How Good Would Merckx Be In 2020? | GCN Show Ep.372
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- This week we're asking if Eddy Merckx would be just as dominant in 2020 as he was when he was a pro, we've also got a new TV series from Chris Hoy, gold wheels, big news for our racing coverage in the GCN app, and the GCN Bike festival DJ line up as well as much more! Join us as we cover the week's news, look at your inspirational photos, hacks and bodges and announce the Sufferfest competition winner!
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Do you think Merckx would be just as good in 2020 as he was in the 60s? Let us know 👇
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Photos: © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Bettiniphoto / www.bettiniphoto.net/
1 By Anders via Flickr Creative Commons CC BY-ND 2.0 [flic.kr/p/2e4mnKw]
2 By Anders via Flickr Creative Commons CC BY-ND 2.0 [flic.kr/p/2cYBM5q]
3 By Nationaal Archief - cut from Joop Zoetemelk en Eddy Merckx schudden elkaar de hand/ Joop Zoetemelk en Eddy Merckx shaking hands, No restrictions, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
4 By Peters, Hans / Anefo - [1] Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (Anefo), 1945-1989 Access number: 2.24.01.05 File number: 927-8337, CC0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
5 By Jean-Pierre Bazard Jpbazard - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
6 By Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo - [1] Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (Anefo), 1945-1989 Access number: 2.24.01.05 File number: 924-6832, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
7 By Ged Carroll from Hong Kong mostly, HKSAR - Vintage racing bike used by Eddy Merckx, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
8 By Verhoeff, Bert / Anefo - [1], Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANeFo), 1945-1989, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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How good would Merckx be against 2020's pros? Let us know what you think 👇
Global Cycling Network I think he would still be a great talent overall. Nevertheless I feel Merckx was so ahead of his own generation when it came to training methods that it made him even better than he already was, some of his main competitors came out of the winter 5 or 6 kilos heavier than they should be while this was never the case with him so this also gave him a big advantage. On top of this I think he’d still win time trials and classics as he was a very strong rider ( I do believe his strength is something out of this world and the reason why he was that good) but I wouldn’t see him winning that many grand tours. Even throughout his career he has shown weaknesses when it came to mountain stages ( Ocaña put 8 minutes into Merckx in 1971 tour for example) . So in general I think he would still be the best rider of this generation but his dominance wouldn’t be as big as it was before
you guys forgot about the Badger. He won multiple GTs, stage races, classics monuments, and won the only edition of Paris-Roubaix that he took part in. He could climb, sprint, and was a decent TT-ist. Not as good as the cannibal as far as his palmares goes (who is?) but he comes close in terms of being a complete cyclist.
Against “other top athletes”? I don’t know, but he would still be able to beat Dr Bridgewood😂
Merckx wouldnt be as good nowadays, getting popped three times for doping would deduct at least 6 years of his career
As great as those other riders were...they were probably all gunning for Merckx! He was the man to beat in every race he entered...and still won most of them!
Merckx"s hour record was done in the middle of a FULL road season .....he didn't save himself for the one event.
Eddy Merckx le roi des rois
Et éternelement le plus grand coureur cycliste de tout les temps sans égale.
Eddy Merckx en voulait il avait pas peur de ce faire mal .
If you look at Eddy climbing in some of the mountain stages, in the gears they had at back then, you can't doubt the fact that he had tremendous power.
Merckx, The greatest athlete in sport not just cycling, had genetic gift, dedication with his time spent training, gave great technical attention to ergonomics, was very determined to overcome the pain and discomfort endured in order to win , that early in his teens had the good fortune to naturally gravitate to a sport he could excel in, who had early parental support and coaching, that paid a lot of attention to pre-race stratigizing each course and field of competitors, and who maximized whatever else you can think of that he possibly could, was like The Beatles, in that all the variables came together maximized in one spot. But definitely none of it would have happened without his superior genetic gifts being so well suited to the task. Lung capacity, resting heart rate, rate of blood O2 recovery and elimination of the build up of lactic acid after a sprint etc. were all superlative. It was a positive feedback loop and synergy of all the factors, each one improving the other, with his determination to win forcing his body to utilize it's full and great potential...I mean he could have been a baker...meaning it's possible 'the next Eddy Merckx' may have not or never will discover bicycle racing.
