My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

Andrew king

1st April 2011 12:36am

Andy King. Squamish. Canada.

Tom Simpson.
Miguel Indurain.
Eddy Merckx.
Bernard Hinault.
Johan Museeuw.

Subs bench :
Marco Pantani.
Robert Millar.
Mark Cavendish.

roger cadman

1st April 2011 01:12am

1.Jalabert
2.Zabel
3.Voigt
4.Bettini
5.Merckx

Can't stop at 5
Muuseew, Michele Bartoli, Chris Horner,Cancellara,Sastre,

Mike Owen

1st April 2011 02:46am

No particlar order that does any of them justice,

Sean Kelly, Fausto Coppi, Paul Bowen, Robert Millar, Laurent Fignon

Current Riders

Emma Pooley, Jens Voight, Tom Boonen, Phillipe Gilbert,Oscar Freire

Adam Harbutt

1st April 2011 02:53am

Indurain
Kelly
Moser
DeVlaeminck
Boonen

kyle gates

1st April 2011 04:17am

hinault
merckx
vino
argentin
voigt
gilbert

Michael Conway

1st April 2011 04:21am

Merckx
Lemond
Roche
Cancellara
Voeckler (just because of his tenacity)

Tim Faia

1st April 2011 05:16am

Wilfried Peeters, VDB, Sven Nys, Voigt, Merckx

eric mcmurtry

1st April 2011 06:25am

vinokourov
voeckler
hincapie
lance (yeah, afraid so)
rasmussen

Bruce Rychlik

1st April 2011 06:28am

Dave Stohler (fictitious but my initial reference point - sorry Jens)
Greg Lemond (the first pro cyclist's name I could recite)
Fabian Cancellara (especially when Phil Liggett shouts his name at the line)
Eddy Merckx
Magnus Backstedt (first PRO I got to ride with - 150% decent guy)

Ben Houldsworth

1st April 2011 07:31am

Ben, Leeds

1. John Tomac
2. Marco Pantani
3. Mario Cipollini
4. Stephen Roche
5. Greg Lemond

Jonathan Jayne

1st April 2011 08:34am

Eddy Merckx
Graeme Obree
Sheldon Brown(they don't have to be racers)
Beryl Burton(or men)
Federico Bahamontes, for this reason alone, quoth cyclinghalloffame.com: "In his first Tour appearance in 1954, he destroyed the competition on one of the major climbs then stopped for ice cream and waited for his competitors."

Ben Wooliscroft

1st April 2011 09:19am

Merckx, Voigt, Cancellara, Zabel, Horner

Matthew Shaw

1st April 2011 10:03am

1. Jens Voigt
2. J. Voigt
3. Voigt
4. Voigt, J.
5. Jens

paul goulden

1st April 2011 10:04am

Jens
Roger H
Sean Yates
Fabian
Museeuw

Matthew Randall

1st April 2011 10:28am

Hinault
Lemond
Cancellara
Hampsten
Voeckler

Angelo Giangregorio

1st April 2011 10:32am

My list:
1. Fausto Coppi
2. Felice Gimondi
3. Miguel Indurain
4. Gianni Bugno
5. Michele Bartoli

Stefan Rohner

1st April 2011 11:06am

Marino Lejarreta
Miguel Indurain
Fabian Cancellara
Johan Museeuw
Claudio Chiappucci


and yes Angelo Michele Bartoli ;)

Faraco Enrico

1st April 2011 11:46am

Eddy Merckx
Fausto Coppi
Mario Cipollini
Marco Pantani
Fabian Cancellara

Paul Etherington

1st April 2011 12:03pm

5 is tough, there are so many, but in no particular order:
Lance Armstrong
Robert Millar
Tommy Simpson
Eddy Merckx
Tom Stephenson (my best mate without whom i'd never have swung my leg over a road bike)
;-)

Mikkel Togsverd

1st April 2011 12:10pm

no anquetil anyone?

Mikkel Togsverd

1st April 2011 12:18pm

Eddy*

Fausto*

Jens

Bernard

Liz Hatch**

(*also happens to be the name of our two chickens)

(** !!!!!)

(reserves: fignon, anquetil, spartacus, indurain, rominger, bugno, floyd, wiggo, cavendish, moser, criquelion, gilbert, schleck1&2, jalabert, alberto, escartin, ritter….I could go on)

Rob Saunders

1st April 2011 12:53pm

The 'cowboys' that inspire me….

