Top 30 cyclists of all time (part 3: top ten)

[HickysBoy]

Very, very much enjoyed your series! Thanks so much. And, yes, its very subjective and personal. I totally agree on the Top 5 but would shuffle the deck a bit: 1. Merckx, 2. Anquetil, 3. Hinault, 4. Coppi, 5. Bartali. But Jacques was my childhood hero and Bartali - who knows but for the war?

[JeDaaRe1]

Great songs and list!

[krakatoa1200]

Oh No not Armstrong??

[JeDaaRe1]

@krakatoa1200 On 7!

[krakatoa1200]

Pretty good list, but Lemond should be out, and Magni should be a lot higher

[errbud]

good work. Merckx obviously in a league of his own, personally I think the ranking was pretty accurate. Not an Armstrong hater I just dont think the tdf is the be all and end all of cycling and he really didnt have any great challenger at that point either not trying to belittle his achievements you can only beat whats in front of you. anyway all 10 are legends in their own right ...

[tiagotiago141]

lance amstrong

[pcnorway99]

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Eddie the boss!!!

[pcnorway99]

i was born in that city lance armstrong been world champion

[rufelo5]

me parece justa la lista,EDDY MERCKX el nº 1 y BERNARD HINAULT el nº 2, eso no tiene ninguna discucion,los verdaderos genios del ciclismo,lo que cambiaria es la posicion de armstrong,el ganar 7 tour de francia le colocarian entre el 3º al 5º

[2bsure]

Fantastic videos!!! Great music choice also. Thank you for the time and effort put into it, great to see our favourites in a fantastic sport.

[PIAPIADUC]

Where is Laurent Fignon ?

[Climaxo]

Muy buena selección, sumada a la música, convierten el pack de los tres vídeos en una pequeña obra maestra. Como nota personal hubiera puesto a Binda en el top10 (creo que merece estar, fue la primera gran estrella de este deporte) y me falta el gran Mario Cipollini.

[EliteRampageKillz]

armstrong only 7? he should be 2.... but the rest was very good :D

[bodyelectrica]

@EliteRampageKillz

No way,besides the Tour Armstrong almost won nothing.Hinault is a rightful number two and also Coppi and Anquetil are in their rightful position.;Without Merckx hinault would have been the greatest off all time.

In my opinion a 7th place is even to much credit for Armstrong,he wouldn't even make my top 20,same for Indurain.I just don't like riders who only focus on 1 race and do nothing for the remainder off the year.

[EliteRampageKillz]

@bodyelectrica

yeah, but that was just my opinion..

[bodyelectrica]

@EliteRampageKillz

I appreciate other's opinion but the must have good fundations.So what are your arguments to put Armstrong in front of Hinault,Coppi and Anquetil;riders who won so much more than the Boss

[ClockCutter]

@bodyelectrica I'd definitely put Armstrong ahead of Indurain and Anquetil. I don't know much about Bartali. Armstrong goes 4th at least, behind Coppi, Hinault, and Merckx, and then the real argument can begin. Do we reward Armstrong's hyper-specialization, professionalism, and ruthlessness, or Merckx's versatility, style, dominance, Hinault's passion, savvy, and tenacity. I have no idea.

[Josemga85]

Where is Alberto Contador??

[nonfictionone]

you get bored reading merckx victories. Tales too long too read. seams unreal. How could one man win all this? As roche said 'the new generation did not grow up watching merckx kick them all over the road. Absolutely. I can not even imagine that kind of domination. he one one third of the races he entered.

[Scirea06]

From start to finish, 3 excellent clips man. Just awesome. Footage is fantastic, well chose music, and even the rankings I (almost) completely agree with. (I'd have Coppi second for instance before the Badger). Great stuff!

[vinesen1]

Great job man, nice video but of course my list would have been a little different.

But i think that all cycling fans will agree when i say that even the last guy in a race (laterne rouge) is a great athlete.

[dredandmrbears]

Great list, of of course the Armstrong bashers will show up, I would have him a little higher but can't argue with your opinion really. And loved the music for each rider, very nice.

[Scirea06]

@dredandmrbears

Lance is just exactly where he should be. Not much besides the Tours. Granted they count heavily, but apart from the WC at a young age, not that much. He may slide in before Bartali in my opinion, but that's it.