No one will beat the greatest Eddy Merckx ever. He is and will be the greatest ever. Hi's nickname, the canniibal. He loved his sport. Most respectfull sportman ever!!!❤❤❤
It’s also possible that if he raced today his entire career would be spent dragging Team INEOS leaders to the finish line lol
Yeah, but he'd probably still be first across the line.
Richard Harris I’m saying they might just pay him to be a domestique, in which case a teammate of his would cross the finish line first.
@@chrisrodgers4950 go back to sleep
@@pinarellosq2868 dont forget the "misdelivered" testosterone
@@pinarellosq2868 Merx did that by himself.
From the comfort of my armchair... I'd like to see Ollie have _another_ crack at the hour record, but this time using equipment as close to that which Eddy Merckx used for his hour record. SufferFest indeed :-)
I'd watch that in a heartbeat.
But what does Ollie think? I reckon he'd prefer to go after his old TT PBs, armed with his new fitness and knowledge.
Totes McGoats I'd watch that.
ITS JUST AN HOUR!!!! How hard can it be? Bussi and Obree did it twice in a 24 hour period.
KIDDING!!!! KIDDING!!! Put down the knife Ollie
The bit about Merckx’s estimated power during the hour record basically answers the question. We’re really only left with other factors like modern training and pacing tools, and nutrition, that would have made him a little better than that today. He obviously had all the other intangibles of a champion.
Given the high turnover of presenters recently I'd like to make a call for you guys to hang on to Ollie whatever the cost. He's great.
Bring back Matt Stevens as well.
Gcn is a stepping stone naturally presenters move.
@@glennoc8585 really? no shit
I just read Chris Froome's book this week, and was shocked to read that Daniel Loyd once passed Froome during a race in a break. That was not a name I expected to be featured in the book!
Do you mean whilst Froome had a break?
@@gcn lol!!!
Lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@gcn Well, someone was taking the piss.
was it the queue for the bar ?
One amazing achievement of Eddy Merckx is the bikes he built were amazing. Probably it wasn't actually him building the bikes, but many years ago I bought a second hand Eddy Merckx bike and it handled absolutely perfectly, it was a really fantastic bike. Whatever he was like riding a bike he most definitely built amazing bikes.
Eddy learned how to build a bike in Italy! Draw your conclusions… did you think his factory would produce this kind of quality bicycles without that? It’s like being goat in cycling: you need the complete package. BTW, climbing mountains: check Eddy downhill, hard to keep up going uphill, impossible to match downhill……
Ollie's expressions following Dan's caption competition attempt @23:40 - 23:48 are priceless! Perfect visual commentary.
Merckx is a legend, no doubt, but I do not understand why his doping incidents are hardly ever discussed in the cycling community, while other riders accused of doping are outcasts nowadays.
oxymoron armstrong got rich from his lies and doping and it affected a lot of people outside of cycling. Armstrong basically just acted like an asshole even after he got caught and threw people under the bus. No other doper in any other sport you could say brought so much attention to what he did. Even people I knew who didn’t know the first thing about cycling were all saying his book was the best they ever read and that he was a major inspiration to them. Needless to say that all changed 😂
...it was the seventies, even my grannie was on dope
Doping wasn’t nearly as effective in the 70s. There was no EPO, no HGH. Most of the doping in those days was pretty ineffective by modern standards, or even standards of the 90s.
Doping of a kind-amphetamines-was common in that era. There were two cases where Merckx was popped for Stimul, a weak but banned stimulant.
That cannot be denied. It is also true that the physician assigned to, for example, the TDF-who had no interest in spinning the matter-stated that he believed that of all the contenders/stars of that era, Merckx was far and away the cleanest. Coppi and Anquetil were well-known to have ingested amphetamines in quantities never suggested to be consumed by Merckx. In a then quite dirty sport, Merckx was, relatively speaking, the cleanest winner.
