gntlmn said:
He was a better climber than he tried to be. His strength was in the TT. He tried to minimize the loss in the mountains by watching the good climbers and not allowing them too much time. Relative to the competition, he rested in the mountains. Then, when the TT came along, he would blow everyone away because he hadn't worn himself out in the mountains. He was such a smoothe TT rider.
I agree with all of the points that have been posted.
As regards BigMigs climbing, I was at Alp D'Huez and Guzet Naige when Marco
Pantani literally blew the field way in both stages in 1995 TDF.
Marco flew by us that day and BigMig had to chase.
Marco passed us at a greater tempo but the initial gap that Marco opened
never stretched.
BigMig blasted by us - it was a very very impressive piece of climbing.
So although he was not at the MP level of climbing ability (and there are very few people who were at that level), his climbing was very impressive.
Indurains ability to win other stage races as well as the TDF in the same season is also very impressive.
His two Giro wins in the 1992 and 1993 (when he also won the TDF) was
superlative.
The Giro is a tougher race than the TDF : the mountain stages are tougher.
For a big man to be able to get over those climbs and to win overall, is
simply mindboggling.
Finally, look at the quality of BigMigs opponents : Bugno, Chiapucci, Jalabert,
Rominger, Riis, Roche, LeMond (albeit after his accident), Pantani.
To beat this level of opposition too, is the sign of someone special.
It's a pity your a youngster because what we see nowadays is not a patch
on BigMig in his pomp.