[Sloarot]

Man, you just get dizzy reading Merckx' record!

[StackNando]

I like your ranking, thank you

[Ferrergracie]

nice video dude!

[LLarSSable]

good list and of course eddy merckx first no doubt

[sh1monn]

Merckx was so good that people watch this video

just to see whos number 2

[deezynar]

@sh1monn

You're right! I did.

[Wololo30]

Ah, otra cosa; yo hubiera metido a Girardengo en el top30 sin dudarlo, pero bueno está muy muy bien el top en general. Te felicito tío.

[Wololo30]

Qué ojo tienes para las canciones. Lo de meter I'm Not Like Everybody Else para Merckx ya es el súmum. No creo que haya otra canción que le pegue más que la mítica de Los Kinks. Sin duda Eddy era otra cosa.

[arklat]

True story. I was racing in one of the Canadian Tire Cup races, and about 3/4 of the way through, at the bottom of the hill @ like 45 mph, some guy crashes into me, and we both go down. I look over, and it's friggin Kelly! He gets up, doesn't even look at his bike, and he takes off. My bike was toast, both wheels bent. So, I watched the rest of the race from the sidelines. I think he ended up 5th. Not even wet roads or anything. My line was smooth. Maybe he was afraid I'd best him in the sprint!

[dan32113]

@arklat Sean Kelly scared of you? he was World number 1 for 6yrs. 3rd on the all time list for classic wins. wake up your dreaming!

[arklat]

@dan32113. Scary. Can YOU say you beat Greg LeMond in a UCI race? Well, I can. Actually, if you include track races, I beat him several times! I was actually a pretty good sprinter, 30+ years ago! Old and fat now, but so is LeMond! It must be hard to watch races from the sidelines, or on YT, and think "That is so awesome!" Not as hard as riding in the events, as a racer! And SK ran into me, not the other way around! Maybe he was dreaming about winning, and not watching where he was going!

[icystagg]

my only complaint

is

you should of picked the riders favorite song

[PInk77W1]

LEMOND should b in top 5

[finnrambo1]

@bikeracerguy I just noticed obree wasn't in here... neither is boardman or hoy. my question is where the he'll are all the trackies?

[finnrambo1]

de Vlaeminck as the best classics rider of all time deserved higher.... the one thing I miss though in modern cycling is that no one wins Paris-roubaix and the tour anymore, cyclists are getting crappier by the minute, well.... except boonen

[bodyelectrica]

@finnrambo1

I agree completely.De Vlaeminck should be listed higher,in top 5.

[scirocco09]

Such a surprise to find Sean Kelly at the 8th place and Miguelon 6th...very cool videos, images and soundtracks. Great job!!!

[1966bg]

la mia top ten è: 1. Mercxk 2. Hinault 3. De Vlaeminck 4. Armstrong 5. Lemond 6. Indurain 7.Moser 8. Museeuw 9. Pantani 10. Bettini

[scirocco09]

ma parliamo degli ultimi 40 anni?...

[Scirea06]

@1966bg

You're on some heavy medication if Coppi is not in your top 10. Museeuw ? No offense, but that list is terrible.

[marten1200]

@Scirea06 coppi is ranked number 3, did you even look?

[Scirea06]

@marten1200 Are you blind?. I'd have him second rather than third, which is what I wrote as well.

[MrKatiusko]

@1966bg Lemond before Indurain??? The spaniard won 5 Tours and 2 Giros. Lemond could have won a lot but we'll never know...

[deezynar]

@1966bg

For a European, you're being very generous to the Americans. Thanks, but I think the video has them about right, and I'm an american. Take care.

[finnrambo1]

@biscielvis Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize

[mlambrechts1]

Very good job, congratulations. In my personal opinion however, there's too much attention for Tour de France. So I would never put Armstrong in top ten, because he is "one trick pony". However, nice work!!!

[bodyelectrica]

@mlambrechts1

I completely agree.Same counts for Indurain.Both off them wouldn't even make my top 20 and I would put De Vlaeminck as maybe the only rider who could compete with Merckx in the classics in top 5.

