Cycling Hall of Fame from the past 25 years

He did win two grand tours, just like Pantani and Ullrich, but those riders distinguished themselves more by winning a Tour de France. Zulle was very similar to another rider of his generation Abraham Olano in that both were very good all arounders who IMO spent too much time chasing an impossible Tour win when they should have been focusing on the shorter one week races like Paris Nice and the Tour of Switzerland which suited them perfectly.

One of the only men in recent memory to compete in all 3 grand tours in the same year and finish in the top 5 in all 3, he was pretty much the Criquielon of the grand tours, very consistent but lacking that little bit extra to get the big win.

Also, another name I forgot would be Tom Boonen. I’ve never really followed his career but based on his major victories I might have committed an error in not including his name. :(

I know he dominated the green jersey in the tour for like 30 years but aside from his Milan San Remo victories (an impressive 4 I should add) where are his other major victories? Amstel is noteworthy, but unlike Cipo and Freire he failed to get the coveted Rainbow jersey. And he had plenty of decent opportunities, if non-climbers like Vainstains and Cipo were able to pull off a Worlds victory during that period Zabel should have been able to as well.

If it’s any consolation he would certainly be in my sprinters hall of fame. :)

Gibo was a great rider in this prime, but like Heras in Spain, what did he accomplish outside of his home country? Ok, he won the Angliru stage of the Vuelta, and a stage of the Tour, but no other top 3 grand tour performances outside of the Giro. That’s not going to get it done if you want to be in this exclusive company. :(

Also, I’d probably opt for Carlos Sastre before I put Gibo in.

I know cycling is a team sport, and without a team to sacrifice itself for its leader nothing would ever be accomplished, but riders like Hincapie and Voight (both great riders by the way) just don’t deserve to have their named mentioned in the same sentence with the likes of Indurain and Bettini and Armstrong.

It would be like inducting a full-back/running back unit in tandem to the NFL hall of fame because the running back broke every rushing record known to man and the full-back usually happened to be standing in front of him when he worked his magic on the field. If the fullback is there on his own merit then great, but he can’t ride the coattails of his greater teammate to a place as exclusive as the hall of fame.

Per the whole wait till a rider is retired point, I agree for the most part. I think I just included Cavendish because I felt like the current peleton was underrepresented on my list, so I threw his name in. It should have been Boonen instead. In Armstrong’s case he may still be active but he’s a slam dunk hall of famer nonetheless, love him or hate him.

And doping? I personally don’t give much thought to that here. Of course many of these riders doped, some were caught others got off scott free, but my list for the most part rewards riders who excelled over the long term, and if a rider was able to achieve that I would personally give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doping.

Bugno won 2 of the great one day monuments, Flanders and Milan San Remo. He also won the Worlds twice, won the Giro, and finished on the podium of the Tour fe France on two separate occasions. We could also list his two victories on Alpe D’Huez, the Italian Championship (also twice) and the Wincanton Classic. Bugno also won the World Cup competition in 1990.

Outside of 1987 I have trouble coming up with any results for Roche. I know he won Paris Nice very early on his career, and finished 3rd in the Tour in 1985, but after 1987 he had some pretty lean years. And no Delgago? :(

are you kidding?

Where’s Zabel, Zuelle, Rebellin (ups…), Chiapucci?

Tell me how this list can be perceived by anyone that knows anything about cycling as a “joke”? Incomplete yes, but a “joke”? Hardly. I’d like to see how you’d improve it…

And a deliberate cooling off period. As well it should have multiple voters to help individuals avoid their own blind spots.

This means that if a large number of voters feel that Zabel and Roche are worthy then yours would be a dissenting vote, but they would be in. If there is no group of voters it is not a Hall of Fame, simply a collection of one persons favourite riders.

I also feel that a rider like Jens is more that worthy of mention in the same sentence as Indurain. Big Mig won more, but a talent like jens is hard to quantify. If the greatest Headbangers and Mile chewers cannot get recognition in a hall of fame then it lacks something important that makes cycling great.

He’s a terrific talent who could have been a very successful team leader in his own right, but it’s called racing for a reason, and Jens just hasn’t won enough major races to be on par with an Indurain or Lemond.

My personal feeling is that any such hall of fame in sports should reward the elite of the elite, the riders who will never be forgotten. Jens may be canonized by his teammates but do you really think people will remember him in half a century when his top wins were the Criterium Internacional? (albeit like 4 or 5 times lol)