Fabien Cancellara
Freddy Maertens
Roger Hammond
Robert Millar
Sven Nys

Guillermo Bartolome

1st April 2011 01:05pm

1-Bernard Hinault
2-Marco Pantani
3-Johan Museeuw
4-Sean Kelly
5-Marc Madiot

Ian Winfield

1st April 2011 01:23pm

BERNARD HINAULT

EDDY MERCKX

TOM SIMPSON

FAUSTO COPPI

GREG LEMOND

BERYL REID (HONORARY BLOKE)

ON THE SUBS BENCH: SEAN KELLY, GRAEME OBREE, MARCO PANTANI, MARK CAVENDISH, LANCE ARMSTRONG, MICHELE BARTOLI, STEPHEN ROCHE

Rob Saunders

1st April 2011 01:52pm

as for my subs bench…..only one..

Dominique Gabellini

Konrad Manning

1st April 2011 02:03pm

When Slate first posed this question, I replied to him "Pantani, Pantani, Pantani, Pantini, Pantani."
Having thought more, my maverick-orientated quintet are:
Pantani
Abdoujaparov
Obree
Zabel
Sean Yates or Tom Simpson

Marco Kokol

1st April 2011 02:15pm

Miguel Indurain
Abraham Olano
Marco Pantani
Damiano Cunego
Jose Maria Jimenez

Matthias Hempe

1st April 2011 03:37pm

1. The German Powerhouse Jan Ullrich
2. Phillip Gilbert
3. Bernard Hinault
4. Jens Voigt
5. Tom Boonen

Gem Atkinson

1st April 2011 04:58pm

My picks for my top five 'cads'>

Robert Millar
Marco Pantani
Allan Peiper
Johan Museeuw
Mario Cipollini

Gem Atkinson

1st April 2011 05:03pm

and Peiper gets on the list for checking out the lady 'sans bra' on the "High Life" docu. Chauvinistic gold.

Jon Cariveau

1st April 2011 05:22pm

So hard to stay at 5….but he's mine:


Tchmil

Nys

Voight

Hampsten

Frischknecht

Allison McNally

1st April 2011 05:51pm

Sheesh - need a bit of estrogen balance to begin:

Jeannie Longo
Connie Carpenter Phinney
Sheila Young Ochowicz
Kristen Armstrong
Vos Arndt Thorburn Kupfernagel Neben Stevens…and on and on…

But back to the boyz:

Cancellara
Voigt
O'Grady
Voeckler
Merckx
Oh yeah, can't forget Cippo…….and then there's….oh drat, way more than five

michael gossett

1st April 2011 06:02pm

In order of discovery……

1. Davis Phinney "The Cash Register"
2. Greg Lemond - The early days
3. Eddy - of course
4. The Badger
5. Fabian Cancellera

Gem Atkinson

1st April 2011 06:21pm

and top 5 ladies?

Beryl Burton
Jeannie Longo
Mara Abbott
Emma Pooley
Vos, Vos, VOS!

Torgrim Svensen

1st April 2011 07:23pm

I like spectacle, I like entertainment, suspense and edge-of-the-seat attacks. I like riders who animate races. Riders who are gracious and magnanimous. The opposite of all these things comes in the form and shape of HTC's way of racing, so none of them.

Riders I've enjoyed or admired for their racing:

Vino - I don't care what he may or may not have done, watching him race is entertaining.
Voeckler - Look, there he goes again; warface, panache and sacrifice.
Sean Kelly - For the descent and chase after Argentin alone.
Hushovd - Hunting for green by attacking on 1. and HC cat. mountains, no sour grapes after Spa.
Gilbert - I get giddy with anticipation as soon as he comes to the front.

Hon mentions: Cuddles, Bertie, Jez Hunt for style, and Southam, Creed and King for eloquence.

Allison McNally

1st April 2011 08:07pm

I second Beryl Burton. Shame on me for the omission. Five is just…impossible!

Jim Piercy

1st April 2011 08:48pm

A really interesting poll as it seems to be inverse to the typical trend of these things which rely on some kind of short memory syndrome. For me though, five is not impossible in fact it's pretty easy although I find the more I research cyclists from bygone eras the more I love them.. so maybe this time next year I will have a different view!

Anyway…

In no particular order:

Il Pirata: for everything he was and stood for - good and bad. For the excitement he gave me and my dad (who dragged me into my cycling fandom as a mere boy) before I was old enough to question his achievements. Would I love Ricco today if I was 10? Maybe…

Greg Lemond: After a Hummel Spurs shirt like Glenn Hoddle, a 'Z' jersey was the only thing I needed to be happy as a kid. A hero to believe in to this day, and one who seemed to marry (in my mind at least) the consumate professionalism which came into cycling in the late 80s/early 90s, with a cavalier attitude and will to win.

Tom Simpson: Pre-dating my cycling life by at least 20 years, but thanks to Will Fotheringham's book someone I feel I know at least as much as Pantani et al. A flawed genius - surely the best kind? Just hope the rumours of a Shane Meadows flick are true.

Cipollini: Super Mario, the apex of 90s flash (can Rapha please make an animal skin suit by the way?) Someone who brought colour and panache to an increasingly staid peloton.