[biscielvis]

What is the name of song de vlaeminck

[perico700]

He was caught by the malabry labatory in 2004. his blood and urin showed that he had used EPO in 1999. He is a fraud. We should retrieve him all his 7 tours de fRance. I believe Floyd Lanis TEstimony and there are some investigation now by the US antidoping agency. So we 'll see the results but have no doubt what they will be. The problem with EPO and blood doping is that you can change a donkey to a horse race. Amstrong should have never won 7 tours

[scalatorino]

My personal Top Ten: 1- Eddy Merckx 2- Fausto Coppi 3- Bernard Hinault 4- Gino Bartali 5- Roger De Vlaeminck 6- Jaques Anquetil 7- Alfredo Binda 8- Miguel Indurain 9- Marco Pantani 10-Federico Martín Bahamontes

[antaniluca]

take some lessons about Binda... lot of experts thinks that he was the most complete cyclist of all the times

[Eagmr]

Eddy merckx No doubt the no. 1. He is a hero!

[arielec]

very nice!!! also the music is great

[Matteomjb]

Excellent work!

[NonomsLight]

Not bad but Bettini, Museuw, Cipollini, Zabel or Contador should also be in the top.

[perico700]

the soundtrack is great, i don't believe Armstrong should have even been in the top ten, never believed in his transformation from a one day race rider who couldn't climb hills to 7 time winner tour after his cancer, but for the rest i agree.

[Cezarexxx]

@perico700 maybe if Armstrong won 8 tours he could have make it to the top ten in your list .He was'nt just a 1 day racer, he was a thriatlon champion .Right now he's doing triathlon again.Amazing what near death can do for you.Anyone else won 7 tours?

[perico700]

@Cezarexxx IF Eddy the great had only focused his career on the tour i mean he could have won 10 times the tour but for me he was a great champion because he did respect his sport, 5 giro for example or 6 milan san remo... He raced for the last criterium , a bit like Hinault. The tour is the greatest cycling event but you can't sum up cycling to the Tour. Coppi won 2 tours and he is by far a greater champion to Amstrong

[Cezarexxx]

@perico700 : well that's bike racing now vs yesterday:Winning methodically .That was Armstrong approach and he succeeded in doing it .I am sure if Merckx did the same way he could have done it too.but he didn't do it that way.I did not sum cycling by the tour or any other race. I think that winning a though race like the tour 7 times it's a big achievement compared to other ones by a big margin

[perico700]

yes i know iam not sure bike racing idoing weel at the moment . There are not great champions anymore in cycling since the late 80's for me. it started with Indurain concnetrating hisefforts on the tour algough he did win the giro also

By the way Amstrong never won Grio and the tour the same year which is the sign of great champions.

[bodyelectrica]

@Cezarexxx

Luckily Merckx didn't rode like Armstrong or he wouldn't be the champ he is.Personally I don't like 'one trick pony's and it's my personal opinion that their should come a rule to prevent it maybe by installing a minimum race day's limited before you can enter a big tour according to their place on the calender.

I value for example De vlaeminck higher than Armstrong and Indurain;the total list of his achievements is in my opinion much more impressive than those two's list.

[perico700]

@Cezarexxx

Amstrong best place in 3 participations to The Tour before his cancer is 36th, did quit two times and was lost when the first climb came. He is a fraud. I have much more respect for Lemond

[Cezarexxx]

@perico700 :Well tell that to Lemond , sure he will smile at you ; as for Armstrong being a fraud , you did not mention why is that .And winning after beating a disease that just shows you what you can do while being alive .Not only surviving but coming back to win using a new approach is pretty remarkable .For the fact that he started on 36th it only means he got better and better awakened by the fact that he almost died

[Skyvvards]

eddy merckx the best :D:D:D

[JaahJeMoeder]

Great lis, and good job on doing this but u missed on of the best dutch cyclist ever and one of the best of his time ;) Jan Raas Dutch National Championship 1976, 1983, 1984 Amstel Gold Race 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982 Milan-Sanremo 1977 Tour de France 6 Stages Paris-Brussels 1978 World Championship 1979 Ronde van Vlaanderen 1979, 1983 E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 1979, 1980, 1981 Gent-Wevelgem 1981 Omloop "Het Volk" 1981 Paris-Roubaix 1982 Paris-Tours 1978, 1981

[PhilippusNeri]

Congratulations !