So the failure to mention doping when measuring his achievements is drastically different from, say, the beatification of the rapist Kobi Bryant.
@@mikefinlayson9907 I agree 100%.
Question for Ollie: What was the final result on your weight during the hour-record training? What was it when you started...and finished? Thanks
DJ Yoda? Fn awesome. The best without peer.
The things that makes riders better now, Eddy would have embraced. He was that kind of cyclist, as well as having enormous natural talent he went above and beyond to be as good as he could to better himself.
No one can match Merck...he is a legend and he is more powerful than any riders today...old generation people are so strong ..
I was about to order somme Mavic wheels , now i'm weirdly pround and excited in a way
Merckx was also obsessed with biomechanics before it was a thing. We have bike positioning nowadays and tools to find the right fit and posture, but back then he was already doing it with instinct and trial and error. He was ahead of the curve!
The forgotten reason for Eddy's constant position manipulation was the terrible back injury he suffered during a derny event on the track when Ferdinand Wambst his pacer was killed. From then on, fairly early in his career Eddy was in constant pain from his back, which affected his legs as well. He used to stop during races to adjust his seat height to relieve his pain.
THE BIGGER QUESTION IS HOW WOULD TODAYS CYCLIST DO BACK THEN.
Water and Coca Cola to drink during the race
Cotton and wool uniforms
20 pound bicycles
53 / 39 - 11/15? up Vontoux , Alp Duez, Hautecam etc
Not everyone today would be able to be the iron men on steel bike back then
No "spin to win" they pedaled squares back then because they had no choice
yup . . . Iron Men on Steel Bikes
Seal Cycle, spot on! I remember lining up with 52 x 42 front and 12-21 rear, my hilly gearing on those 5 cogs!! Complete bike with Brooks leather saddle, steel rails, sans water bottles 22.5 lbs. One bottle holder and a full bottle and off we go!
@@ronbell7920 YUP!!!! like I always say, Iron men, Steel bikes! (and a hard heart if you want to win)
We now have guys in 11 speed, 50/32 - 11/36 cassettes and they still struggle up the great mountains. Literally amazing what they did back then.Even just to finish was just bad ass.
Have a good one
No-one had 53/39 back then. Until the 1990s the smallest front chainring was always 42. Not less. And just 5 or 6 cogs on the back.. 13-18 for flat races and 13-23 for the hills. Just for this alone Merckx, Coppi, Hinault are to be regarded in even higher respect. Think how much harder it was back then! (especially for pre-Merckx riders such as Coppi, Anquetil, etc)
@@AdamButlerphotography Were they on 144bcd cranks then, and 130 only came in later? Or was it just not the done thing to ride anything smaller than a 42? I thought 130bcd had been around quite a while...
I think Eddy Merckx, if he were a pro rider today, would still eat everyone alive. He won everything you can win and excelled in every way and I think that there isn't any rider today that could seriously rival him, especially if he were using modern equipment and had access to all the advancements made in sport science since his glory days.
This is the correct answer. If you could teleport him in his prime and put him on today's equipment, he'd dominate.
Em_525 Merckx but the real question remains, would he dominate for the right reasons because we know he’s going to cheat
@@chinboy66 Nothing he did was any worse than what's been done for decades. In fact, if you want to bring in that topic, he'd still dominate because he'd have access to the same PEDs as any other star.
Ollie Merckx gave his all and was obviously moved by the experience. Good on him. Feel free to keep telling us what it was like to push yourself to ridiculous levels. Thanks for living the Dream, Ollie. Keep up the good work.
Rich Peraud thanks man 👍🏼
Caption: Remco: 'Bitter?'. Miguel: 'No, but I will have a little whine.'
I wish Ollie would present the GCN show more often, he was on fire today
Calvin is a beast mechanic. That's really cool you got him to come to the event.
Eric Prosch-Jensen He also has the best sense of humor ever!
Get Calvin on the Tech channel along with the bloke that offered to buy everyone a pint, plus Ollie for the accents. Top shelf.
