It’s historical perspective time!
While we hash out our 2003 Tour in Review, let’s go straight to the question on everyone’s lips: Is Lance the best ever?
Short answer: no. Eddie Merckx is.
Before we get into the long answer, I do want to put in perspective how good Jan Ullrich is. Armstrong has completely destroyed his place in cycling history, and I’m convinced had there been no Lance, Ullrich would have won five Tours by now. So, quick trivia question: what’s Ullrich’s worst finish in the Tour? Take your time. Want a hint? Armstrong’s worst is 36th, not counting the three times he failed to finish. Give up?
Second. Ullrich has never finished worse than 2nd place. Six Tours, one title and five runners-up. That’s simply amazing. He at least has a yellow jersey to console himself with, but he is the modern version of Raymond Poulidor. Poulidor had the misfortune of coming of age during Jacques Anquetil’s reign, but he kept racing throughout Eddie Merckx’s dominance. Poulidor’s frustration was probably greater since he never even wore the yellow jersey, but he raced in the Tour 14 times, finished in the top ten 11 times, and stood on the final podium 8 times. But even the ultimate runner-up only actually finished 2nd three times. Ullrich has got that beat. And look at the frustrations:
1996- 2nd to Riis by 1:41, 2:54 ahead of 3rd (Virenque)
1998- 2nd to Pantani by 3:21, 0:47 ahead of 3rd (Julich)
2000- 2nd to Armstrong by 6:02, 4:02 ahead of 3rd (Beloki)
2002- 2nd to Armstrong by 6:44, 2:21 ahead of 3rd (Beloki)
2003- 2nd to Armstrong by 1:01, 3:13 ahead of 3rd (Vinokourov)
The first two losses weren’t without controversy. Riis’ win is tainted by the suspicions that he used performance enhancing drugs, which he probably did. Ullrich was his domestique and rode for his captain. And 1998 was the ultimate year of the doping scandal, as several stages went uncontested and the riders almost refused to finish out the Tour due to their treatment at the hands of French police. Then came Lance. So Ullrich has lost five potential Tours: two to the doping scandals, three to Lance. He would pretty clearly have won four with no Armstrong, and maybe a fifth if there was no doping scandal as well. That just sucks.
And yes, Ullrich was suspended for drug use, but that was for using Ecstacy, not for taking performance enhancing drugs. If cycling didn’t have such a big problem with drugs, I doubt Ullrich would have faced such a stiff penalty for taking a recreational drug. But that’s more of his own fault, so we won’t count that in his potential wins.
As for that long answer on Lance, stay tuned. We’re working on it.
While we hash out our 2003 Tour in Review, let’s go straight to the question on everyone’s lips: Is Lance the best ever?
Short answer: no. Eddie Merckx is.
Before we get into the long answer, I do want to put in perspective how good Jan Ullrich is. Armstrong has completely destroyed his place in cycling history, and I’m convinced had there been no Lance, Ullrich would have won five Tours by now. So, quick trivia question: what’s Ullrich’s worst finish in the Tour? Take your time. Want a hint? Armstrong’s worst is 36th, not counting the three times he failed to finish. Give up?
Second. Ullrich has never finished worse than 2nd place. Six Tours, one title and five runners-up. That’s simply amazing. He at least has a yellow jersey to console himself with, but he is the modern version of Raymond Poulidor. Poulidor had the misfortune of coming of age during Jacques Anquetil’s reign, but he kept racing throughout Eddie Merckx’s dominance. Poulidor’s frustration was probably greater since he never even wore the yellow jersey, but he raced in the Tour 14 times, finished in the top ten 11 times, and stood on the final podium 8 times. But even the ultimate runner-up only actually finished 2nd three times. Ullrich has got that beat. And look at the frustrations:
1996- 2nd to Riis by 1:41, 2:54 ahead of 3rd (Virenque)
1998- 2nd to Pantani by 3:21, 0:47 ahead of 3rd (Julich)
2000- 2nd to Armstrong by 6:02, 4:02 ahead of 3rd (Beloki)
2002- 2nd to Armstrong by 6:44, 2:21 ahead of 3rd (Beloki)
2003- 2nd to Armstrong by 1:01, 3:13 ahead of 3rd (Vinokourov)
The first two losses weren’t without controversy. Riis’ win is tainted by the suspicions that he used performance enhancing drugs, which he probably did. Ullrich was his domestique and rode for his captain. And 1998 was the ultimate year of the doping scandal, as several stages went uncontested and the riders almost refused to finish out the Tour due to their treatment at the hands of French police. Then came Lance. So Ullrich has lost five potential Tours: two to the doping scandals, three to Lance. He would pretty clearly have won four with no Armstrong, and maybe a fifth if there was no doping scandal as well. That just sucks.
And yes, Ullrich was suspended for drug use, but that was for using Ecstacy, not for taking performance enhancing drugs. If cycling didn’t have such a big problem with drugs, I doubt Ullrich would have faced such a stiff penalty for taking a recreational drug. But that’s more of his own fault, so we won’t count that in his potential wins.
As for that long answer on Lance, stay tuned. We’re working on it.
posted by Poseur at 11:44 AM
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