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Pub Talk - The Perfect Win?

tailwindhometailwindhome Posts: 15,915
edited December 2013 in Pro race
There's always plenty of chat on this board regarding the quality of different wins and whether or not the winner was worthy.

So the question is. What ride do you think epitomises the 'The Perfect Win'?

Or do you believe in the golfer's adage "There are no pictures on a scorecard"?




(Play nice)
Believe that a farther shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
And cures and healing wells
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Posts

  • napoleondnapoleond Posts: 18,633
    Cav's Milan San Remo was pretty spectacular.
    Twitter - @NapD
    Strava - Alex Taylor (sportstest.co.uk)
    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • frenchfighterfrenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Solo from distance.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • ellerslierdellerslierd Posts: 266
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Solo from distance.

    ... but so close to being caught they are classified as the same time as the chasers.
  • RichN95.RichN95. Posts: 24,305
    Most of Dan Martin's wins this year. A team plan well executed and finished of with a bit of individuality by someone who wasn' t really a top favourite.

    However, the scorecard adage is ultimately very true. Most here will say Merckx was the greatest ever, but I reckon few could describe any of his wins.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • frenchfighterfrenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    RichN95 wrote:
    However, the scorecard adage is ultimately very true. Most here will say Merckx was the greatest ever, but I reckon few could describe any of his wins.

    Most of us were not born when he was racing so that is not very surprising is it? If he had been racing this decade and doing what he was hen, I am sure we could roll them off.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • CrankbrotherCrankbrother Posts: 1,695
    Regardless of the outcome ... Landis ... Bravery/stupidity combined in perfect harmony ...
  • outcastjackoutcastjack Posts: 237
    1. A mental all day break just getting it on the line from a charging pack
    2. Flying away from a small group on a final mountain ideally further than >10km can be shortened if on the piddley hills we have here in England
    3. A well executed sprint is also quite nice to watch.
  • rayjayrayjay Posts: 1,384
    Landis for me as well, for being the most exciting stage of a tour and the chaos it caused.

    Contador at the Giro destroying everyone. Never seen such awesome dominance.
  • RichN95.RichN95. Posts: 24,305
    frenchfighter wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    However, the scorecard adage is ultimately very true. Most here will say Merckx was the greatest ever, but I reckon few could describe any of his wins.

    Most of us were not born when he was racing so that is not very surprising is it? If he had been racing this decade and doing what he was hen, I am sure we could roll them off.
    ...But we know his results. So ultimately (i.e. in the end), the adage proves true. Memories fade but results stay forever*


    *(WADA permitting).
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • tailwindhometailwindhome Posts: 15,915
    Chiapucci

    Only started watching again in recent times, didn't watch from about 94 until the last couple of years so missed a lot.

    Boonen handing Sky their ar5es must be up there.

    Cancellara's win at Roubaix last year was awesome too. The inevitable reeling in of group after group by the favourite and then the sprint in the velodrome. It would be the perfect win if it weren't for the Stybar crash and
    Believe that a farther shore
    Is reachable from here.
    Believe in miracles
    And cures and healing wells
  • deejaydeejay Posts: 3,138
    frenchfighter wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    However, the scorecard adage is ultimately very true. Most here will say Merckx was the greatest ever, but I reckon few could describe any of his wins.
    Most of us were not born when he was racing so that is not very surprising is it? If he had been racing this decade and doing what he was hen, I am sure we could roll them off.
    Why that almost seems like yesterday.
    I can remember following the reports of the Epic battle between Merckx and Gimondi with Poulidor leading the rest.
    Then I was in the Parc de Princes as the peloton and Anquetil came into the velodrome and the deafening chant of Anquetil still rings in the ears.

    My answer to the OP question is :-
    To ride away in the mountains with hands on the "Tops" as he sits there with style (or stands) and gains over 20 mins over the next rider, it has to be Fausto Coppi.
    We didn't have Television but the photographer Len Thorpe of Finchley would give Film shows from his collection of cycle races and Blue films.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3io9Vp1xCo
    Organiser, National Championship 50 mile Time Trial 1972
  • Yellow PerilYellow Peril Posts: 4,466
    Cav's World champs win. Great holding of nerve and bossing of race by GB, diesels driving all race long. Superb captaincy by Millar. Monumental turn by Wiggo and then finished off by a perfect Cav sprint.