Can we please not forget that Merckx was caught doping three times, for riders in other era's this is always mentioned while with Merckx this is kept silent!
4 times
@@kwacker45 4,000 times
absolutely. Lance was the best TDF rider of all time. Merckx was just as much a doper and introduced LA to Dr Ferrarri. Selective admiration of convenience
Doping should be legal. Just so we could see how far these top atheltes could push their limits. Of course, there should be leagues of "clean" people.
@@Herikeeeee I don't think it should be legal, but i do think it is pointless to quote numbers like an FTP of 450 knowing full well it wasn't natural and comparing with current riders (who we assume to be clean).
A big WOW for the upcoming features of the GCN app
450 w FTP. And I was super happy with my 246 w on a Sufferfest 4DP this morning :)
I wonder if Ollie did 6 months of intense training and optimization if the Merckx hour would be in his grasp. Significant gains in just 3 months, just imagine.
Tom Field Ollie mentioned he went an extra 27m or so just because he wasnt holding the black line That could improve with another 3 months
He should also dose on amphetamines like Eddie did.
Something to think about, despite winning an unbelievable amount races. In 1969 he sustained a very serious injury to his back on the track and often stated that he "was never the same again". Despite being in pain he continued to win hundreds of races for the next 5 years. The guy was a freak and no one will ever come close to his record.
I think Eddy Merckx has been waiting decades for the next Eddy Merckx because he loves and appreciates great athleticism. He would be truly happy to see someone come along better than himself. I don't think he has a delicate protective ego at all. Upon retirement from the sport he even dedicated himself to the engineering and production of great racing bicycles instead of cashing in on celebrity. Mucho respect for Eddy Merckx the man and his dedication to the advancement of the sport.
ps I still have my Falcon Eddy Merckx Super Competition 102 that I raced on back in the 70's. LOL
Never mind the cycling achievements... if I could just go into a pub and chat like you guys I’d be happy. Great stuff.
Caption: "Miguel, this is a good vintage. Ah 2011, I remember it well; I graduated primary school that year."
Some rock-solid puns there at the end Dan! 👍
Haha Ollie 12:58 “sure you are” so smug hahah
Caption competition - Lopez: “Hey Remco, apparently the big bottles can fill anything, Evenepoel!”
Laughed a good few times at this episode. Big up
We love the Tuesday night GCN show. After swimming we have a round of cheese on toast and watch all things cycling, the show is brilliant especially the way you lot get on and yes we do the cycling without socks thing sometimes.
Congratulations on your effort! That is an awesome achievement.
Oh, did Ollie attempt the hour record? I had no idea- he should mention it occasionally.
There were like 4 of 5 videos about it on the last 2 months ._.
David Moreno it’s called a *joke*
I’m also interested in hearing about any pro cycling teams that Dan might have been involved with.
Even though Ollie used and E-bike, he still did ok.
Excited to hear about the races on the app!!! Cant wait 👍🙂
Alan Hansen: You can’t win anything with kids.
Dan Lloyd: Matthieu Van Der Poel will never win a grand tour.
Looking forward to the app update. Already a great app but the upgrades sound amazing
Caption: They finally gave me a bottle that’s older than my professional racing career!
Caption: Now that's the kind of 12% i like
Caption: "It's older than me!"
Shouldn't it be: "Look. It's old than I" ? ;-)
Eddy would be the next Eddy.
New nickname for Ollie - Ollie Herckx (as in Hurts) or just Herckx.
On to my post - A few details not mentioned about EM and his hour record are that the Mexico City air would’ve been much thinner and therefore less drag - if he acclimated to the altitude this would be a huge benefit. It would be very interesting to determine the actual added drag reduction and convert that to estimated added wattage output.
Morri Mohr sea level air is 1.2kg/m3. Density appears to vary with pressure, and looking at a few calculators the air density at 2250 elevation is approx 0.9kg/m3. Force is proportional to density, so the drag force at that altitude is only 75% of that at sea level. What that equates to in watt savings I don’t know, but it must be significant
David Marshall - that’s good info - and keep in mind the drag reduction would an exponential energy saving because we (cyclist) know that to increase your pace from (US so using mph not kph) 25mph to 30mph you nearly double your effort. So the impact would be very significant.