[BGF324]

Why is the nickname of Eddy Merckx in French? ('Le Cannibale')

[brouxbart]

@BGF324 because he didnt leave anything for the others

[BGF324]

@brouxbart

I mean: why is it in French?

His nickname is 'De Kanibaal': Dutch

[brouxbart]

@BGF324

It was a french girl who said it first

[aboomoosab]

Hey compañerp excelente video... muy emotivo. Totalmente de acuerdo con todos los 30 ciclistas... sin duda: Merckx el # 1. Gracias!

[CERQ1]

EXELENTE VIDEO, PERO COMO TODO DEBATIBLE....YO PONDRIA 3 .INDURAIN , 4. AMSTRONG, PERO ES SOLO MI OPINION....MU GUSTAN MUCHO TUS VIDEOS, POR FAVOR SUBE MAS.....GRACIAS

[shadesparty]

Very nice video. Personally I missed in this list guys like Ferdi Kubler, Hugo Koblet, Philippe Thys and Constante Girardengo, but that is just a personal opinion. But you made a great list!!! It would be great if we could build a time machine, bring these guys when they were in their prime to our time and watch them battle it out.

[wishiwasawhale]

sean kelly has earned his place in anyones top ten, how many of todays top riders have raced to win from the start of the season till the end over the last ten years? good to see contador showing so well at the start of this season. i wouldn't have armstrong in such a high position, great post, great music, thanks

[mvb1964]

Classifica ridicola, Con Gimandi che non sta tra i primi dieci ma c'è Sean Kelly mai vincitore di un grande Tour e con Hinault superiore a Coppi. Siamo all'incompetenza assoluta!!!!

[etaylorg]

The single highlight of everybody else's career--Eddy matches or beats them all. Except Lance's 7 Tours, but hey Eddy's 7 Super Prestige Pernod titles ain't bad. Also DeVlaeminck got the 4th Paris-Roubaix.

Kelly was a better rider than the results listed here. He was a threat in every one-day race he rode.

[GWDDUE]

e al cine vacci tu!

[kvmusic]

Great Job!

[BouleAmir28]

Love your vid!! Good choices and ranking!!

[dangerman6]

Nicely done!

[herberke]

Really nicely done! Great footage and awesome choice of music. No discussion about Merckx being the best... :-)

[dirtyfrenchie]

you made it in a very good way : you have a real knowledge about cycling .Anyway the first place is always the same: MERCKX , what else?

Thanks a lot

[Busseto]

because we find in Top of countries in

cycling doping :

#1 Spain

2nd place USA and I'm talking of true facts .

[taalprofeet]

This Top-10 is quite allright! Personally, I wouldn't have placed Indurain that high.

But as the author says: "It's just a list based on my personal choices, and obviously as subjective as it can be".

Good job, wenck!

[arnoldinerith]

What about Rik Van Looy's outrageous madison style pull on (I think) his own teammate at 01.26?

I can't quite remember all the story but I think the rider he pulled back was supposed to be leading him out but fancied the win for himself!

Any ideas anyone?

[Matteomjb]

@arnoldinerith That must be Benoni Beheyt pulling back his team leader Van Looy, to beat him in the 1963 Worlds.

[arnoldinerith]

@Matteomjb Yes you are right. I did some reading up after posting and found out it was Beheyt pulling him back and not the other way round. It obviously looked like too good an opportunity to miss! Van Looy then used all his power to make sure that Beheyt didn't get any good contracts after winning the worlds - revenge indeed.

[Busseto]

but I don't really care of the ridiculous bs coming from some ignorant gees from USA , 'cos there's no need to say how much the americans know when it comes to cyling ;-) !!

Stick to ur NFL or MLB and leave cycling

'cos it's not for you and you're really making a fool of yourself, just like your landmates use to do when they pretend to debate over this sport ....

[sjl62]

Hey wenck -- someone recently uploaded footage of Hinault whacking the protester at the '84 Paris-Nice (search: "hinault punch"). It's a shame you can't stick it into your montage!

[Busseto]

Ps obviously the EPOns armstrong's cheated races after his illness must be regarded as what they really are , only senseless farcical comedies that no world cycling expert or fan or rider takes seriously nowadays.

EPOns was a champ only in getting doped & cheating . End of story

[Busseto]

EPOns armstrong comes top ? Yeah in shittyfaced robbers & doped cheaters TOP classification !!

