[Closed] Greatest ride in the TDF ever

Sorry, but being doped means you really can't include this.

I know that he subsequently got stripped of the win because of doping but he still had to produce the ride and I'm sure most of the other riders were " dodgy too "

It looked good on the telly, but it wasn't real.

roche, la plagne, '87

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Andy Schleck, Galibier, 2011. 3 monumental rides in 1, Schleck for the audacious attack, Cadel Evans for dragging the rest of the GC riders up after him, Voeckler for hanging on to yellow. You also had Contador and Sammy Sanchez cracking. One hell of a days riding.

roche, la plagne, '87

leffeboy +1

Really for any sporting moment ever

Its still has it critics and claims that he was pushed by the crowd. But watching in channel 4 the evening it happened was incredible

To be honest you don't see much. You have to know what was heappening. In summary Roche is behind on time but is expected to gain time in the last time trial

Sorry, but being doped means you really can't include this.

damn, there goes "the look" from Lance...

Anyway, what about this?

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LeMond didn't have a prayer, but rode the second fastest ever time trial to win the closest ever TdF.

roche, la plagne, '87

I don't know why this always sticks in my head. I remember watching it on TV and jumping up and down when Roche appeared out of the mist unexpectedly and promptly collapsed on the ground.

I'm sure there may have been greater rides but I guess it depends on how you define "greatest" For me this is it.

I can only assume the OP is blatant trolling. Landis's testosterone/epitestosterone ratio was 11:1 indicating massive and short term doping.Come on, even in a peleton with dubious doping history this was just plain madness.

dang - only opened the thread to [s]troll with[/s] post the same ride the OP chose.

[quote=bigyinn ]Sorry, but being doped means you really can't include this.

This thread is empty so far then 😈

Might not be the greatest ride ever, but it was a hairs on the neck moment for me to watch this

As a Brit; we were actually going to win it, we had the best sprinter, and on the last day we had panache as well.

And a meat raffle.

Dave Watson - 2003

Why is anyone interested in this sport, as no one knows who's clean and who isn't? It's a complete joke, just enjoy it as a form of exercise or means of commuting.

I don't know why this always sticks in my head. I remember watching it on TV and jumping up and down when Roche appeared out of the mist unexpectedly and promptly collapsed on the ground.

I'm with lunge, several really impressive rides on one stage.

Ever is always hopelessly subjective. But for recent tours, Cummings' win on Stage 14 of the 2015 TDF; the first stage win for MTN-Qhubeka, is my favourite. Attacked to bridge to two established French GC contenders and robbed them on the finish line - you can just see their disapointment in the photo 🙂

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And on Nelson Mandela's birthday too!

Cummings' win on Stage 14 of the 2015 TDF

That was a good one. That'll teach the Frenchies 🙂

we were there for the infamous Landis win. We'd sacked spectating to go MTBing and were riding Pre la Joux (now part of Chatel bike park IIRC?). We headed back to Morzine and as we got to the top of SuperMorzine could see the helicopters in the distance. Cue mad dash down the (completely empty) road, getting into Morzine centre before the race. We even managed to get near the finish and Munqe Chick was invited to stand on the back of a parked press bike to watch it!

Andy Schleck, Galibier, 2011. Schleck for the audacious attack,

except it wasn't. It was a typical Schleck Sisters move and they said as much in the post-race interview. He expected to get caught, and then Frank (riding the wheels of Evans, Contador etc) would launch a counter attack. Frank even said something like Andy staying away was "plan B", with A being the counter attack move. If it'd been any other racer (or mAndy without Frank there) doing a genuine do-or-die move it would have been impressive and audacious, but it was just another example of the Schlecks relying on each other to the detriment of their own individual potential.

Sorry, but being doped means you really can't include this.

given the history and prevalence of doping in cycling we're going to be choosing from a small shortlist. Or do you mean "proven to have doped" which is a little arbitrary.

Watching the stage at Le Plagne 87 on TV was an incredible sporting moment.

However, for me the sheer epic nature of Hinault's and Lemond's breakaway on the stage to L'Alpe d'Huez in 1986 is the best.

The difference between Lemond and Landis, is that Lemond was clean, and you knew then - and you still know now - that this was a truly magnificent ride.

Do we know Lemond was clean?

I really want him to have been...

Just watched the Schleck stage again and it's every bit as good as I remember, brilliant ride. But rarely have I ever seen anyone go as deep as Evans and Voekler did.

cyclelife - Member
Why is anyone interested in this sport, as no one knows who's clean and who isn't? It's a complete joke, just enjoy it as a form of exercise or means of commuting.

Realistically it's the same for any sport. I bet if footballers had the same level of scrutiny they'd probably have to stick to five-a-side there'd be that many bans being handed out.

As mentioned above Greg Lemond beating Laurent Fignon was one that sticks in my mind. Fignon congratulated Lemond on his second place before the final stage if I remember correctly.

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Tommy V turned himself inside out for days to keep the yellow jumper. Such pride, such dedication.

Do we know Lemond was clean?

