The Greatest

agreed. simply the best.

Merckx is a busted doper who has done a lot of damage to cycling. He laid the foundation for the doping culture in the sport which exists to this day. Literally to this day, as we saw with Contador's performance.

Woudn't you be better called no negatives? Its just a thought not a criticism.

I guess it depends which way you look at your posts. 😉

No_Positives said:

Merckx is a busted doper who has done a lot of damage to cycling. He laid the foundation for the doping culture in the sport which exists to this day. Literally to this day, as we saw with Contador's performance.

It's hard to believe, but I actually (kind of) agree with NP on this one. In terms of wins across every type of terrain and discipline, Eddy really was the best ever. I'm a confirmed Eddy Merckx fan. Hell, I even ride a bike with his name on it.

But everyone on this forum rightfully blast dopers, yet we revere Eddy. Obviously, Merckx's doping methods were far less advance than that of today's riders. But he nonetheless doped with what was available during his time. He even got caught. It's no different than the dopers of this generation. Different generation, different doping products, but the same lack of principle. Simply put, Eddy's a cheat as much as Di Luca or Virenque or Hamilton or Vino is a cheat.

Back when I raced. I got all my performance boost from Jelly donuts.🙂

christophe bassons gets my vote for the greatest pro-cyclist

Nah I'm with Mercx and Hinault.

Anquetil?

personally, i'm slotting il campionissimo in second. only doing so because too many of his years were taken away by the war, otherwise i think he'd have given eddy the most challenge.

Bobs Rolls said:

Back when I raced. I got all my performance boost from Jelly donuts.🙂

LOL ...still works for me. :p

If WWII had not intervened, I think Coppi might well have challenged Eddy's record palmares (at least as regards Grand Tours).

Coppi or Merckx? So hard to choose. But the two of them are a rank above the other greats.

limerickman said:

If WWII had not intervened, I think Coppi might well have challenged Eddy's record palmares (at least as regards Grand Tours).

which is why i have to slot fausto in second. eddy has the hardware. with coppi we can only speculate. truth be told, i had a hard time choosing between coppi and hinault.

It´s not even close by any measure: No one won as many races on as many different courses as Merckx. If you want to blast him for doping, blast him for getting caught, because back then there were very few pro cyclists who were not doping.

Lance is the greatest Tour de France cyclist and perhaps the greatest return from a sickbed in history, but that´s about it. He is only in Merckx´s catagory when in relation to the Tour.

Very good Tour of France race 2009, congratulations to Alberto Contador and good work for Lance Amstrong inspiration for all cyclist in the world.
Thanks for the Poster you signed for me Amazing "Real" Short Stories of Nano Burgos
Regards,
Hernan P.Burgos(NANOBURGOS)

My vote for Merckx in the doping era and Pheidippides prior to velo vitamins.

[IMG]sitelife.runnersworld.compopcorn.gifOpen ↗[/IMG]

-lw

lwedge said:

My vote for Merckx in the doping era and Pheidippides prior to velo vitamins.

[IMG]sitelife.runnersworld.compopcorn.gifOpen ↗[/IMG]

-lw

Pheidippides.

he did a runner, didn't he 😄

limerickman said:

Quite Simply

Merckx himself said that "...maybe {Coppi} was greater than me."

Given the healthy ego most pro cyclists possess, that seems to be high praise indeed.

Eddy is, without question (at least in my opinion) the greatest professional cyclist ever. The argument for Coppi is speculative.