Who is the (Men's) Rider of the Decade?

RichN95.

As an adjunct to my other post about a decade retrospective, who is the Men's Road Rider of the decade?

redvision

I'm torn between Froome and Sagan, but for the GT victories and dominance I think froome edges it for me.

mrb123

Shouldn't Cav be on the list?

orraloon

Hmm,

redvision said:

I'm torn between Froome and Sagan, but for the GT victories and dominance I think froome edges it for me.

was my immediate thinking. A rider who spans the whole 2010s decade as a full on player... has to be between Sagan and Froome.

RichN95.

mrb123 said:

Shouldn't Cav be on the list?

I reluctantly excluded him, Ten Tour victories and MSR were before 2010. I felt Kittel generally had the better of him in the 2010s

mrb123

RichN95. said:

mrb123 said:

Shouldn't Cav be on the list?

I reluctantly excluded him, Ten Tour victories and MSR were before 2010. I felt Kittel generally had the better of him in the 2010s

I'm not saying he'd get my vote, but Worlds win and plenty of tour victories were in the last decade so perhaps a more worthy inclusion on the shortlist than MVDP.

RichN95.

mrb123 said:

more worthy inclusion on the shortlist than MVDP.

But MDVP is like jazz. It's not about the notes he plays is about the ones he could have played but chose not to. And with MVDP, he would have won most of the races in the last three years, but he chose not to. Instead he made one masterpiece where he outsprinted the legendary Simon Clarke after the favourites ballsed it up. Only a GOAT could pick and choose his wins like this to provide the greatest theatre.

Alternatively, his inclusion is just my little joke about the overhyping of young talents, which I am consistently against (see for example Evenepoel winning Belgian cyclist of the Year ahead of Gilbert's Roubaix win)

kingstongraham

Sagan for me, but obviously a two horse race.

PR, RVV, all the greens, but mainly the three worlds. And the general consistency is remarkable - even in the one he hasn't won but should have, msr, his finishes since 2012 are 4-2-10-4-12-2-6-4.

cruff

Sagan

andyp

There have been 30 GTs in the decade, and Froome has finished on the podium in a third of them, and won almost a quarter of them. That's era defining, and makes him the best rider of his era and up there with the greatest from other eras.

Other riders have been impressive, Sagan's longevity is especially noteworthy, although the really big wins are lacking a bit, i.e. he's only won two monuments, but none of them define the era in the way Froome does.

flasher

Valverde, it's not just about Grand Tours!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_Ranking#Rider_Rankings

No_Ta_Doctor

Froome, no contest.

15 GTs ridden, one DSQ, two DNFs, the lowest result in the 12 he finished is a single 4th place. He won 7 of them, and was the holder of all three at the same time. And his Giro win came from the most spectacular long range solo attack in decades.

There are only 7 riders who have beaten him in a GT he's finished this decade, and two of them were teammates.

Only four riders have won more TdFs than him, and they're all legends of the sport.
He's in joint 4th place for GT wins, with Contador, Indurain and Coppi alongside him. Only Merckx, Hinault and Anquetil have more.

rick_chasey

Err Cancellara but no Boonen?

RichN95.

rick_chasey said:

Err Cancellara but no Boonen?

Five of Cancellara's monuments were this decade, but only two of Boonen's. Then add in Olympic and World Golds. Boonen would be a strong contender for the rider of the previous decade.

RichN95.

kingstongraham said:

Sagan for me, but obviously a two horse race.

I think Gilbert's a stronger contender than his given credit for.

andyp

RichN95. said:

I think Gilbert's a stronger contender than his given credit for.

Four monument wins, but four different ones, plus the Worlds and plenty of other high quality wins, i.e. stages in all three GTs, Amstel Gold repeatedly, Fleche, etc., in this decade.

Dorset_Boy

No_Ta_Doctor said:

Froome, no contest.

15 GTs ridden, one DSQ, two DNFs, the lowest result in the 12 he finished is a single 4th place. He won 7 of them, and was the holder of all three at the same time. And his Giro win came from the most spectacular long range solo attack in decades.

There are only 7 riders who have beaten him in a GT he's finished this decade, and two of them were teammates.

