Who will be the Greatest Stage Racer? (MEH!)

tailwindhome

So Quintana is going for the Vuelta and talking of a double.
He's 24 and has 1 GT in the bag.

Contador is 31 and while in good form can't have many left in the tank.
He has 7*. The first at 24, the most recent 2 years ago.

Froome is 29, a late bloomer but how much time can he have left?
He has 1


So......who by the time they retire, will have won the most GT's?



*(Only wins on the road count - retrospective bans irrelevant)

philbar72

Eddy Mercx.

I think Quintana will be up there, he's pretty much the best climber Aside from Froome, or Contador of this generation. He’s got 5 years on Froome, and 7 on Contador.

Its just such a shame that Valverde is still insisting on being Mr GC for the tour. with his attributes, he should be going for stage wins.

type:epyt

If we're only getting a choice of these 3 then should it not be 'this' generation?

Even then it's tenuous because I think Nibali (with 2 GT wins and 4 further podiums in the past 4 years) should be there instead of Quintana (one win, one podium and of a different generation to the other 2 and should be compared to his direct peers).

Sorry, but it's a crap poll.

tailwindhome

Oh FFS.

type:epyt

TailWindHome wrote:

Oh FFS.

Don't be grumpy.

Was just saying that I could easily have answered your question with 'Armstrong' (as someone did with Merckx) and reasoned this with widespread doping etc. But that's not what you were after.

I also think Nibali is the better comparison for Froome/Contador rather than NQ.

debeli

Perhaps none of the three. These questions are fun, but ultimately of no worth beyond the banter.

All three are exceptional riders, but none yet has made the 'great' level in my eyes. The closest now (and perhaps ultimately) is Contador who has won all three GTs (once getting the white, too) and has a good all-round ability. Close, but not qute there yet.

For me, the 'Greats' of my adult life are Hinault, Fignon, Lemond, Indurain, Pantani and (until recently) Armstrong.

There have been others who were utterly great in their role but somehow do not make it to the top list: Virenque, Voeckler, Abdudzaperov, Zabel. Real fighters and riders, but not really there for the GC for obvious reasons. Evans also makes my 'nearly' list for having won the TdF after so many years as the bridesmaid.

Of all those I've mentioned above, most have been tainted by PED stories and some have been banned or had wins stripped. Others have admitted doping in their later years.

Quintana might make it as another Pantani and will excel on the Giro and if other GTs are made hillier for him. Froom is Armstrong-like in his all-round competence.

In twewnty years, only Contador will be spoken of in the same breath as the greats, but the (highly selective) whiff of PED accusations will forever taint him in a way that sympathy prevents us from accusing the equally tainted Evans, Voeckler and others.

ddraver

I say Bertie is the best...so far

Froome is catching him up and in most stage races they ve competed in as Team Leaders has beaten Bertie (or they ve both ballsed it up a la the 2014 Dolphin)

The_Boy

Assessing them according to the criteria in the OP I'd go:

1. Contador
2. Froome
3. Nibali
4. Quintana

I might be tempted to shuffled 2 and 3 around, but the fact that Froome has a TdF win and finished comfortably ahead of Nibali in 2012 makes that kind of difficult.

It's an interesting choice of riders in the poll though. I'd say Contador was far more of the same genration as, for example, Evans than Quintana.

mike6

Probably none of the above, but if we have to look at those four:

Contador? No. Using the Armstrong format you could argue he has only won one, with minimal questionability, the Vuelta 2 years ago. Cant count any of the rest as he was banned for doping so was probably doping for the ones before the ban. Not an unreasonable assumption given his overall results since the ban.

Froome. Possibly. Since coming into form and having his long term illness treated he has been on the podium in three GTs in 3 years. He is now at the age when endurance athletes are at there best, so with any luck he should get a few more.

Quintana. Too early to say, and probably a different generation. Also, If he is a one trick climbing pony his chances could be limited to mountain heavy routes.

Nibali. There or there abouts in GTs but needs that extra 5% that marks out the true contender. If he had a stronger team to help on the road it would make a huge difference.

TMR

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Poor Froomey! Nil Pois!

salsiccia1

TMR wrote:

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Poor Froomey! Nil Pois!

Easy now, TMR. You need to let it go now. It won't do you any good in the long run.

TMR

Salsiccia1 wrote:

TMR wrote:

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Poor Froomey! Nil Pois!

Easy now, TMR. You need to let it go now. It won't do you any good in the long run.

I know. I've gotten it out of my system and now feel much better.

deejay

I'm sorry but Froome is but one small step in front of Roger Walkowiak.
You need three TDF's to even be considered a great of a generation and GT's are not the only measurement.
Has he won Paris-Nice yet, well most of the real greats have put that one on their palmares.
You are all trembling at the thought of him getting through the "Pave" tomorrow, whereas if he was a great then you would know he will do it comfortably.
Armstrong didn't make it but Fausto with only 2 TDF wins is one of the "Greats" of all time.

rick_chasey

deejay wrote:

You need three TDF's to even be considered a great of a generation...



...Fausto with only 2 TDF wins is one of the "Greats" of all time.

Eh?

mike6

Rick Chasey wrote:

deejay wrote:

You need three TDF's to even be considered a great of a generation...



...Fausto with only 2 TDF wins is one of the "Greats" of all time.

Eh?

+1

Also the criteria is "Stage Racer" who said anything about it being TDF only?