The Virtual Musette: A Road Cycling Blog

Forewarned, I’ve got a lot of pent up analysis, observations, and opinions. Grab an easy chair and a glass of smooth Cab; it’s time to chill out – this article is not one to be inhaled between Twitter posts and Facebook updates.

Here’s what's on tap: 1) the updated Top 25/50 rankings after the 2010 Tour de France, 2) the points earned in every race that is part of the scoring system from the beginning of the year through end the Tour, and 3) my observations and analysis.

Before I get to the updated rankings, I never want to assume that someone coming to this site is familiar with Top 25 Cyclists project, especially the scoring system that was developed to arrive at the standings/rankings.  The scoring methodology has been broken down into two major components: Scoring, Part 1 (the races) and Scoring, Part 2 (significant lifetime achievements and adjustments).  If you are a new visitor, I’d encourage you to view the entire series of articles that lead up to the official list.  Even if you are long time follower, you might want to go back and take a closer look at Scoring, Part 2.  Those “extra” points I’ve awarded are oftentimes a major contributing factor to cyclist’s rank.  I mention this because there are a few active cyclists who are pretty close to landing some big bonuses that could shoot them way up in standings.  Also, one of those Milestones may be in need of a slight adjustment in the next year or two… 

Rankings at the conclusion of the 2010 Tour de France

1. Eddy Merckx  410.5
2. Bernard Hinault  232.5           
3. Fausto Coppi  219.5                       
4. Gino Bartali  213.0                        
5. Jacques Anquetil  184.0              
6. Rik Van Looy  152.0                      
7. Sean Kelly  146.5                          
8. Roger De Vlaeminck  139.5           
9. Francesco Moser  131.5                
10. Lance Armstrong  116.5
11. Felice Gimondi 114.0
12. Louison Bobet  109.5    
13. Miguel Indurain  98.0
14. Freddy Maertens 97.5
15. Ferdi Kubler  96.0
16. Joop Zoetemelk 91.5
17. Tony Rominger 89.5
18. Laurent Jalabert 88.5
19. Fiorenzo Magni  87.0
20. Giuseppe Saronni  83.0
21. Erik Zabel  81.0
22. Rik Van Steenbergen 73.5
23. Raymond Poulidor 69.0
24. **Jan Janssen 65.0
25. *Alberto Contador 65.0 (active)
26. Greg LeMond 65.0   
27. Mario Cipollini 63.5
28. Luis Ocana  59.5
29. Laurent Fignon  58.5
30. Franco Bitossi  56.0
31. Federico Bahamontes  55.5
32. Paolo Bettini  55.0
33. Charly Gaul  53.5
34. Johan Museeuw  53.0
35. Jan Ullrich  52.0
36. Jan Raas  51.0
37. Lucien Van Impe 50.0
38. **Moreno Argentin  48.5
39. Stephen Roche  48.5
40. **Hugo Koblet  48.0
41. Claudio Chiapucci  48.0   
42. Gianni Bugno  47.5
43. Alberic Schotte  46.5
44. Alex Zulle  46.0
45. Alessandro Petacchi  46.0 (active)
46. Michele Bartoli  44.0
47. Walter Godefroot  42.5
48. Tom Boonen  42.0 (active)
49. *Herman Van Springel  41.5
50. Oscar Freire  41.5 (active)
51. Charly Mottet  41.0
52. ***Alejandro Valverde  40.0 (active)
53. Fred De Bruyne  37.0
54. Vittorio Adorni  36.5
55. Fabian Cacellara  35.5 (active)
56. Alexandre Vinokourov  35 (active)
57. ***Danilo Di Luca 34.0 (active)
58. Hennie Kuiper 31.5
59. Marco Pantani  31.0
60. **Rudi Altig  30.0
61. Gilberto Simoni  30.0
62. Roberto Heras, 28.0
63. **Robbie McEwen 27 (active)
64. Richard Virenque 27
65. **, ***Davide Rebellin 26.0 (active)
66. Damiano Cunego  26.0 (active)

The following do not have an official rank, but they do have calculated point totals (all active):

• *Cadel Evans 25.0
• Ivan Basso  25.0          
• Denis Menchov  24.5
• Carlos Sastre  23.5
• Thor Hushovd  16.5
• Andy Schleck  16.0
• Mark Cavendish  15.5
• Philippe Gilbert  13.5
• Filippo Pozzato 12.0
• Alessandro Ballan  9.5    

