YOUR assistance please

[ClockworkOrange]

It's kind of cycling related.

I need your help, I pedal around on my ol' faithful Orange Clockwork but I know nothing of famous riders/cyclists.

Please and this is needed for a specific reason who are the most highly rated male riders, I don't mean just the winners but the nice guys and the ones with the best bods!

Obviously I've heard of Lance Armstrong but that's about it.

Thanks for any input.

Clock

[indysteel]

Your question covers a lot of territory. Over what time frame (current or historical) and in what category (sprinters, climbers, general classification, time trialers)? As for their bodies, they all have good bodies (although the climbers are too skinny for my tastes). As for who's "nice," are you talking who does and doesn't dope (or to be more accurate, who has and hasn't been caught?).

[jobob]

No kidding, what a wide open question!

But my vote for all-around good guy would be Jens Voigt of CSC (now Saxo Bank). Articulate, an advocate for the riders, personable, and as far as I can tell a real hoot. He's at the top of my list of riders I'd love to have a beer with.

[Veronica]

Eddie Merckx gets my vote as the best cyclist ever. He won the Tour de France five times, won all the classics except Paris-Tours, won the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España.

Lance is incredible, but he trained for one and one event only. His Tour team was devoted to one thing only - Lance winning the Tour. He's never failed a drug test, but nearly all his major competitors have. Some of the guys who were on his team have... I am not convinced he was racing clean.

Dave Zabriskie has always struck me as being very funny.

Christian Vande Velde seems like a nice guy and genuinely pleased with his success, not like he felt like he deserved it, more like he knew he had earned it.

I like David Millar because he admitted his drugging and worked hard to come back from it. Both of which say a lot about his character. he also had a really funny article in some magazine I read.

Veronica

[Selkie]

I like Thor.

But I consider all of them too skinny for me.

[lunacycles]

There's Alberto Contador--a scrawny little spanish guy on the same team as Lance, won the Tour two years ago and has won a lot of the big stage races, has been considered by many as Lance's successor. There is of course George "The Chin" Hincapie, loyal Armstrong teammate for many years, a great classics rider (like Paris Roubaix where he has taken some epic falls, including one where he was holding his handlebars in mid air for a few terrifying seconds after his steerer broke!). There is Robbie McEwen, a scrappie little Aussie who can outsprint and outsmart almost anyone, hunky Thor Hushovd who has been mentioned--a sprinter type; there's Levi Leipheimer, who's American and always a Tour contender, but really boring to watch (can you say wheelsucker); there are lots of great Spaniards today, but most are considered clever dopers--including Alejandro Valverde and Ivan Basso, and there is that British phenom who won a ton of the big sprint stages last year in the Tour, is only like 23, and who seems a great ambassador for the sport, Mark Cavendish.

There are so many if you follow the sport, and they all have their times of year in which they excel, their strengths and weaknesses. Lance IS considered the greatest Tour rider by many, but no one would ever consider him the best all around, as he indeed spent the entire year (post cancer) focusing on the Tour and little else.

[indysteel]

Eddie Merckx gets my vote as the best cyclist ever. He won the Tour de France five times, won all the classics except Paris-Tours, won the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España.

Lance is incredible, but he trained for one and one event only. His Tour team was devoted to one thing only - Lance winning the Tour. He's never failed a drug test, but nearly all his major competitors have. Some of the guys who were on his team have... I am not convinced he was racing clean.

Dave Zabriskie has always struck me as being very funny.

Christian Vande Velde seems like a nice guy and genuinely pleased with his success, not like he felt like he deserved it, more like he knew he had earned it.

I like David Millar because he admitted his drugging and worked hard to come back from it. Both of which say a lot about his character. he also had a really funny article in some magazine I read.

Veronica

+1000 for Christian Vande Velde and David Millar. I really enjoyed Millar's blog for the 2008 Tour, too.

[jobob]

and there is that British phenom who won a ton of the big sprint stages last year in the Tour, is only like 23, and who seems a great ambassador for the sport, Mark Cavendish.

While Cavendish is an extremely talented sprinter, I don't think he's such a great ambassador for the sport. He often throws temper tantrums in his races (at least, races that I saw on vs), and I saw him be very snotty with a race official before his start at the Tour of CA prologue.

He *is* a young pup and I suppose a lot of his attitude can be chalked up to his age, or lack of. Hopefully he'll mature gracefully.

[violette]

Ok...but who is the most gorgeous one?

[snapdragen]

Ok...but who is the most gorgeous one?

The Lion King - Mario Cipollini.

[Iris616]

Saul Raisin.

He suffered a terrible crash. He doesn't give up though. He has started the "Raisin Hope" foundation which supports various not for profit organizations.He's done atleast one triathlon since his injury. He just seems like a nice guy.

[redrhodie]

http://www.cyclinghalloffame.com/rid...ed_overall.txt

This should help! I'll quiz you later, so you better study!

Eddy Merckx is all you need to know, though

[redrhodie]

Ok...but who is the most gorgeous one?

Bobby Julich. I'm going to miss him.

[OakLeaf]

Fabian Cancellara. With a name like Fabian, time trialist's legs and an Italian accent, what else do you need to know?

[Selkie]

Fabian Cancellara. With a name like Fabian, time trialist's legs and an Italian accent, what else do you need to know?

Agree (he and Thor - my dream team!! )