McEwen - An All-Time Great?
Last time Cycle Sport spat out a "greatest sprinters of all time list" was in February 2002, and unsurprisingly, Robbie McEwen was not on it. With only a single, three-year-old TdF stage win and a handful of Netherlands Tour credits to his name, as this article at Eurosport points out, things were not looking so rosy for the Australian in 2001.
Of course, we all know what happened then: the upset of Stuart O'Grady and Erik Zabel to take the Green Shirt at the '02 Tour, another maillot vert in '04 (despite some broken vertebrae) three stage wins in '05, and another trio thus far this season. All told, 11 Tour stages, a spattering of Giro wins, plus a handful of victories at smaller stage races.
However, there are plenty of criticisms to be leveled against the Aussie. Certainly, his wild, devil-may-care style has resulted in more than a few relegations, hand gestures and post-race comments. Also, unlike Tom Boonen, whose season-long win total is comprised generally of events at cycling's highest levels, Robbie's victory count is often padded by pre-season Australian events, which (not to say that they're easy) offer a somewhat lower level of competition.
In fact, while McEwen is unquestionably among the best at the Giro and Tour, he's seldom seen on the podium at any other high profile events. Robbie's other great contemporary, Alessandro Petacchi, has taken wins at everything from San Remo to the Vuelta, with multiple victories at all three Grand Tours during the same season.
So my question is this: were Cycle Sport to revise their Top 10 list tomorrow, would de Kangeroe van Brackel make the cut? For comparison, a pre-San Remo, pre-World Champion, pre-All-Time Giro Stages record Mario Cipollini rated only 9th, and Barry Hoban objected to his being on the list at all. Erik Zabel, meanwhile, at the very height of his dominance, was awarded 3rd, with extra kudos from Hoban for his unwillingness to abandon.
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Distinction
Too high a bar
So, for the sport, he may be short of all-time great, but as entertainment, he's WAAAY up there.
by Chris Fontecchio on Jul 7, 2006 2:21 PM EDT reply actions
Robbie, is right around 100 wins
Agree...
Without classics wins, it's hard for me to put him atop much of a mountain...
You probably
I'm not sure DeVlaeminck
Good points, but...
The comparison to Jalabert is an interesting one, for as far as Tour stages go, McEwen dominates the Frenchman (11 wins to 4, and at most half of those in group gallops). Jalabert's record is amazing at the Vuelta (7 wins in 1994, 5 wins 1995), but again, not all sprint victories. Though his versatility as a rider is almost unparalelled (only Merckx and he can claim the Grand Tour trifecta), I don't have Jaja on my list of all-time great sprinters.
Personally, I don't think you really need a huge classics win to claim a place among the greats. It's nice to have, but Freddy Maertens (for example) never won a monument. Indeed, the recently altered format of Amstel Gold now makes it so "sprinters" have less and less chance to be "classics riders" as well. As it stands, Gent-Wevelgem, Paris-Tours and Milan-San Remo are really the only classics most effective Grand Tour sprinters can hope to win. If Robbie can take one of those three races, he'll make my list for sure.
I didn't
And since the original question revolved around "All Time Great sprinters" and not great "Grand Tour" sprinters (a relatively new designation), then yes, I'd say he'd have to compile a few classics wins to gain consideration.
Finally, no offense, but I have to call 'bullshit' on the Maertens comparison. Freddy won two world championships, placed second in Flanders and LBL, and won a big handful of minor classics (not to mention 13 wins at ONE Vuelta). McEwen's not remotely in Maertens' class.
Nor does he belong in the same column with riders like Kelly or Zabel (and a host of other older riders I could name).
He's the fastest right now, but he's not even in my "Top 3" list of great contemporary GT sprinters, and nowhere near my list of "All Time" great sprinters...

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