Branching off from the peloton news thread, who are your favorite riders? for me: Thor Hushovd Tom Danielson Dave Zabriskie Ryder Hejsedal (as you can tell, I'm a Garmin fan) Laurens ten Dam And as an American how can you not like George Hincapie?
I've liked Thor a bit less in recent years with all the whining. But, then again, I like Cavendish...lol I don't know who I am pulling for anymore. I was pretty big on highroad, but they're gone now.
Yeah, I dig the argyle as well. Thor, Jens Voigt (he makes the Honey Badger 'give a shit') and anyone that doesn't want to go for a ride with Bob Roll. I'll go with Chris Horner - especially after this video clip. http://video.bicycling.com/video/Chris-Horner-Post-Stage-7-Crash Really like Levi and Christian Van de Velde. He is a good interview.
I do keep a special eye on some of the young American riders; Tejay Van Garderen, Phinney, Alex Howes, King, etc... Even interested in the Belgian, Vanmarcke I have always enjoyed Gilbert as well. Obviously a few others as well, but I find myself enjoying certain stages/rides by individuals. I can really appreciate Cadel's ride last year where he had to claw back to the Schlecks at the Tour, or some of his stages at the Giro a few years ago.That was heart. De Gendt on the Stelvio at the Giro...good stuff.
Another Gar-man here. Vandevelde is probably still my favorite rider, and I'm a big Tyler fan as well. I'll also pull for any other Garmin rider. Other than those guys, Cadel is a big favorite of mine. I used to hate him, but I totally turned around on him when I saw how he rode with the rainbow jersey a few years ago. Oh, and who doesn't like Tommy Voeckler?
I was a big fan of Robbie McEwen for pretty much his whole career. Ending Zabel's six year dominance of the TDF points classification in 2002, with a win on the Champs Elysees after crashing earlier in the stage and no sprint train was just phenomenal. Was a sad day when he retired at the end of last month's Tour of California. Also big fan of Stuart O'Grady - one of the most underrated domestiques in recent years. Michael Albasini has come to my attention since joining GreenEdge, he's pretty cool.
It has less to do with patriotism, and more to do with the riders I knew growing up. Until a few years ago, very little road cycling was televised in Australia. Often the only cycling we'd see all year would be the TdF stages where an Australian was in contention for the win, and the coverage would be entirely focused on their chances. Many of the Aussies also had a background in Olympic track cycling, which was more popular in Australia, so they already had a higher profile than the other riders. O'Grady was already a household name from the '92 and '96 Olympics before he got on a road bike. It was natural I would follow his progress with more interest than a bunch of Americans and Europeans I'd never heard of.