All-Time Best Road Cyclist 2007 - 8th Edition Part 4
Current & Historic Rider Ranking Sections: V. Top 10 Riders By Best Five or Ten Seasons, VI. Best Seasons of Top 30 Riders

By Daniel Marszalek

V. Top 10 Riders By Best Five or Ten Seasons:
Intention of this statistic was to rank best riders by their best years through a shorter period of time than their whole career. Still no matter if take the best five or ten season composition of the ranking it will be identical to the one already known from the main ranking. The Great Eddy Merckx has almost double more points than best of the rest, while Bernard Hinault & Sean Kelly occupy second and third places. Among still active riders Erik "Ete” Zabel has the best score from ten seasons, but Paolo ”Il Grillo” Bettini was more effective in five best seasons competition.

a) On the Basis of Five Best Seasons:
1. Eddy Merckx (Belgium) - 3571,8 points
2. Bernard Hinault (France) - 2154,8
3. Sean Kelly (Irland) - 1928,1
4. Jacques Anquetil (France) - 1790,8
5. Miguel Indurain (Spain) - 1759,85
6. Francesco Moser (Italy) - 1697,8
7. Freddy Maertens (Belgium) - 1631,6
8. Fausto Coppi (Italy) - 1602,3
9. Tony Rominger (Switzerland) - 1535,95
10. Laurent Jalabert (France) - 1498,25

Active Riders:
1. Paolo Bettini (Italy) - 932,2
2. Erik Zabel (Germany) - 862,8
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spain) – 801,3
4. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy) – 788,1
5. Davide Rebellin (Italy) – 726,1

b) On the basis of Ten Best Seasons:
1. Eddy Merckx (Belgium) - 5648,8 points
2. Bernard Hinault (France) - 3279,8
3. Sean Kelly (Irland) - 2846,4
4. Francesco Moser (Italy) - 2595,45
5. Jacques Anquetil (France) - 2574,3
6. Gino Bartali (Italy) - 2371,35
7. Felice Gimondi (Italy) - 2363,05
8. Fausto Coppi (Italy) - 2352,55
9. Roger De Vlaeminck (Belgium) - 2208,05
10. Miguel Indurain (Spain) - 2177,6

Active Riders:
1. Erik Zabel (Germany) - 1351,7
2. Paolo Bettini (Italy) - 1349,3
3. Davide Rebellin (Italy) – 1078,35
4. Gilberto Simoni (Italy) – 976,2
5. Oscar Freire (Spain) – 893,7

VI. Best Seasons of Top 30 Riders:
This table shows the very best year of each great champion.
Interestingly Bernard Hinault, Joop Zoetemelk & Giuseppe Saronni all had their peak in 1979. Also the same 1986 season was the best in the sporting-life of Sean Kelly & Greg Lemond. Such coincidences were possible because Hinault & Zoetemelk concentrated on different races than Saronni - from a geographical point of view. While Kelly & Lemond, although not once fought hard against each other in fact had different specialties since Irish rider was the best at classics and shorter tours, while the American cared most for Grand Tours with special attention to Tour de France.

1. Eddy Merckx (1973) - 791,3 points
2. Bernard Hinault (1979) - 501
3. Sean Kelly (1986) - 511,4
4. Jacques Anquetil (1961) - 402,4
5. Francesco Moser (1978) - 481,85
6. Gino Bartali (1947) - 327,25
7. Felice Gimondi (1965) - 314,5 *)
8. Joop Zoetemelk (1979) - 414,8
9. Fausto Coppi (1949) - 466,9
10. Roger De Vlaeminck (1975) - 429,15
11. Rik Van Looy (1959) - 383,75
12. Raymond Poulidor (1964) - 312,2
13. Miguel Indurain (1992) - 469,85
14. Laurent Jalabert (1995) - 581,45
15. Lance Armstrong (2002) - 266,5
16. Tony Rominger (1993) - 384,7
17. Alfredo Binda (1927) - 402,9
18. Louison Bobet (1954) - 307
19. Giuseppe Saronni (1979) - 416,95
20. Ferdi Kubler (1951) - 341,5
21. Freddy Maertens (1976) – 583,5
22. Jan Ullrich (1997) - 243,25
23. Erik Zabel (2001) – 223,2
24. Herman Van Springel (1968) - 333
25. Alex Zulle (1996) - 296,7
26. Greg Lemond (1986) - 333,75
27. Fiorenzo Magni (1951) - 290
28. Laurent Fignon (1989) – 407,15
29. Costante Girardengo (1919) – 274,4
30. Nicolas Frantz (1928) – 340,5

*) It’s worth mentioning that Felice Gimondi stormed to position on the front of the professional peloton. He was stronger than ever in his debut season 1965, when he placed third in Giro d’Italia and then surprisingly won the Tour de France beating home favorite Raymond Poulidor. Sadly for Gimondi he was soon overshadowed by three years younger Eddy Merckx.

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