going sideways. Obviously worked for him though (a bit like Paula Radcliffe, you always wondered whether he wouldn't be that bit better if he put all his effort into going forwards...)
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/41991871@N ... otostream/
  • edhornby
    edhornby Posts: 1,780
    I remember Boardman describing Tommy Voeckler as 'like a monkey climbing a rope' on a bike :-)
    "I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
    --Jens Voight
  • Mr Wookie Man
    Mr Wookie Man Posts: 43
    I'm going for Bjarne Riis.

    Nothing to do with his position or riding style.

    I just wished he wouldn't open his mouth so wide.

    It was very distracting.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Mancebo was the first one that came to my mind. Easy to tell how hard the stage was being raced by how lopsided Paco's head was.
  • Rule74Please
    Rule74Please Posts: 307
    We all forgot the ugliest

    Obree in the original position Mind you not much better in Superman pose either
    Don't know the Rules?

    http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/
  • mm1
    mm1 Posts: 1,063
    Michelle Pollentier, Freddy Maertens' old mate. Looked like Paul Daniels, but pretty quick (on or off the sauce).
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    mm1 wrote:
    Michelle Pollentier, Freddy Maertens' old mate. Looked like Paul Daniels, but pretty quick (on or off the sauce).
    It can't be easy to ride gracefully if you've got a bag of urine hidden in your shorts.
    Twitter: @RichN95

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