    Just watch and re-live...
    @JaunePeril

    Winner of the Bike Radar Pro Race Wiggins Hour Prediction Competition
  • TheBigBeanTheBigBean Posts: 11,844
    It is hard to imagine much better than Lemond's win on the Champs-Élysées‎, but as this was a TT I realise I might get kicked out of the pub.
  • mike6mike6 Posts: 1,199
    TheBigBean wrote:
    It is hard to imagine much better than Lemond's win on the Champs-Élysées‎, but as this was a TT I realise I might get kicked out of the pub.

    Nah, he was cheating. Using "Tri-Bars" was just beyond the pale. Technology? pah. :D

    Also, Fignon had a saddle boil that made it almost impossible for him to sit for long periods. But the champion he was he did not make an issue of it.
  • mike6mike6 Posts: 1,199
    2010, Cavendish winning on the Champs. The side on shot of the sprinters flat out, then Cav comes from nowhere, going like a train, and beats them by lengths. Legend.
  • RonBRonB Posts: 3,984
    edited November 2013
    Always difficult later on in such a thread. Here are a couple of my favourites...

    Iljo Keisse, Tour of Turkey 2012 - Stage 7 http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3ru3vGR8nck&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3ru3vGR8nck

    Nicole Cooke, Beijing Olympic Gold 2008 can't find a decent link though!
  • deejaydeejay Posts: 3,138
    tailwindhome wrote:
    Only started watching again in recent times, didn't watch from about 94 until the last couple of years so missed a lot.
    You Lucky censored . You missed the Shysters, Frauds, and Scumbags that were on display for the Children.
    tailwindhome wrote:
    Chiapucci
    Yeh, I liked Claudio but your clip has reminded me of a young Richard Virenque who on stage 2 was in a break (of 3 if I remember OK) that gave him the Yellow Jersey.
    The team decided that Pascal Lino was a better rider and sent him off to attack the Yellow which he held till this.
    Your youtube reminded me of the pleasure I had watching Lino suffer as he lost on the climb to Sestriere. :roll:
    Organiser, National Championship 50 mile Time Trial 1972
  • tailwindhometailwindhome Posts: 15,915
    deejay wrote:
    tailwindhome wrote:
    Only started watching again in recent times, didn't watch from about 94 until the last couple of years so missed a lot.
    You Lucky censored . You missed the Shysters, Frauds, and Scumbags that were on display for the Children.

    Perhaps ironically the last pro race I watched was the Tour. I travelled from Galway to see the start in New Ross, watched it through Carrick On Suir and drove like a maniac to see it into Cork. That was 98 I think. Not sure what happened after that :lol:
    Believe that a farther shore
    Is reachable from here.
    Believe in miracles
    And cures and healing wells
  • Mad_MalxMad_Malx Posts: 4,119
    mike6 wrote:
    2010, Cavendish winning on the Champs. The side on shot of the sprinters flat out, then Cav comes from nowhere, going like a train, and beats them by lengths. Legend.

    One of my favorites, definitely. Wiggo leading Cav onto the Champs for 2012 also, icing on the cake for the team.
  • deejaydeejay Posts: 3,138
    tailwindhome wrote:
    deejay wrote:
    tailwindhome wrote:
    Only started watching again in recent times, didn't watch from about 94 until the last couple of years so missed a lot.
    You Lucky censored . You missed the Shysters, Frauds, and Scumbags that were on display for the Children.
    Perhaps ironically the last pro race I watched was the Tour. I travelled from Galway to see the start in New Ross, watched it through Carrick On Suir and drove like a maniac to see it into Cork. That was 98 I think. Not sure what happened after that :lol:
    What happened was the Final -World Cup of Football was played in Paris and the next day the TDF returned to France.
    The TDF played the away game because the 3 weeks of world football meant No publicity (very little) for the TDF start.
    So the TDF came back to France and needed to become the main Media story and so what happened is now known as the Festina affair which took over the Media.