Damn… I only have one left, I might have to eat my words already…

Stephen Roche: In the same way that my favourite footballers are from a certain era, most of my favourite cyclists are too. The years before cynicism crept in and athletic achievement was similar to a WWF Royal Rumble - entertainment! His lad's not bad either.

I wasn't gonna do a subs bench, then I realised I'd left out Chiappucci… sh*t, whose idea was this?!

Allison McNally

1st April 2011 09:03pm

I second Beryl Burton. Shame on me for the omission. Five is just…impossible!

Andrew Green

1st April 2011 10:04pm

ok
my top five have already been mentioned but what the hell
So heroes come and go,
some fall from grace others are surpassed and we forget,but some are always heroes,it might have been for one days heroics,failed attack,day,stage or tour win ,or a whole career

1-Stephen Roche Giro,Tour and Worlds and especially for that stage to La Plagne in 87 giving everything to get to the finish and then collapsing,still gripping 24 years later
2-Sean Kelly
3-Laurent Jalabert
4-Fabian Cancellara
5-Marco Pantani

and bubbling under on the subs bench - Merckx,Voigt,Gilbert,Hinault,Museeuw,Chiappucci,Fignon and late addition for being a good lad, little Tommy Voeckler

Gerald Moser

1st April 2011 10:28pm

Almost impossible…anyway, let's try:

Bernard Hinault
Fausto Coppi
Fabian Cancellara
Andrea Tafi
Sean Kelly

Sub: Francesco Moser… for the name ;-)
Thomas "the panache" Voeckler, the spiritual son of Jacky Durand

Tim Bishop

1st April 2011 11:22pm

Armstrong, L
Elliott, M
Kelly, S
Boonen, T
Basso, I
Team award: The Cutters

Mike Owen

2nd April 2011 01:58am

This is good. I like it.

Jeffrey Herrick

2nd April 2011 02:39am

No real order:

Juli Furtado

Frischy

LeMond

Merckx

Marco

Bruce Rychlik

2nd April 2011 01:25pm

So many good answers by the field - I just have to weigh in with a part B. As I have only been following cycling for 5 years - I provide some context for my answers.

1. Lance Armstrong - during his TDF run I was surprised to hear on an NPR story that riders had teams to support the best rider - i.e. support the only one who could win - and he did. I remember watching his final win in '05 (the only piece of the TDF I watched) and thinking - this may be America's greatest athlete and most storied - ever. The man was on top of the world as far as I could see it.

2. Floyd Landis - during my first year of riding at 38 - Floyd won the Tour - he was sponsored by Cycleops - I bought an indoor Cycleops bike to get through the winter earlier that year - I thought that was cool - I bought the Specialized shoes he wore and thought of buying a BMC bike - seemed like one happy happy guy on TV - Stage 16 and Stage 17 could not be better scripted - the joy did not last long but it was joyous for a day or two.

3. Marco Pantani - Matt Rendell's book was the first cycling bio I read - this man was all up and all down - just fascinating.

4. Jens Vinokurov - a hybrid name to be sure but I think that Vino and Jens represent the type of aggressive tireless rider who just give it their all time and time again - regardless of the circumstances. I know some will not want to hear the two names together - as I know their stories are quite different - but last years Tour typifies it - Jens leading Andy over the Col de la Madeleine and Vino being persistent and taking stage 13 after failing the day before.

5. Madame Souza from The Triplets of Belleville - fictitious again and rode a tricycle not a bicycle - but for all of the tough love she dished out to Champion - she gave it her all to get him back.

Takashi SAWA

2nd April 2011 02:36pm

climbing heroes:

Marco Pantani
Tyler Hamilton
Eros Poli
Piotr Ugrumov
Pedro Delgado

Thomas Staniford

2nd April 2011 06:24pm

In no particular order…

Thomas Voeckler - for his omnipresent attacks and class.
David Millar - for his redemption, his anti-doping and his TTing.
Tommy Simpson - our only Road World Champ + his Classics wins.
Graeme Obree - epitome of 'individual'. As rider, as engineer.
My Dad - without whom I'd have none of the qualities I feel this sport (and indeed life, for what is life if not cycling, or cycling if not a lifestyle?) demands.

On the subs bench we'd have:
Marco Pantani - my original hero.
Bradley Wiggins - one of few current pros with real personality. Also adore his 4th place TdF, his pursuits, his TTing.
Fabian Cancellara - the Ultimate TTer?
Lance Armstrong - doping allegations aside- a leader in so many different ways.