@@morrimohr439 I found this calculator. www.gribble.org/cycling/power_v_speed.html
Using the default values, it estimates you need 595w to ride at 50kph.
Reducing air density from 1.2 to 0.9, that power requirement drops to 450w.
So it appears that power requirements drop linearly with air density (keeping velocity constant).
Conversely, holding power constant at 450w and going back to sea level, you'd be going at 45.6kph.
He had to be good to constantly beat guys like De Vlamenick . Maertens , etc .. The Winter training him and his team engaged in was not for the feint of heart.. Would still be wrecking ball through today's peloton with all the new tech on board..
Oh Ollie... Your are the best 😂 such a perfectly timed good story bro
Not one mention of Merckx's Travoltaesque Saturday Night Fever hairstyle @4:28!
Didn't you know that gave Merckx a hairodynamic advantage!
I've been listening to Kraftycuts for years!!!!
And that wooden bodge has been featured before!
Mavic AND Pirelli ?? This is awesome !
Aujourd'hui ya des gars qu' ont 35 victoires et sur 10 ans de courses et il les mettent au pinacles dla rigolades. Eddy Merckx était un passionné depuis son enfance et son métier il la fait avec envie et passion. Eddy Merckx le roi des rois pour l éternité.
"If you don't know what Dan is talking about" said Ollie just after I was wondering what in the world was the last expression Dan said 😅 chapped to bits??
I'm totally convinced, that he would still be outstanding. He would probably not win quite as many races, because I think the elite was more narrow back then. But he would still be a dominant rider.
Caption: “Mum and Dad never let me drink at home, this is great!”
My grandfather was the soinieur of Roger Swerts and for merckx for a while. He always said that a champion in a previous time, will still be champ now.
He's probably spot on! Merckx is a champion
It’s not “ a monster truck called grave digger ” it’s just “GRAVEDIGGER!!!!!” Its like a Woods, Jordan, Phelps, Armstrong where one (American) Name is synonymous with the sport they’ve dominated. :) love GCN!!! Easily my favorite show on any media. You guys are amazing
I see GCN Show i drop everything and click
At work now... pretending to work...
19:56 It so that you can be comfortable in the froome descent postion
Lloyd that's not how the GCN curse works. MVP will now win a grand tour.
His will to win would put Merckx on Top. He would figure it out. The advantage of equipment and food would make him even more dangerous.
John Paton food and equipment? Hahahahahahaha 🤣🤣🤣
The rear mech alternative routing was originally published by Shimano for the original Dura-Ace and later recommended by Sheldon Brown on his website for other RDs. So it’s a hack but it’s also a published 20+ year old one
Better speculation might be how would today's cyclists have done in Merckx's era riding steel frames with friction shifting Super Record, silk bar tape and toe clips?
do those little changes actually make someone faster, I raced with those things. The super record shifted very fast with no click cable tension hurdle to surmount with index shifting. Toe clips also have cleats which are positioned just right.
@@NowPleaseReadThis not really but the aerodynamic benefits of today’s tech are pretty significant.
How would modern riders get on WITHOUT team radio ? These days the riders know when each rider farts and takes instructions from the team manager. Before team radio the riders had to know the character of their rivals and work out tactics from experience, in other words they had to think for themselves because information of what was happening up the road took a long time to get through the bunch.
Today's cycle pros would go back home to mom. Merckx would kill them during training.
@@NowPleaseReadThis A top road bike in the Merckx era weighed about 22 lbs , a modern carbon fibre bike is about 15lbs - 16lbs ....add that weight saving to the faster gear shifting where both hands can also be kept on the handlebars and there is a difference. There was no way a gear change could be made on very steep gradients with one hand off the bars, those little increments do make a difference....if they didn't make a difference they would not have been developed.