    Makes you think, dun it. :roll:
    Organiser, National Championship 50 mile Time Trial 1972
  • deejaydeejay Posts: 3,138
    madasahattersley wrote:
    This...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uFNvaPfV-w
    ...is the correct way to win a race :D
    Nah, that was tame compared to the "Quote - most Brutal Paris Roubaix ever" in 1994.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10xUg4SqHpk
    At 34.42 mins is where Tchmil attacks with 63 Kms to go in wind and rain.

    The selection mucks about as usual and it's Museeuw who goes on the chase to catch his arch enemy and gets to within 8 secs before he blows up and Tchmil wins the race.

    Ha, No Gewiss, Telekom or Armstrong (I know they were still Kiddies) but it's nice to watch again.
    Organiser, National Championship 50 mile Time Trial 1972
  • ThomThomThomThom Posts: 3,574
    Yellow Peril wrote:
    Cav's World champs win. Great holding of nerve and bossing of race by GB, diesels driving all race long. Superb captaincy by Millar. Monumental turn by Wiggo and then finished off by a perfect Cav sprint.

    Just watch and re-live...

    Even though I was there with 100.000 others in a great atmosphere and just 2 meters from the finish line, that race was bloody awful.
  • Le CommentateurLe Commentateur Posts: 4,174
    The guy who won the Strada Bianchi race this year, attacking from about 20kms out.

    Or Marianne Vos's Olympics race win.
    Un uomo solo al commando
  • AnonymousAnonymous Posts: 79,692
    I'd say my two favorite wins are:

    Cav world championship: it was the race that really hooked me on pro-cycling, and will forever hold a special place for me. I was watching it and googling terms that were being said.

    De Geht on the Stevelio. Nothing needs said, perfection.
  • napoleondnapoleond Posts: 18,633
    sjmclean wrote:
    De Geht on the Stevelio. Nothing needs said, perfection.

    De Ghent. Stelvio. ;)
    Twitter - @NapD
    Strava - Alex Taylor (sportstest.co.uk)
    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • FJSFJS Posts: 4,820
    ellerslierd wrote:
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Solo from distance.

    ... but so close to being caught they are classified as the same time as the chasers.

    Something like Gianni Bugno's 1990 San Remo win?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p0a6aQf ... ata_player
  • FJSFJS Posts: 4,820
    RichN95 wrote:
    However, the scorecard adage is ultimately very true. Most here will say Merckx was the greatest ever, but I reckon few could describe any of his wins.
    Really? Merckx had lots of iconic wins. His 1969 pyrenees solo in the TdF, his 69 Ronde van Vlaanderen solo! His 1970 Roubaix solo. Because it's Merckx they're so often retold (more so in dutch I guess, but still). I wouldnt have clue about a Bobet or non-TT Anquetil win though...
  • FJSFJS Posts: 4,820
    Yellow Peril wrote:
    Cav's World champs win. Great holding of nerve and bossing of race by GB, diesels driving all race long. Superb captaincy by Millar. Monumental turn by Wiggo and then finished off by a perfect Cav sprint.

    Just watch and re-live...
    The control of the race by GB was superb, but the actual sprint and last km was quite messy.
    Compare with this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4HkqU1K ... ata_player
  • mm1mm1 Posts: 1,101
    Argentin's 1987 (?) win in Leige-Bastogne-Leige, where it looked as if either Steven Roche or Claude Criquillion was certain to win.

    Kelly's 1984 Leige.

    David Millar's win over Botero in the Vuelta (2001?), though I think he's admitted to being on the gear. From memory that the day that he bridged several gaps between echelons to get to the front and took a bow as he crossed the line.

    Cav's stage 18 (Brive-le-Gaillarde) win at the 2012 Tour was a bit special too.
  • mm1mm1 Posts: 1,101
    And this, of course, [url Kelly, San-Remo 1992.
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