Only four riders have won more TdFs than him, and they're all legends of the sport.
He's in joint 4th place for GT wins, with Contador, Indurain and Coppi alongside him. Only Merckx, Hinault and Anquetil have more.

That's pretty conclusive.

Lanterne_Rogue

Voted for Sagan, because I think he's shaken up a lot of assumptions within the anglosphere - possibly due to timing more than anything - about what a great rider really is. Previously I think the discussion would have begun and ended with yellow jerseys but Sagan seems to have forced people to reassess. I'm not even a particular fan of Sagan and often find him tiresome, but there's no denying his talent.

On the other hand I have no real argument that Froome is equally deserving having eclipsed every other GC rider within his generation. I suspect in a couple of decades we'll be talking about the current period as one of cycling's regular peaks.

RichN95.

andyp said:

RichN95. said:

I think Gilbert's a stronger contender than his given credit for.

Four monument wins, but four different ones, plus the Worlds and plenty of other high quality wins, i.e. stages in all three GTs, Amstel Gold repeatedly, Fleche, etc., in this decade.

He is to this decade what Bettini was for the previous decade. Only San Remo remains unconquered

RichN95.

mrb123 said:

RichN95. said:

mrb123 said:

Shouldn't Cav be on the list?

I reluctantly excluded him, Ten Tour victories and MSR were before 2010. I felt Kittel generally had the better of him in the 2010s

I'm not saying he'd get my vote, but Worlds win and plenty of tour victories were in the last decade so perhaps a more worthy inclusion on the shortlist than MVDP.

On reflection I was wrong to exclude him. Very wrong.

m.r.m.

It's Cancellara for me. I think being consistent in monuments is harder (taking physiology as well as racecraft into account) than being consistent in GT's. GT's reward physiology and strong teammates way above racecraft.

Froome is second for me.

Sagan is amazing, but I feel he often left big wins on the table. Races where he had the legs, but didn't pull it off (MSR Ciolek win & MSR Alaphilippe win for example).

shockedsoshocked

Sagan, Valverde or Gilbert for me. As much as Froome has been dominant in the GTs he's never excited me as a rider.

specialgueststar

Got to be Valverde. Just an incredible professional rider Never known consistency like it in all terroirs

philbar72

Gilbert is super focussed on the big wins isn't he, he reminds me very much of Bettini, though 10kg heavier. This year was really the only time he focussed on the cobbles properly, and the Roubaix win was a great result.

I'd say Cancellara is up there, and of course Sagan for being prolific, but allowing a few things also to slip though his fingers. He is definitely up there for scoring loads of second places when sometimes it was easier to get first?

Cannot get excited about GT riders, despite Froome's obvious dominance. As for Valverde, he's really truly the most consistent rider in the last decade across most parcours (though a bit lightweight for Roubaix).

rick_chasey

Top 3 is surely Froome, Nibali, Valverde in that order.

ddraver

Y'all making very compelling cases for Gilbert!

Rich, dare I suggest an 'underappreciated' rider fo the decade poll?

rick_chasey

Gilbert doesn't fly into the top 3 for me because, when he's out of contention (more often than not 'cos cycling), he's REALLY out of contention.

ddraver

I see that and I would not have thought of him at first but, they're making good points.

Probably....probably I think on a purely head over heart basis Sagan might go ahead of Gilbert though. Though not in my heart 🥰

kingstongraham

If Valverde's Vuelta had been after 2009, he'd have been right up there. And if he hadn't taken a couple of years of rest at the start of the decade.

rick_chasey

Thing is for Valverde, you know he's in the hunt for the one dayer if he's starting. Every time. Same with Nibali. Same with GC with Nibali, and on the rare occasion he drops out you wouldn't bet against him picking up a proper stage win.

With Froome, again, if he's starting your GT, you gotta consider him as a favourite.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I'm not one for watching/following much of the pro races but from the little I've seen, Sagan jumps out to me because I don't think of his wins as being down to the team around him, which is hard to overlook for me for all of Froome's achievements (with one exception being his "hour breakaway at 400W" Fenestre stage in the Giro 2018 IIRC).