The Virtual Musette: A Road Cycling Blog

In my last post I revealed the final rankings for the Top 25 Cyclists of the Modern Era. For those that missed it, or to save you from navigating away from this article, here it is again (the numbers are in reference to the points scored through the TVM scoring system, which is detailed here: Scoring, Part 1, and Scoring, Part 2):

Official TVM Top 25 of the Modern Era

1. Fausto Coppi (with Hugo Koblet, Gino Bartali, and Jean Robic)Eddy Merckx, 410.5
2. Bernard Hinault, 232.5
3. Fausto Coppi, 219.5
4. Gino Bartali, 213
5. Jacques Anquetil, 184
6. Rik Van Looy, 152
7. Sean Kelly, 146.5
8. Roger De Vlaeminck, 139.5
9. Francesco Moser, 131.5
10. Felice Gimondi, 114 (higher raw score)
11. Lance Armstrong, 114*
12. Louison Bobet, 109.5
13. Miguel Indurain, 98
14. Freddy Maertens, 97.5
15. Ferdi Kubler, 96
16. Joop Zoetemelk, 91.5
17. Tony Rominger, 89.5
18. Laurent Jalabert, 88.5
19. Fiorenzo Magni, 87
20. Giuseppe Saronni, 83
21. Erik Zabel, 81
22. Rik Van Steenbergen, 73.5
23. Raymond Poulidor, 69
24. Jan Janssen, 65 (higher raw score)
25. Greg Lemond, 65

*still active

Sean KellyIt has been about a month since the initial results were released, and there has been a fair amount of dialogue in the cycling forums, and I’ve received quite a few emails, as well. So, let me address some of the common questions, and misunderstandings, about this list.

First, understand that I am not necessarily saying that Rider X was “better than” Rider Y. It is amazing how rankled some folks got because they felt I had somehow slighted or unjustly ranked their favorite cyclist of all time. What I am saying is that Rider X (i.e. Sean Kelly) scored more points than Rider Y (i.e. Miguel Indurain). These points were issued based on wins in significant races (podium points were awarded for only the World Championship Road Race and all three Grand Tours). The operative word here is WINS, otherwise known as VICTORIES. This was not a popularity contest. I can’t tell you how many times someone vented about (fill in the blank), but didn’t bother to first understand how the points were earned. I went through great pains to outline exactly the way all of this was done, so please take the time to read Scoring Parts 1 and 2, before you send a nasty email asking me how I could have possibly overlooked Jan Ullrich, Richard Virenque, or Marco Pantani (the most often mentioned “jilted” cyclists).

Anyway, here are the cyclists (with their point totals) who didn’t make the Top 25, but did finish in the Top 50:

26.Mario "The Lion King" Cipollini Mario Cipollini, 63.5

27. Luis Ocana, 59.5

28. Laurent Fignon, 58.5

29. Franco Bitossi, 56

30. Federico Bahamontes, 55.5

31. Paolo Bettini, 55

32. Charly Gaul, 53.5

33. Johan Museeuw, 53

34. Jan Ullrich, 52

35. Jan Raas, 51

36. Lucien Van Impe, 50

37. Moreno Argentin, 48.5

38. Stephen Roche, 48.5

39. Hugo Koblet, 48

40. Claudio Chiapucci, 48

41. Gianni Bugno, 47.5

42. Alberic Schotte, 46.5

43. Alex Zulle, 46

44. Michele Bartoli, 44

45. Walter Godefroot, 42.5

46. Herman Van Springel, 41.5

47. Charly Mottet, 41

48. Alberto Contador, 39.5*

49. Tom Boonen, 37*

50. Alfred De Bruyne, 37

Just finishing outside of the Top 50 were Vittorio Adorni (36.5), Hennie Kuiper (31.5), Marco Pantani (31), Alejandro Valverde*, Rudi Altig, and Gilberto Simoni* (all with 30 points).

*Still active.