I really want him to have been...

cynic-al, I don't think there is any evidence that Lemond took PEDs. Reportedly Armstrong offered $300,000 to anyone who would testify that Lemond had taken PEDs, as part of his attempts to destroy Lemond, and got no takers. Given how outspoken Lemond was against doping, not least by Armstrong, but also during his riding career (he said when he left the PDM team that their attitude to using drugs was that they treated them like lubricating a chain), I think it would have inevitably have been revealed if he had doped. His obstinacy in speaking out about Armstrong, Ferrari and doping won him few friends and probably cost him a great deal of money, e.g. Trek dropping his bike brand.

Lemond was fortunate that he raced in the 1980s, when the PEDs available were not the sort of gamechanger that EPO is. Lemond quit in the early 1990s when EPO use started to become widespread and he realised that he would no longer be competitive unless he were to use it as well. I suspect if Lemond had started his professional career in the 1990s, he would have been another Christophe Bassons.

Lance Arsestrong grass tracking when he went off the road.

He may be a doper, but that was pure skill and bike handling of a high order, and I doubt his special vitamins gave him any advantage there.

Cancellara - stage 3 2007.

Just riding off the front and keeping the gap with everyone sprinting behind. The amount of power he must have been producing is just phenomenal.

I think the OP has nailed it; that's a belter.

Thor Hushovd 2011 Stage 13(?) was another goodun from a good tour.
Tyler Hamilton 2003 Stage 16 was an unbelievable solo effort.
Alberto Contador 2009 Stage 15 where he dropped everyone.
Armstrong an Pantani probably have loads of good stage wins to their names.

No doubt loads from before I was in to cycling. I remember watching an old one of Indurain pushing big Watts and riding all the climbers off his wheel up La Plagne

Another vote for the Spartacus descent.

I've got to go with the Vockler days too. After last year he's classed as an honourary Yorkshireman as well.

C

"TiRed - Member 
Ever is always hopelessly subjective. But for recent tours, Cummings' win on Stage 14 of the 2015 TDF; the first stage win for MTN-Qhubeka, is my favourite. Attacked to bridge to two established French GC contenders and robbed them on the finish line - you can just see their disapointment in the photo "

1st one I thought of.
This kids is how you take a corner:-)

[quote=leffeboy ]roche, la plagne, '87

this was what I thought of first before reading this thread

Some other very very good shouts tough

Sad to say but some of the cheaters were the best

When Lemond bear Fignon in the final stage time trial he had the advantage that he was using aero bars and Fignon wasn't . We all know that that was a huge advantage without which Fignon would have won .so IMO great ride , great nail biting finish but not the Greatest ride ever .

Re Tommy V, I gather the peloton didn't like him much. That makes me like him more.

A couple of personal favourites, Tyler Hamilton Pau to Bayonne in 2003 & Marco Pantani on Alpe D'uez in 1997.

Dopers I know, but aren't they all.

One that sticks in my mind is Pedro Delgado in '88. I can still remember Phill Liggett's commentary 'Pedro Deldado has sprouted wings' as Delgado took the field apart up some climb or other.

Hinault / LeMond '85
Fignon / LeMond '89

Fewer than 4 clean riders in those names above though. I really pay no attention to the TdF anymore

When Lemond bear Fignon in the final stage time trial he had the advantage that he was using aero bars and Fignon wasn't . We all know that that was a huge advantage without which Fignon would have won .so IMO great ride , great nail biting finish but not the Greatest ride ever .

So it doesn't count because of the advantage provided by aero bars, and you are instead proposing Landis, ignoring the advantage provided by doping? Okaaaaaaaay.

Actually, I agree that such a short distance time trial should not be considered the greatest ride in the Tour, but arguably Lemond's performance and victory in the whole 1989 Tour was one of the greatest TdFs, if you do not restrict yourself to considering just individual stages. Lemond had been written off after being shot in a hunting accident, and had struggled to recover his form and get a contract with a good team. His ADR team was weak and he had no domestiques to support him in the mountain stages, so it was an incredible victory under the circumstances, with, as you say, a great nail biting last stage.

I would have picked Schleck on the Galibier, but since it's already taken, i'll go for something a bit unusual.

Vincenzo Nibali - 2014 Stage 5
More or less won the TDF without a mountain or TT bike in sight.
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I'm with the OP, Doped or not (they all were at the time, so it was basically a level field) that was an insane ride and the only one that sticks in my mind.

+1 for Lemond v Fignon last stage.

No other tour has come down to the wire on the last stage. Its the only final stage tt ever as far as i know (but i could be wrong). So for the sheer drama and the ride by Lemond (he still had to ride second fastest ever tt to take it) it has to be this.

Even my Dad was jumping out of his chair and he had never watched a bike race in his life then.

Andy Schleck, Galibier, 2011. 3 monumental rides in 1, Schleck for the audacious attack, Cadel Evans for dragging the rest of the GC riders up after him, Voeckler for hanging on to yellow. You also had Contador and Sammy Sanchez cracking. One hell of a days riding.

This for me was an amazing day of racing - backed by the fact I had ridden Col d'Isoard a month before - at about 7kph average (on the climb) and Schleck was going up it at 14.4kph Frickin' WOW.. with Galiber to go after that! and he managed to descend pretty well
Plus Cuddles and Tommy V totally burying themselves to reel him in!