Corentin Monot

2nd April 2011 07:28pm

Miguel Indurain
Mario Cipollini
Jan Ullrich
Djamolidine Abdoujaparov
Alberto Contador

Jim Airgood

2nd April 2011 10:04pm

1) Fabian Cancellara
2) Tom Boonen
3) Jensy
4) Rapha Guy PVB
5) Rapha Guy Cole Maness
Honorable Mention: Sean Yates, L. Fignon, Mary McConnelloug, Mike Broderick, and on and on and on…

Stefan Trocha

3rd April 2011 07:38am

Fausto
Eddy
Cipo
Cance
Jan

Koichi Matsumura

3rd April 2011 12:33pm

1. Mifune(Rouleur Issue23)
2. Okazaki 4Times National T.T Champion (Rouleur 2009 P.70)
3. Abe (MAPEI GB 1997)
4. Nys
5. Yamazaki 4'51" 4km IP on 1980 & Moscow Olympian

Ryan Surface

3rd April 2011 04:24pm

Only 5….

1.Eddy -Greatest of all time period.
2.Hampsten, Andy -Only American to ever win the Giro -and the Gavia in a blizzard I mean C'mon!
3.Lemond, Greg -won his first tour DESPITE his team
4.Voight, Jens -what is not to love about this guy?
5.Zabriske, David -Only American to win stages in all 3 grand tours and a crack up off the bike



Ryan
Seattle WA

Peter L A Barlow

3rd April 2011 08:23pm

1:Eddy Merckx. Because he raced every weekend and still won the Tour 5 times. He rode everything.
2 Marco Pantani. No matter how he turned out he was once great.
3:Tom Simpson. When he died I cried for a week.
4:David Miller. Coz he turned up at Wycombe and got his backside kicked for a year. He went off got fit and strong. Then he came back and blew everybody away. Class. He was a prat to dope but he took his punishment and didn't winge about it.
5:Mark Cavendish. One of the best sprinters ever.

Sorry 3 of the riders are from the UK area but you do tend to support you own fellow countrymen.

PTP Bucks UK.

john phillips

4th April 2011 06:08am

Fiorenzo Magni (surprized he has not yet been mentioned)
Mario Cipollini
G. Hincapie
F. Coppi
F. Cancellara

David Christenson

4th April 2011 08:08am

Greg LeMond
Jens Voigt
Bradley Wiggins
Fabian Cancellara
Eddy Merckx

Tom Middleton

4th April 2011 11:56am

In order
Cippolini- Every thing you want from a pro cyclist, flamboyant, Controversial, fast and flighty.
Pantani- Never forgotten.
Merckx- The Canibal the greatest cyclist to ever live
Cavendish- The New Lion King?
Anquetil- The first to do it five times

Is it fair to say the best cyclists tend to have interesting lives both on and off the bike? Anquetil- incest, Coppi- Extra Marital affairs, Pantani- Drugs and breakdown.

Also Steve Peat from the world of Mountain Biking deserves a special mention.

Tim Bishop

4th April 2011 03:26pm

A special mention for George Hincapie's chin, the most recognisable in the pro peleton for many years.

Chris Margrave

4th April 2011 04:05pm

Bottecchia
Bartali
Merckx
Fignon
Hincapie

PETER BARRETT

4th April 2011 06:59pm

Five Favorites of Cycling:

Greg Lemond - For invading Europe and returning victorious
Graeme Obree - For inventiveness and speed
Dave Zabriskie - For TT and humor (and Utah)
Fausto Coppi - For dieing young and leaving a beautiful corpse
Andy Hampsten - For wearing Pink and those Oakleys

Honorable Mention;
Nelson Vails - For being in the Olympics and the movie Quiksilver

Rijnen Rik

5th April 2011 12:51pm

Eddy Merckx
Hennie Kuiper
Fabian Cancellara
Phillipe Gilbert
Paolo Bettini

Stuart Clark

5th April 2011 03:38pm

5, well here goes.

Bernard Hinault, won Paris Roubaix in the Rainbow - class and he had the greatest nickname the badger.

Stephen Roche, 1987 La Plagne when i beat Phil and Paul by spotting him clawing his way back.

Robert Millar, ugliest figure I have ever seen off a bike but stage win in 1989 in the greatest tour is one of the all time greats.

Johnan Muesseuw, forget what he got from the vets a quality classics rider who came back from a terrible knee injury.

Mark Cavendish, I never thought i would see a Brit win on the Champs Elysses and the first win is one of my favourite moments in all of sport plus my 4 yr old daughter loves him!

Five dislikes

Greg Lemond (he beat Fignon and Kelly), Floyd Landis (he tried to take everyone down in cycling), Ricco (no more can be said except fool), Pantani (so much class on a bike yet so little class of it). Lastly Steve Bauer who nearly got me lynched in Ronse in 1988 after he took out Criquielion at the Worlds - not a good day to have an English accent even though he's Canadian! "Criquielion a tombe" still rings in my ears 20+ years later.

Matthew DeMartino

6th April 2011 10:51pm

Cancellara
Coppi
Bartali (heresy? see above)
Cipollini
Wiggins