I also raced with friction gear levers on the down tube and with toe clips and straps and I remember how painful those toe straps were on the foot in longer races , the pressure point on the outer edge of the foot got very painful sometimes ( I had an almost permanent sore spot where the strap touched the shoe throughout the racing season) .......that discomfort has been eliminated with modern pedals.
Velcro and other shoe fastenings have also helped massively .......remember how shoe laces used to stretch and slacken off in the rain and you either had to stop to Io tighten them up or pull the toeclip strap tighter .
At the time Merckx asked Campagnolo to make a chainset so a smaller inner ring could be fitted but they refused, added to that, the Campagnolo rear mech could only comfortably handle a 25t rear sprocket . I think Campagnolo were more interested in the aesthetics of their beautiful designs that practical considerations.
That was the era when Campagnolo equipment was used almost exclusively by every pro team except the French teams which used the French Stronglight equipment, which could go down to 36t chainrings.
Once again Eddie like Lance knew how to dope better than others.
Caption: Jesus...Remco evene-poels out a bottle to drink pre stage and still beats me
0:10 they credited the photo to "onbekend" which means unknown in Dutch. Great photographer he was ;)
It's easy to say Eddy couldn't do it in the age of specialization but nobody did it prior to Eddy either. He also had to contend with the second best classics rider of all time, Roger DeVlaeminck, and the third winningest rider, Freddy Maertens, plus the other greats mentioned in the video, so it was never easy. To me his most impressive stat is the seven Milan-San Remo wins. Today it's said, by many racers, to be the most difficult monument to win and something of a lottery but he managed seven wins in all manor of ways, from bunch sprint to solo.
I like this duo, you guys seem more on the same page
Good to see Ollie the goose co-hosting...😁👍
Caption “so how are you Remco Van der pol!!”
They just had a golf tournament in Mexico City, claiming that the ball carried 15% farther. While Ollie still has his fitness, send him to Mexico City and some warm weather. Maybe all he needs is thin air.
If Eddy Merx was on a level playing field with modern riders, where there was absolutely no doping, Eddy Merx would smoke all of the modern day riders and they would eat his dust in all the different races. Then they would have to feed him after every race which would cost a lot of money !!! :) Hands down, Eddy Merx is the best all around Cycle Racer that has ever existed.
I can now and have always been able to eat more spaghetti than Merckx. In fact I here now do publicly challenge Eddy Merckx to a spaghetti eating contest.
Caption: "Don't think you should drink this, look what's in the ingredients"
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDY!
Is there any discussion for the Francesco Moser record setting performance in 1984 - 51.151km? I am not well versed in cycling history at all, I only know what google knows.
"Cool story bro" - Any burn cream for that?
Can't believe how strong the GCN Show 'hair game' and 'stubble game' is. Dan by a whisker!
When Boardman broke the "athletes hour record" he was wearing a more aero kit and only beat Merckx by 10 meters. Boardman of course went nearly 2km further in an hour than Wiggins in what is now known as the ultimate hour record (on his aero setup). Considering the banned position Boardman was using has been shown to not actually be more aero than current setups I think it's safe to say that Merckx was the fastest of all time.
All this said of course while ignoring his illustrious doping resume..
Ollie’s eye game is strong this week!
Keep in mind that if Merckx rode in 2020 he would also have better nutrition and training principles to work with. Anything he did when he actually rode would likely only have been enhanced with today's principles (and that's not considering better tech).
Disparia Books Aw, just say it..... and pharmaceuticals... lol
The question is: what kind of juice Eddy was drinking?
He tested positive at least FOUR times... He got kicked out of a Giro d'Italia (whilst leading for 16 stages in '69), after winning Lombardia in '73, at Fleche Wallone in '75, then in '77 for amphetamines... not at a specific race to my knowledge.
So four positives tests over 8 years, in a time when testing was in its infancy. He had excuses, reasons, stories, etc like every other cyclist
Better stuf then the other guys. The kind of juice they gave to horses to run faster.
And yeah, GCN guys, if you talk about Pantani or Eddy in such adorable way, place bring back Lance and Ulrich! They were awesome and fun to watch!