Greg LemondNext, I don’t need to be reminded that anyone was a doper, or alleged doper. No, I don’t condone the use of drugs in this sport, but I am not going to revise history and strike from the record books anyone who admitted to doping, was rumored to have doped, or failed a drug test (in which case the results from a positive in any particular event have already been revised). Yes, drugs are, were, and will probably forever be a black stain on pro cycling, but I refuse to let the issue dominate every single discussion or conversation when reviewing its history. Really, who among this Top 50 list was “clean” throughout their career? I’ll nominate Gino Bartali and Greg Lemond. As for the rest…

Moving along, some have objected to the way I have handled the scoring system. Fair enough. I’m the first to agree that this is not perfect. I had almost awarded points for each day a cyclist was in the leader’s jersey during each of the three Grand Tours. In the end, I felt it skewed the results too far in favor of the GT champions to the detriment of the legendary single-day warriors, such as Rik Van Looy and Roger De Vlaeminck; this was probably my biggest disagreement with some of the other ranking systems. I think awarding just a half point for stage wins was a compromise that rewarded all the GT players – those competing for general classification, sprinters, mountain climbers, and those hunting for classification jerseys.

Luis Ocana leading Eddy Merckx, 1971 Tour de FranceI also struggled over other pieces of the scoring puzzle, such as the awarding of points for Significant Lifetime Milestones, and particularly, the Missing Years Adjustment Formula (again, see Scoring, Part 2). I’ll have to admit that some of my favorite cyclists (Fiorenzo Magni, Greg Lemond, Luis Ocana, Federico Bahamontes, Charly Gaul, and Lucien Van Impe) did not rank out as high as I’d hoped. Of course, that only goes to illustrate I really did let chips fall where they may, and did not try to let personal biases enter into the equation. After spending nearly a year working out all the kinks, I hope the final Top 50 list will at least serve to bring some attention to some of the lesser  known stars of the sport, or to those who are sometimes overlooked when discussing “the best ever.”

Also, as promised, I am publishing a Top 25 list that does not include any of the special adjustments. So, for the purists who may think I’m taking too many liberties with my “revisionist history,” here are the results sans adjustments (the scores included are the raw scores achieved through just the first part of the scoring system, which only included the results from the races in Scoring, Part 1):  

Gino "The Pious" Bartali

1. Eddie Merckx, 290.5
2. Bernard Hinault, 165.5
3. Jacques Anquetil, 157
4. Fausto Coppi, 144.5
5. Gino Bartali, 144.5
6. Sean Kelly, 126.5
7. Francesco Moser, 111.5
8. Rik Van Looy, 107
9. Roger De Vlaeminck, 100.5
10. Miguel Indurain, 98
11. Felice Gimondi, 92
12. Lance Armstrong, 91
13. Freddy Maertens, 87.5
14. Louison Bobet, 87.5
15. Tony Rominger, 85.5
16. Giuseppe Saronni, 83
17. Joop Zoetemelk, 81.5
18. Laurent Jalabert, 78.5
19. Raymond Poulidor, 69
20. Ferdi Kubler, 68
21. Fiorenzo Magni, 63
22. Rik Van Steenbergen, 62.5
23. Erik Zabel, 61
24. Luis Ocana, 59.5
25. Laurent Fignon, 58.5

Miguel IndurainTiebreakers were settled by the rider with the greater number of overall career victories. You’ll notice that the list is quite similar to the “official” rankings (with all the included adjustments); it’s just that the order was shuffled around a bit. The most significant difference is that both Jan Janssen and Greg Lemond are missing, replaced by Ocana and Fignon. It is also worth noting that all the Top 25 cyclists who received a Missing Years Adjustment, with the exception of Greg Lemond, remained on the list. So there you have it, make of it what you will. As far as I’m concerned, both Lemond and Janssen deserve to make the cut, Coppi and Bartali should be ahead of Anquetil, both Gimondi and Bobet belong in front of Indurain, and Kubler should be above Rominger, Jalabert, and Zoetemelk. These are all reasons that the Official TVM Top 25 list will be used in all future articles referencing a cyclist’s rank. So, upon further review, I guess I am saying that certain champions were better than others. After all, isn’t that the purpose of these ultimately futile exercises?

As always, thanks for reading.

All artwork compliments of Dave Brinton. The illustrations of Fausto Coppi, Sean Kelly, Greg Lemond, Luis Ocana, Gino Bartali, and Miguel Indurain are available as prints, signed and numbered in limited editions of 100. Image size is approximately 10” x 10”, printed with archival inks on 100% rag paper. Price is $65 each, plus shipping. To order prints email the artist at brintoni@gmail.com.  You can also visit his website, where you can view the complete collection -www.brintoni.com.