More  seriously : Coppi the greatest of all times, Merckx comes after, Hinalt behind both Anquetil and Bartali

( the italian was a far stronger climber than Bernard, he was the one who sometimes resisted to Coppi climbing mountains , no need to add more ...) .

Holy Bible to those who really know cycling, other funny guys from spoken english countries can tell their jokes over their nerd champs

[btinder711]

@Busseto

You're a fool. You'd place Armstrong far back on the grounds he doped, despite him never testing positive to any test in the modern anti-doping system, which is very rigorous compared to what Hinault, Coppi, etc. had to comply with.

Stop posting comments, you're just embarrassing yourself.

[Busseto]

btinder711 , YOU , along with all your mates from spoken english countries who know nothing of cycling and pretend to debate of it having no idea are the fools !

I place Epons armstrong where he deserves to be, on the ground of doped cheaters & pathetic cunts .

And anti-doping systems were useless & weak the years the texan cheater used to steal the ONE race in the season he used to join in order to reduce any risk to be caught positive ( Tour de France )

[Busseto]

and the years Fausto Coppi triumphed everywhere in every race writing the most

beautiful pages of this sport and becoming the greatest legend of cycling ever doping didn't exist, out of caffeine and anphetamines, which were hilarious doping, like drinking water compared to

2nd,3rd generation Epo preferred by doped Texan cow boy ....! ;-)

Sorry x you but Coppi's legendaries victories have nothing to do with Epons armstrong's cheats, they're something totally different

[btinder711]

@Busseto

You act as a fan of cycling yet you want to de-legitimize fans from many countries where its popular: Britain, USA, Ireland, etc.

If you were a true fan of cycling you wouldn't want to confine the sport to Spain, Germany, etc. btw, there are many more doped riders from non-English speaking countries than otherwise.

[Busseto]

@btinder711 in fact I would never confine cycling to countries like Germany

who have such an irrelevant history , background & knowledge of it .

If I had to do that, I would for the 4/5 countries who historically are the most relevant & with major heritage in cycling sport ( France,Italy,Belgium,Spain,

Netherlands ) , though I never meant to drive the debate into this issue .

As for what countries have more doped riders, I agree with you at half

[Sammyfest]

Great video!

[Sick3ninVend3tta]

Merckx was a doping cheat... Armstrong comes top, as Merckx wouldn't have figured in any of Lances tour victories, period.

[teddansonLA]

How does that work? Still got 5 riders ahead of him if Merckx is disqualified. Ask Lance or Hinault, or Indurain who is best: they always say Merckx!

[martingats]

I suppose you'll always miss someone ( I hadn't noticed Roche wasn't there, and I suppose he should be).

I liked the way it was put together but thought your choice of song for Poulidor was a bit mean!

[mplayer98]

Awesome series, but where's Stephen Roche?

[tuxtucis]

Sorry, altough a game, to put Hinault behind Coppi and Bartali is asinine...

[tHiSisSoCCeR10]

...old times...good times!!!

[steveo7220phx]

where did u get all this footage?

[deeno1975]

Top class. Fair play to you...

[devlaeminck]

Who is the Italian champion in De Vlaeminck's wheel in the last but one picture of him. Gimondi or Moser?

I love the Slade song. It fits very well with Roger.

By the way, I think there are some mistakes. Gimondi won Paris-Brussels twice (Animals for him, that's great !!) and Van Looy was king of mountain in the Giro and not the Tour de France ;)

[wenck]

It's Moser. Footage from Roubaix '76

[19pablo97]

I think that lance armstrong should 2nd, but as you told, it was your choice, but you need to recognize that lance won the king of grand tours 7 X IN A ROW!!!

[jacobbbbbbbbbb]

@19pablo97 Well yea.. 7 tours.. But even in his prime, I don't think he would of been able to handle the physical and mental powers of Hinault or Anquetil

[bodyelectrica]

@19pablo97

But that's almost the only thing he won and besides and he focused whole year only on the tour.Coppi and Hinault have a much larger achievement list.

I think he is even ranked to high with that limited palmares....De Vlaeminck for example gained a lot more victories and is higher om my personal list than Indurain and Armstrong.