Yep, Schleck on the Galiber for me too, was so upset that he didn't take yellow off cuddles.

Schleck on the Galiber for me too, was so upset that he didn't take yellow off cuddles.

Loads of good ones on here. Greatest is probably something pre TV though i'd guess where the rider had to change a broken crank in a forge or something.

This is my favourite, 3 big climbs, get dropped, come back, and then outsprint Delgado to win the stage!

When Lemond bear Fignon in the final stage time trial he had the advantage that he was using aero bars and Fignon wasn't .

No he had the advantage of intelligence planning and forward thinking.

I'm with Flashy and Lunge, that was a great day. Voeckler really did the business over those few days.

Schleck on the Galiber would have been my choice too.

HTC smashing the peloton in the wind going full gas off the front.

Sagan and Froome bossing the peloton and using the cross wind to get that stage last year or the year before .

Luis Ocana taking 9 minutes out of Eddy Merckx on a 125 km stage, Stage 11 1971

Some cracking ones there, I completely agree that the proven dopers need to be excluded.

Gurny face Voeckler has to be right up there, there was no way he could win but he murdered himself to hang on as long as he could.

Probably Charly Gaul in 1958, but I missed that one 🙂

Pantani on Alpe h'Huez in 1997 sticks in my mind, but I was younger and less cynical in those days.

Thor Hushovd winning over this

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2011 stage 13

then repeating the feat over this in stage 16

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descending like a mad man 🙂

descending like a mad man

A good descent is SO cool to watch - one of those big long Alpine ones that isn't especially steep but where a good descender can put some real distance into a group.

Annoyingly, it's often been considered as "not the done thing" to attack on a descent and everyone always trains for climbs and attacks but watching a dropped rider make his way back through superior descending skills is a joy to behold.

You watch the Welsh Crash Magnet going downhill, slamming the anchors on in corners, falling off:

and then watch Nibali or Cancellara
(I know this is Il Lombardia and not the Tour but bear with me...)

From a watching-on-the-telly point of view my favourites are often the bold, brave and utterly futile lone breakaways. Basically, any of dozens of Jens Voigt rides for me.

Sorry to be another Cav video not his best win but winning the yellow after all his tries and pretty much out the blue with his form that year, the commentator etc... not seen as bios commentator since Danny Hart's world champs win... anyway enjoy:

martin early into Pau. 1989.
and numerous by Indurain. a true TDF champion.

Hoogerland finishing a stage with most of a fence embedded in his leg ?

From a watching-on-the-telly point of view my favourites are often the bold, brave and utterly futile lone breakaways

Greatest ride (as opposed to greatest stage)... nobody going for Pantani putting 9 minutes into Ulrich on the stage to Les Deux Alpe in some foul weather to win the 98 tour? Or maybe Chiappucci's epic solo to Sestriere in 1992.

All heavily tainted but epic rides none the less.

The epic 3 man battle in the mountains between Robert Millar, Delgado and Mottet at Superbagneres in 89, and Millar's last minute comeback for the win, sticks in my mind. Of course they all turned out to be on the juice at some point, which tempers my appreciation somewhat.

Not the greatest by a long way but really enjoyed Cavendish stage 13 in 2013 when everyone thought it was going to be a nothing day and when the elastic got broke by saxo he dived across to hang on in and win the sprint.

Actually - I'm changing my mind on this. Thor Hushovd on stage 17 of the 2009 TDF, after he had the argy bargy with Cavendish and Cav did his normal thing of slagging everyone off after being relegated to the back of the field.

Massive solo break, points at himself and giving it the #1 sign whilst smashing out the 53/11 on the flat. Legend

In the 1913 TdF Eugene Christophe was well in the lead when his forks broke on decending the Pyranees. In those days it was forbidden for riders to accept assistance so Christophe found a local blacksmith and fixed the forks himself. Unfortunately the time this cost him plus the three minute penalty he received due to the help of a young boy manning the bellows mean't he lost the race.

leffeboy » roche, la plagne, '87
this was what I thought of first before reading this thread

I think I'm with @Ransos re Lemond's win for the TdF, but if I could be indulged to included the Giro then what about [url= http://tourdivide.org/strong_men_cried ]The Day the Big Men Cried[/url] , with Andy Hampsten (in his own words in that link) and the 7-Eleven team showing those softie euro folks just how hardcore Americans could be on a bike. [url=

here[/url], and if you can find it online the best article on biking ever written was Bob Roll's take on it (Bobke I or II, can't remember).

stage 13 of the 1992 tour. chiapucci's climb to sestriere was one of my first memories of the tour. He led over 5 summits and held off big mig for the win.

Probably Charly Gaul in 1958, but I missed that one

This is a good call, I think this is the one where he told Bobet where he was going to attack him. However I can't look beyond Ocana, he was the only one who believed Merckx could be beaten and not only was he determined to do it, but he wanted to do it panache and boy did he achieve that. Merckx was so dispirited he contemplated giving up - this is Merckx we are talking about, the single greatest and most determined cyclist of all time.