freeheelwilly
Member
andyzee said:
OMFG! If it's not Merckx, who the F could it possibly be? Who?
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Why Are Americans Dominating the Tour De France?
- Thread starter andyzee
- Start date
OMFG! If it's not Merckx, who the F could it possibly be? Who?
andyzee
New member
freeheelwilly said:
I'm not saying he wasn't the best, chances are he was. It's just that it's tough comparing people from different eras. You could always argue the competition is tougher during one era than another. You could argue difference in training, equipment, etc.......
freeheelwilly
Member
andyzee said:
You could always argue anything you want I guess. It's only a "debate" if someone argues back.
I'm out.
Marc
New member
freeheelwilly said:
While you've been a dick since the beginning of this discussion willy, I agree with you 100%. Most people that follow professionaly cycling will tell you that Merckx was the greatest cyclist all time bar none.
He's like the Mario Andretti of cycling.
Also Willy, while it was LeMond that put the Americans in yellow for the first time I think the whole 7 Eleven team had a lot to do with convincing American cyclists they could be more than "peleton fodder."
And for a point of order, Breaking Away sucked. American Flyers was much better. The kid in Breaking Away was annoying as f**k. I can't comment about the film's influence, however, since I was born in '82.
freeheelwilly
Member
Just like to get it goin' Marc. Don't read too much into it.;-)
Marc
New member
freeheelwilly said:
Calling you a dick based on how you originally responded to skibum wasn't reading too much into it. That was pretty much right on the surface.
skibum1321
New member
I was 3 at the time...freeheelwilly said:
freeheelwilly
Member
Marc said:
What? He made an outrageous statement and I responded rather forcefully but politely:
Quote:
Originally Posted by skibum1321
Well of those 11 wins, 7 of them were Lance, who is the greatest cyclist of all time.
No. That's Eddie Merckx. Not even debatable. Lance himself has said so many times.
Quote:
I'm not saying there should be an asterisk next to Landis's name, but let us not forget that 2 of the tour favorites were banned from cycling right before the race.
They were not. That's an inaccurate stement. But, to the extent that they are shown to have been doping - why would that have any bearing on Landis' win? I don't follow. "Yeah, you won, but two cheaters weren't allowed to race against you so it's not like you really won."
Where's the logic in that?
But he persisted on clinging to his delusion, so I slammed him a little bit:
Quote:
Originally Posted by skibum1321
It is certainly debatable.
No it's not. Get a clue. The Cannibal won 5 Giros and 5 Tours. His first Tour he won ALL the jerseys. He also raced the Classics in the snow and mud sliddin' around on the cobbles with 150 other crazies. Lance was in Texas in the Spring and never even rode a Giro. Stop making a fool of yourself.
Quote:
With all that Lance has overcome and all of his achievements, he is definitely in contention for that title.
See above. Lance himself has acknowledged this MANY times. Why can't you?
Quote:
Cycling would not even be on the radar in America without Lance - he has done more for this sport in America than anyone else in history.
Wrong on the first part. Right on the second part.
Quote:
I'm just saying that the 2 superstars of the sport weren't there.
"The" two superstars? Many picked Floyd to win even before Operation Puerto claimed Jan and Ivan. Whatever.
Now we come to find out that skibum was 3 when Lemond won the Tour in '86 and that that fact is supposed to somehow absolve him from the responsibility of knowing something about an issue upon which he voluntarily sounded off?
C'mon! I know you AZers stick together but why not let the guy sink or swim on his own? I was a lot more gentle than I would have been in the RSN days, believe me. Lighten up Francis.
Lets keep the discussion clean folks. No need to resort to resort to childish tactics.