[19pablo97]

@bodyelectrica if what counts is the wins then you should put cipollini in the first spot, but when you look at what armstrong did, you are simply speechless, you all saw how pantani couldnt keep up the pace of armstrong, neither ullrich, and when you start thinking that he had a very severe cancer, and that nobody gave nothing for him, but he came back, and defeated all of the odds. then during and after he retired, a lot of people still tell him that he doped but any of his tests were positive

[bodyelectrica]

@19pablo97

There you are seriously mistaking.Cippolini 'only' booked 189 victories and most off them where sprintvictories in stages.

De vlaeminck for example got more than 200 victories and he won a lot off classics,Merckx over 500

And no it's not only the wins that count but also the way they were achieved and also in that Armstrong lacks the 'panache' like the French say that Merckx and many others showed to attack and destroy their rivals completely.

Never he attacked from long way out...

[bodyelectrica]

@19pablo97

There you are seriously mistaking.Cippolini 'only' booked 189 victories and most off them where sprintvictories in stages.

De vlaeminck for example got more than 200 victories and he won a lot off classics,Merckx over 500

And no it's not only the wins that count but also the way they were achieved and also in that Armstrong lacks the 'panache' like the French say that Merckx and many others showed to attack and destroy their rivals completely.

Never he attacked from long way out...

[stekhouse]

@bodyelectrica it was a different way of cycling. since indurain the cycling became more and more specialized

[dancefitter]

Fanstastic - very well put together. Not whining but I was surprised not to see Stephen Roche in there somewhere.

[sjl62]

By the way, what's the climb that you see at 6:30? It looks like a 25% gradient!

[wenck]

It's the Gavia in the 1960 Giro d'Italia, when Anquetil punctured two times and was surpassed by Gastone Nencini.

[TrailerBob]

Great, fun stuff, wenck. Some of the music choices were very sly. Amazing footage.

[maxocchi16]

I think it was very hard to compare COMPLETE cylists like the ones who raced untill the 80s and the ones who came later.

Armstrong run 2 races a year: tour and WC so did Lemond.

Merckx run all the races to win not to train.

So did Coppi and Kubler and Bobet and DeVlaeminck and Moser etc.

[devlaeminck]

Ferdi Kübler is missing here. He definitely deserves a place in the top30.

Indurain, Armstrong, Ullrich, Pantani, Rominger and Jalabert should be erased (EPO era).

Johnny B Goode has too much rhythm for calculator Anquetil and Indurain doesn't deserve a beautiful song as 'Numb.

I also miss some more pre-WWII riders but well thank you so much for these wonderful pictures of great champions from the most beautiful sport on earth.

[sjl62]

Re: Johnny B. Goode -- Are you blind? Anquetil peddles that bike just like he's ringing a bell.

[devlaeminck]

Anquetil never attacked. He calculated and based his GT victories in the time trials just like Indurain 30 years later. By contrast Merckx was always leading and attacking.

[sjl62]

Yeah, I know: your point was that Indurain and Anquetil were such strongly defensive riders that picking a rhythmic or passionate song for them can seem ironic. But Anquetil's time-trialing, at least -- his position, his cadence -- was a thing of beauty.

[babgp]

Ullrich is the most talentuous rider of the 1996-2003...Where is he!????

[Donalorudhain]

V cool video. Rode alongside Lance in Dublin yesterday during his impromptu cycle in phoenix park. Brilliant.

[floxinesky]

Thank you Wenck once again.

It´s a pleasure and delight to watch yours very well worked videos.

Grande

[sjl62]

You know, ever since your last video I've been pondering what song I would pick for Hinault, and "Bad to the Bone" was my choice too! (Either that or "Back in Black.")

[wenck]

hehe, Back in Black would have been perfect for Armstrong for the livestrong maillot...

[sjl62]

good call!

[sjl62]

along these same lines, i'm hoping that contador moves to caisse . . . since i'm going to spend the next few tours watching him win, he might as well be wearing that classy all-black kit!

[dolophonic]

Nice one.. thanks.

[Leyton84]

Qué animal Merckx, nadie le superará.

El puesto de Armstrong es comprensible, muchos le consideran el mejor de la historia por correr 21 días al año...

[spacecowboy006]

thnx 4 this...way 2 give credit where credit is due