@@kwacker45 i thought he was on painkillers but didn't know amphetamineswere anout then.
@@glennoc8585 Amphetamines have been around for a very long time. They were issued to the German soldiers in WWII, and Hitler was addicted to them (that rage in those crazy rants was not just bad temperament it turns out). There is an interesting 13 part series about it on the History channel from research that has just been published from Hitler's physician's journals
Speaking about polyvalent riders... Alaphilippe is obviously one of the best. I mean he have won classics, TT, one week races, mountain stages, and even in a fews sprint (he have won a finish sprint in the Great Britain Tour)
He won la primavera 7 times, and 518 other races. He was the greatest of all time. There's only 1 rider nowadays with more victories at the same age as Merckx, beating time trial and mountain specialists at the age of 19 yrs old. Frightening!
Is the app going to turn into a paid subscription given that you're going to start streaming races?
Caption: "It's past the use by date!"
This is a bit like asking would Mike Tyson beat Muhammed Ali at their peaks? Or would Lewis Hamilton have beaten Schumacher? They were all invincible in their days, and they were all "of their time". We'll never know the answer, and I think it's best that way.
I have got a proposal for another, slightly controversial, GCN challenge: Ollie will do the world record on the best Aero and the best doping money can buy. We can even genetically modify him, implanting "Merckx Genome" in him, making him truly "Ollie Merckx" (Playing provocateur here)
I don't know if Merckx would have won as many races as racers don't race as much as they did during his era. I, as one of you said, road racing has become more specialized than it was during that era. However, I think he would have dominated proportionately depending on which specialization he chose. Both he and to a lesser extent, Bernard Hinault, could do it all (climb, time trial and sprint) and with the best of the road racers. With regard to your comment about Mathieu van der Poel, I agree. When the road goes up, it's steep and for long periods of time, he disappears into obscurity. Which is odd considering he is a mountain bike racer. They usually climb with the best of them. I view his capabilities as being more like that of Sean Kelly before before he decided to change his focus and try to win one of the big 21 day state races. I don't remember Kelly being a great climber before he changed his focus, but he eventually could climb and time trial with the best of them on most days after he changed his focus. Van der Poel may be able to do that some day with the right training program and some weight loss. I don't know why he would though. He and Wout Van Aert are the most amazing new classics talents I see racing right now.
Eddy is The best. Ever.
With todays equipment and science Merckx would be even more dangerous!Plus consider the focus and tenacity he had.He wanted to win!
Caption: "Don't know this Kidibul flavour, mate."
Got myself a pair of mavic wheels last year, so it’s no surprise that you guys were keen for a different tyre sponsor as mavic yksion tyres are are a deathtrap on any set or mildly damp road. Not once, but 4 times now I’ve been shocked by tyres breaking away under heavy but not unreasonable braking. Even my winter crap, heavy gatorskins grip is better. Utter toss. Don’t risk your life. Get some decent tyres. Have I made myself clear yet!
Caption: Hey Miguel, how was my race just like this champagne? They both had a lovely finish.
We also need to consider that the Tour de France was 1000km longer in the Merckx era than it is now. The modern pro cyclists are wrapped in cotton wool in comparison to how it was in the 60s 70s. There was no such luxuries as team buses to get them to hotels at the end of every stage, they made their own way to the hotels on their bikes.
I read in a baseball book of the all-time greatest batters how difficult it is to directly compare athletes across eras, with the equipment changes, nutrition and training advances, rule changes, and technology. So, they compared each hitter with the other hitters of the same era and posed the question: how much better were they than their peers? I think that's a valid comparison. In that case, an Eddy Merckx of today would still blow everyone out of the water.
Is there a way of finding out what distance Merckx could have done on the hour record with his peak FTP with today's aerodynamic technology and see what he could have done in the modern day??? Would love to know. He is the Arton Senna of the cycling world, absolute legend. Hopefully no one will better his sporting achievements.
Caption:It says mineral water.Give this to dan and give me my drink
Caption: "See, I told you the champagne was older then both of us!"