best grand tour domestique ever?

The sport has changed so much over the past ..... it changed about Indurain's time...

1987 Pre-Indurain, I would have to suggest Eddy Schepers, with the help of Robert Millar and Phil Anderson........

Eddy Schepers was a team mate of Stephen Roche the year Roche won the triple crown. Roche had the greatest year of any cyclist of modern times. Armstrong, Indurain, and Ullrich were never to have a year that compared with Roche's 1997. But what makes Eddy Schepers a great dominstique was that Roche had his team working against him in the Giro... Schepers, along with Roches old ACBB teammates of Millar and Anderson helped Roche win the Giro. Roche's team was italian and they rode against him. Roche had to attack his own teammate that was wearing the pink jersey, Italian favorite Visentini winner of the 1986 Giro.

Modern times would have to be George Hincapie...... Simply put, he rode into Paris 7 times along side the victor. And that has never been done before.
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ive heard conflicting stories about roches carrera team. ive heard that they had the fastest team time trial in the tour until usps beat their time in 2003 or something like that. that would indicate they had an incredible team. then, ive heard that the 87 carerra team wasnt that good and that schepers was alone in helping roche win the tour. i wont argue about the giro. that seemed like it was a mess.

 

Rene Vietto

 

Jens Voight. Absoulte champ of a rider.

 

But wouldn't you argue that Jens is a bit more than a domestique?

 

I can't recall Jens ever being the protected rider in a Grand Tour, However he is the king of the breakaway.

 

CSC don't really do the protected rider/domestique thing - more all for one and one for all 3 musketeers style. Frank Schleck, Carlos Sastre, Jens Voigt, Bobby Jullich...all guys capable of winning a grand tour stage. Riis is canny enough to realise that even when he had a rider like Basso you need a plan B or even a plan C to keep the sponsors happy.

+1 for Udo Bolts. One seriously hard rider. His 'Suffer, you sow!' pep talk to Ullrich sums up professional cycling and the sacrifices riders make for their team leader.

 

Giovanni Lombardi is a superb domestique - road all three GT's two years ago.

 

I'm going to get filleted for this, but how about Hincapie? Seven Tours with Fancy Pants Lance? How about Checu? Solid climber and able to close gabs down in the valleys between climbs? Livingston? Another good one with USP and Telecom.

If I've got to choose one, then it would be Hincapie. I feel good about this.

 

A lot of omissions here guys:
1. Azevedo number 4 on GC riding for Lancy pants.
2. Pereiro Sio last year, possible champ riding initially for Valverde.
3. Have to second the Voigt thing, although he has never been captain in a grand tour he has for lots of other big races.
4. Mazzoleni has been up there in recent years, done lots of work for Simoni & Cunego in the Saeco/Lampre days and recently for Kløden.
5. I have to mention the Fassa boys, Marco Velo etc. With cipo first and later Pettachi. Legendary work and nobody remembers them.

 

I'm going to throw out Henk Vogels.

 

Could the role of "domestique"be different then in the past?...... Today's rider could be a domestique in the GT's but ride to win in the other races. This could be be that the leaders today only ride partial seasons............

Back in EddyM's day, a domestique was a true workhorse.

Of course, GSteegman did the basic domestique job last weekend when he pulled up and let team leader TBoonen win........Just like the old days.

 

I bet you probably could too. Literally!

 

Bob Role.



WHAT???

 

haha! bob roll was the man. the most hillarious interview was the one he did before the final stage of the 1987 tour de suisse. in a tough voice with this sappy john tesh music in the background he goes, "if anyone tries to get rough with andy, were not going to stand for it....especially me." lol!!! he was hillarious. that whole team was classic. jeff pierce had that hillarious mullet with dangling earrings.

 

Greg Lemond, far and away.

 

I can't believe I misspelled his name! It was just a brain-fart I assure you.

 

I would agree that greg was a very good one race domestique, except Greg was just a one race, and not by choice, domestique.......
A domestique was actually a rider who put his entire career riding for others.
And Hinault never had a year like Roche when Lemond rode for him. And Lemond had ambitions of his own. Lemond was never a team player in his career. ... Matter of fact, in that race he supposedly raced for Hinault, he was seen crying along the road because his DS would not let him betray his captain. With team mates like Lemond........ Well, let's leave it at that. And Lemond only "helped" Hinault in one race, if you call being a traitor a helper.
Roche was a triple champion.His domestiques helped him, they didn't race against him.
One race doesn't make a domestique.

 

Granted, Greg knew and struggled with the reality that he had the talent to ride away from Bernie, but he didn't; he held back; and he did his job. It is more difficult to contain greatness, and it takes a great man to do it. Greg is that man.

And Greg was not just a one race domestique. The question is targeted to grand tour domestiques, so I daren't bring up his rides for Duclos-LaSalle in Paris-Roubaix. But, Gilbert doesn't forget, you can be sure.

With regards to Roche and his faithful domestiques who never rode against him; does the name Visentini mean anything to you?

 

bob roll never rode against andy OR greg during his time with them and he had a much better hairdo than greg ever did. TTT (to the top) for bobke!