Greatest Rider never to win a Grand Tour
tailwindhome
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The doubling up thread got me thinking - who is the greatest rider never to win a Grand Tour?
Obviously I'll have little patience for anyone introducing doping talk or dumb suggestions
We're talking about riders who would be targeting GTs?
Of the current generation ---- J Rod?
Chiapucci with 6 podium finishes?
Obviously I'll have little patience for anyone introducing doping talk or dumb suggestions
We're talking about riders who would be targeting GTs?
Of the current generation ---- J Rod?
Chiapucci with 6 podium finishes?
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How about Hennie Kuiper? 11 top 10s across GTs, 2 TdF podiums.
Or Beloki - 4 GT top 10s, 4 podiums
Others maybe Sanchez, Virenque, Armstrong...
I will never get over Purito losing the Giro. To Hesjedal, of all people
Vuelta seems to be a life saver for many...
Incidentally, good piece on Chiapucci in Richard Moore's Etape about his 1992 tour stage win...
No contest. He won 11 monuments, second only to Merckx, stages in all three GTs, and multiple stage races, but never came close to a GT.
or Van Looy...
37 grand tour stages, 8 monuments, 2 WCs, 1 Olympic gold
Non- GC guys you'd be here all day: Boonen, De Vlaeminck, Museeuw, Cancellara, Purito, Cavendish, Friere etc etc etc etc
@gietvangent
But was he ever a GT guy?
A couple from the 80s/90s - Parra, Mottet
+1. It is either Van Looy (only one to win all eight great classics) or De Vlaeminck.
Of modern riders I would pick Cancellara
Bianchi Via Nirone 7 Ultegra
Brompton S Type
Carrera Vengeance Ultimate Ltd
Gary Fisher Aquila '98
Front half of a Viking Saratoga Tandem
He won the Vuelta.
Yeah, won the Vuelta in 2009 and was banned for doping in 2010....
Pissoir Pierre obviously hit the wrong target in the Tour.
Hermann Van Springel also deserves a mention, 2 podiums and 4 top-ten placings, but especially because he lost overall victory in the '68 TdF on the very last day, a TT. (So Fignon in ’89 wasn’t the first to experience that).
If non-GT-contenders riders are considered, it has to be Roger De Vlaeminck.
He won the Tour of Switzerland, and finished 4th and 7th at the Giro.
Re Valverde, never been a fan for the reasons of which we'll not speak but, I have begrudgingly had to acknowledge over the last two years that he is an amazing competitor. Not the most gifted (but obviously no slouch) but somebody who gets the absolute most of themselves and a sharp racing mind. Lights up a race. Bah humbug.
Actually it does say just that in the first post.
We're through the looking glass now. I vote Lance!