*Points tied, but higher raw score; **Points and raw score tied, but greater total career victories;  ***currently active, but suspended for doping violations  

You’ll notice a new name has been added, that of Roberto Heras.  I’m not exactly sure why I kept omitting him from prior lists.  I computed his totals nearly a year ago, but never added him to my ranking spreadsheet.  Anyhow, I always found it kind of strange that no teams were interested in signing him after his doping suspension was over. He was 34 at the time his sanction was up, a bit old perhaps to be given leadership of a team, but as a three-time Vuelta champion you’d think someone would have wanted to take a chance on him.  Plenty of other convicted dopers have returned to the peloton, so it’s weird how he just kind of disappeared from the scene.    

Scoring – The first half of the year

Since I’ve never done this before, I thought some of you might find it interesting to see the points earned on a month by month basis over the course of the season.  Below are the races, winners, and assigned points that are included in the scoring system.

February

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, formerly Het Volk (1 point), Juan Antonio Flecha

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne (1 point), Bobbie Traksel

March

Paris-Nice (3 points), Alberto Contador

Tirreno-Adriatico (3 points), Stefano Garzelli

Milan-San Remo (3 points), Oscar Freire

Volta a Catalunya (3 points), Joaquin Rodriguez

Coppi y Bartali (2 points), Ivan Santaromita

Dwars Door Vlaanderen (1 point), Matti Breschel

Criterium International (2 points), Pierrick Fedrigo

GP E3 (1 point), Fabian Cancellara

Ghent-Wevelgem (2 points), Bernard Eisel

April

Tour of Flanders (3 points), Fabian Cancellara

Tour of the Basque Country (3 points), Chris Horner

Grote Scheldeprijs (1 point), Tyler Farrar

Paris-Roubaix (4 points) Fabian Cancellara

Brabantse Pijl (1 point) Sebastian Rosseler

Amstel Gold (2 points) Philippe Gilbert

Fleche Wallone (2 points) Cadel Evans

Liege-Bastogne-Liege (3 points), Alexandre Vinokourov

Tour of Romandie (3 points), Alejandro Valverde, Simon Spilak

May

Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop formerly Frankfurt GP (1 point), Fabian Wegmann

Giro d’Italia, Winner + 2 stages  (7 points)*, Ivan Basso

Giro d’Italia, 2^nd (3 points), David Arroyo

Giro d’Italia, 3^rd + 2 stages (2 points)*, Vincenzo Nibali

Giro d’Italia, Points + 1 stage (2.5 points), Cadel Evans

Giro d’Italia, Mountains + 1 stage (2.5 points), Matthew Lloyd

Giro d’Italia, stage wins, Tyler Farrar (2 stages, 1 point), Bradley Wiggins, Wouter Weylandt, Jerome Pineau, Chris Anker Sorensen, Matthew Goss, Evgeni Petrov, Filippo Pozzato, Manuel Belletti, Stefano Garzelli, Damien Monnier, Andre Greipel, Michele Scarponi, Johan Tschopp, Gustav Larrson (all 1 stage, .5 point)   

Tour of Belgium (2 points), Stijn Devolder

4 Days of Dunkirk (2 points), Martin Elminger

*Includes Team Time Trial victory

June

Tour of Luxembourg (2 points), Matteo Carrara

Criterium du Dauphine (3 points), Janez Brajkovic

GP des Kantons Aargau formerly Gippengen GP (1 point), Kristof  Vandewalle

Tour of Switzerland (3 points), Frank Schlek

July

Tour de France, Winner (8 points), Alberto Contador  

Tour, 2^nd + 2 stages (5 points), Andy Schleck    

Tour, 3^rd (2 points), Denis Menchov

Tour, Points Classification + 2 stages (3 points), Alessandro Petacchi

Tour, Mountains Classification (2 points), Anthony Charteau

Tour, Stage wins, Mark Cavendish (5 stages, 2.5 points), Sylvain Chavanel (2 stages, 1 point), Thor Hushovd, Sandy Casar, Sergio Paulhino, Joaquin Rodriguez, Alexandre Vinokourov, Christophe Riblon, Thomas Voeckler, Pierrick Fedrigo (all 1 stage, .5 point)    

Clasica San Sebastian (2 points), Luis Leon Sanchez 

Again, for those interested to know why I chose those particular races, and the points assigned to each, Scoring, Part 1 will provide my rational.