I don't think most, including me, would consider your responses polite.freeheelwilly said:
While I'm sure that a lot of people agree there really is no need for name calling.Marc said:
freeheelwilly
Member
- Joined
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Perhaps. But over the years we've found that most folks like AZ just the way it is. Different strokes for different folks. Oh, and you were far from polite. I think it was riverc0il that suggested several years ago that a good approach is to only post something that you would say to someone face to face. Anybody that would cast insults just for having a different opinion is not somebody I'd want to hang with...freeheelwilly said:
bruno
New member
Greg said:
right on brah! i think ol' freeheel needs to ride his bike a little more. dude runs his mouf prolly more'n he rides his bike.
and i'd say this to yer face freeheel, you come off like a douche. you're prolly a good guy in real life but on da intraweb, you're a serious tool. jus' sayin'. . . .:-D
freeheelwilly
Member
bruno said:
:razz:
Buddy, I read with a combination of disbelief and hilarity your near daily posts regarding your latest lame-o, lolly-gag. You DEFINITELY couldn't stay in my draft. You, of all people, should keep your empty head down.:razz: :razz: :beer: :dunce:
:flag: :flame: :smash: Greg, I know most of the AZers like it. That's cool. If you go back and read the development of this thread though, I think it's clear what happened: the AZ Lynch Mob comes-a-cruisin' when one of its favored members is perceived to be under assault. And it's pretty obvious that, for some reason, Marc and Bruno have just been itchin' for an excuse to start in. I was called a "dick" and now a "douche". That's pretty provocative stuff but I still haven't responded in-kind. And I don't intend to.
Marc
New member
Sorry mods, general AZ readership if I was out of line. I call em like I see em.
freeheelwilly
Member
Guys, let's bury the hatchet. I don't want to see this thread locked. We all got our licks in. I'm ready to stop.
Marc
New member
freeheelwilly said:
I was spoken to as well, as I was out of line.
andyzee
New member
I say that next year we get Alpine Zone to sponser a team in the Tour. We head up, kick some ass and this will all be a mute point
awf170
New member
Greg said:
I'm not quite sure. For some reason to me it seems like a good chunk of people actually don't really like the moderation but still post here because of the cool people, ski talk, etc. This is just my opinion, but that is just the vibe I get. It actually seems like half the flame wars we get here are because of moderation. I understand that it is your board and you have the control to do what you want and regardless of the moderation I will still post here.
andyzee
New member
Trouble maker :roll:
Charlie Schuessler
New member
Based on my reading of professional cycling history, the Best Cyclist is Eddie "The Cannibal" Merckx. Merckx raced any/every type of race all season long and won single day events, multiday events, Grand Tour events, and criteriums. He won at all levels numerous times over his career. The Best Tour de France cyclist with 7 wins is Lance Armstrong followed by 5 wins by a group including the Merckx and Bernard "The Badger" Hinault who worked with/against Greg Lemond in 1986. Lemond won the Tour three times.
Landis has raced the Tour five times and won it once. 2006 has been a great year for Landis. I’ve read where he gets no motivation about what others (mostly Armstrong) have to say about him. It appears his motivation is from within (must win before hip replacement). It may be a bit early to compare him with Merckx, Lemond, Armstrong or any other multiple winners...
However what we witnessed was what a GREAT effort winning the 2006 Tour! Landis overcame broken a bicycle in both the Prologue, and the first Time Trial and an 8-minute loss on a very hard mountain stage where he came back and kicked everyone’s butt the very next day to make up the "devastating" lost time. Landis’ effort made Armstrong’s calculated efforts look less impressive on race by race basis.
Landis has raced the Tour five times and won it once. 2006 has been a great year for Landis. I’ve read where he gets no motivation about what others (mostly Armstrong) have to say about him. It appears his motivation is from within (must win before hip replacement). It may be a bit early to compare him with Merckx, Lemond, Armstrong or any other multiple winners...
However what we witnessed was what a GREAT effort winning the 2006 Tour! Landis overcame broken a bicycle in both the Prologue, and the first Time Trial and an 8-minute loss on a very hard mountain stage where he came back and kicked everyone’s butt the very next day to make up the "devastating" lost time. Landis’ effort made Armstrong’s calculated efforts look less impressive on race by race basis.