Observations, Analysis, and Opinion

With the Tour, Giro and the spring Classics now complete, my initial take on the season so far is that it has been one of the best in many years.  I don’t have any concrete numbers or criteria to back up this sentiment, but I can’t help but feel that something has subtly changed this year – a sense that we’ve started to return to the decades of the 50s-80s.  I hate to bring up the 800 pound gorilla in the room, but could it possibly be that the sport is finally starting to extricate itself from EPO era?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that oxygen vector doping has magically been eradicated from the peloton this year.  There is ample evidence to the contrary, and I’m no longer surprised by anything, but I hold out hope that our sport is on the rebound.  Am I being overly optimistic? Maybe you folks can share your thoughts in the comments section.   

Ranked Cyclists      

Lance Armstong (#10, position unchanged) – Lance version 2.0 is done. I think the high point of his comeback was not his third place in the Tour last year, but rather his performance at the Tour of Flanders this spring. It’s truly a shame that we didn’t get to see more of the man at single day races throughout his career.  After his sixth Tour win, I wish he would have focused on different objectives, and I hope Contador doesn’t follow in his footsteps. Do I think Armstrong rates up there with the other great champions like Merckx, Hinault, Coppi, Bartali, and Anquetil?  Physically and mentally, I’d have to say yes, but his palmares say otherwise. I find it amusing that every July the fan forums are rampant with the same tired debate – who is the greatest of all time, Merckx or Armstrong?  It’s a ridiculous argument.  Lance is in the #10 spot for a very good reason – he just didn’t race enough. He could have won 10 straight Tours, and still wouldn’t have come within 200 points of Eddy.  Lastly, so it doesn’t appear that I’m ignoring the whole the whole Floyd Landis situation, do I think Lance used PEDs? Yes.  If it is ever proven to be true, it doesn’t mean I’m going to alter the standings; I don’t subtract points for doping infractions unless the UCI decides to alter race results.     

Alberto Contador (moves from #29 to #25) - “El Pistolero” has joined the ranks of the all-time greats, and has cracked the Top 25 list; the first to do so since Erik Zabel in 2003.  Although tied on points with Greg LeMond, Alberto bumps him out of the Top 25 by virtue of his greater raw score (points earned without special adjustments). Also on tied on points with Bert is Jan Janssen, and although they do share the same raw score, “The Professor” (yes, there was another besides Laurent Fignon) stays ahead of Contador due to his greater number of total career victories.  If Alberto can continue to win at his current pace for the remainder of his career, he has a shot at catching Jacques Anquetil (#5).  Of course, at this stage of the game such comparisons are a bit premature, but consider that Anquetil was already 29 by the time he’d won his 5^th GT, yet Contador is only 27. Although he has declined to ride in the upcoming Vuelta, it is somewhat refreshing to hear Bert say that he will target two Grand Tours next year.  Earlier he suggested that he would ride the Giro, but I have my doubts.  The more probable scenario is the Tour/Vuelta combo.      

Alessandro Petacchi (moves from #46 to #45) - Just when I  thought “Ale-Jet” was through making any further progress in the Top 50, Alessandro Petacchi snagged two stages in the Tour, and pulled the big surprise by grabbing the Points Classification.  Those three extra points he picked up moved him up one spot, jumping past Michele Bartoli.  With an ugly doping investigation hanging over his head, could this be Ale-Jet’s last hurrah? 

Fabian Cancellara (#55, position unchanged) - “Spartacus” continued to march toward his inevitable date with the Top 50 by adding another point to his impressive tally this year (9, so far) by capturing both time trials in this year’s Tour.  Can he make it the Top 25 by the end of his career? Well, if he can trim some weight, there’s no reason he couldn’t vie for victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Lombardia. If he somehow manages to win to win all five Monuments, I think we’ll see him in the Top 25, as there is a huge 15 point bonus for capturing all five of the major Classics.  

Alexandre Vinokourov (#56, position unchanged) – Vino added another half point to his tally with his Tour stage win.  He’s another one I’d thought was done making progress, but like Petacchi, he continues to surprise.  Will Vino lead Astana at the Vuelta and attempt his 3^rd Grand Tour of the year?  He’s only 6.5 points away from Oscar Freire (#50), so it is possible he can reach Top 50 before he retires, which I thought was nearly impossible at the beginning of the year.

Tom Boonen, Oscar Freire, Robbie McEwen, and Damiano Cunego all stay where they are, as none scored points since the last published rankings.

Alejandro Valverde, Danilo Di Luca, and Davide Rebellin are all serving suspensions.  Rebellin will be 39 this month, so I can’t imagine he’ll ever be racing again.  

On the rise, but unranked****(see my explanation below to understand why only 66 cyclists receive a numerical ranking)

Cadel Evans (25 points, unchanged) - Although Evans didn’t add any points to his totals in the Tour, he certainly road like a champion, and deserves a point or two just for making it to Paris.  His tenure in the Rainbow Stripes has been one for the ages, and I have a future article planned in which I’ll be reviewing his amazing year.  Also, another few points and Cadel will pass Australia's best scorer ever, Robbie McEwen.

Ivan Basso (25 points, unchanged) - Basso’s Giro netted him seven big points, and he is now slightly ahead of Menchov, and has pulled even with Evans on points.  His Giro win clearly left him a tired man in France, so I bet he skips racing his home tour next year to focus on the Tour – not a bad idea, since Contador mentioned he may want to add another Italian Grand Tour to his growing collection of three week races.  As an aside, I find it hilarious that Basso’s wiki page lists his nickname as “Ivan the Terrible.” Really, someone has to come up with something better, because that one just doesn’t fit the guy.

Denis Menchov (added 2 points, new total 24.5).  Once again, I managed to screw up the point totals for a big name rider - I neglected to record Menchov’s two stage wins in last year’s Giro, and to add insult to injury, also forgot to record a Vuelta stage win; that’s 1.5 additional points. To this, Denis added another couple of points with his third place in the Tour. Since the “Silent Assassin” didn’t compete in the Giro, you’d have to consider him one of the front runners at the Vuelta.  I’ll have to admit, I was expecting Menchov to implode at some point in the Pyreness, but he hung tough.  Had this year’s Tour featured the usual amount of time trialing, he might well have won.  What if the next parcours features less climbing, and there are the two traditional time trials?  Menchov would have to be considered one of the favorites, and should he win, he’d join a pretty exclusive club of cyclists to have won all three GTs. He’d rocket up the standings, leaping into the Top 50.      

Andy Schleck (added 5 points, new total 16) – Andy had an amazing Tour by finishing second overall and winning two stages.  Over the course of the next couple of years it will be interesting to see if we will have another legendary rivalry on our hands.  It seems like a foregone conclusion that the younger Schleck is destined to win a Grand Tour one day, but as far as points are concerned, even if Andy can one day beat Contador, I don’t think he’ll be able to climb the standings nearly as quickly as the Spaniard.  It’s not that he doesn’t have the talent, but he’ll have to be willing to target races outside of the Ardennes Classics and the Tour each year.      

Mark Cavendish (added 2.5 points, new total 15.5) – Is he the fastest sprinter ever? I certainly wouldn’t bet against the “Manx Missile” in a two-up sprint against any of the sport’s legendary speedsters, Mario Cipollini included. Barring something unforeseen, Cav is on the fast track to racking up 30 Grand Tour stages; he’s already got 21. If he does, his achievement will have an impact at the very head of the rankings – the order among the Top 5 will change. We may have to wait a couple of years to see the effects, but all I’ll say for now is that the bonuses awarded for “Significant Lifetime Milestone Adjustments” are subject to change (see Scoring, Part 2); this is due to the number of cyclists that qualify for a particular Milestone.      

****Many have asked why a particular cyclist does not have a numerical rank.  For example, where does Pedro Delgado rank versus Carlos Sastre?  The truth is I simply don’t know.  I did calculate Pedro’s totals at one time, and going from memory his score was in the low 20s.  I keep this thick binder with manual tallies of a cyclist’s victories broken down by the various categories of races; these pages are what I call the scoring sheets (by the way, Merckx needed several). The problem is that until late last year I didn’t even bother creating a sheet/page for someone unless they had racked up at least 26 points, or were an active rider and might get close to that number (i.e. Sastre).  Once a rider hits my cutoff number, I then add them to a spreadsheet, and only at that point are they assigned a numerical rank.  Currently, Damiano Cunego is the cutoff guy, and he sits at #66.  

Okay gang, that’s about it for now.  The next update to the rankings will probably be sometime after the end of the season.  As always, thanks for stopping by.