Great Spring Classics Riders

There's a story that Raymond Impanis was a foundling, taken in by the local baker. The story goes he was given the name Impanis from the Latin for...

It's quite hard to pick a rider type for someone that won Milan San Remo, the Giro d'Italia and Il Lombardia. Our modern rider types either don't fit or don't do justice. Girardengo found the early part of his career interrupted by World War I but he'd already won Giro stages and the National Championship by the time war took over.

Rik van Looy was like the Peter Sagan of his day. Able to sprint but also able to dominate the Classics. He won an Olympic Gold in his last year as an amateur in 1952 before really announcing himself in the pro peloton by winning Gent Wevelgem and Scheldeprijs in 1956.

Rik Van Steenbergen started his career as World War 2 was coming to an end. He had to use a forged ID card in order to turn professional in 1942. In 1944, aged just 20, he won the Tour of Flanders for the first time. 2 years later he won his 2nd Tour of Flanders.

Roger de Vlaeminck started quickly, he won his first professional race - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 1969. The following season the first monument victory was ticked off at Liège Bastogne Liège.

The most successful cyclist ever. Generally if there's a quiz question about cycling, your best bet is to answer Merckx.

Museeuw has a good claim to be the best classics rider of the 1990s. In his 2nd year as a pro, he was part of the ADR team where Lemond won the Tour de France.

Kelly started his career by getting a ban for riding in apartheid-era South Africa as prep for the 1976 Olympics. Banned from them, he moved to France to race, won the Junior Il Lombardia and the rest is history.

Moreno Argentin turned pro in the 1981 season and immediately won 2 stages of that year's Giro d'Italia. He kept up a streak of winning stages in the Giro until 1985, when he won his first monument instead. Argentin won Liège Bastogne Liège 3 times in a row from 1985 to 1987.

Boonen's first year as a professional was at US Postal. He finished 3rd at Paris Roubaix as well to announce himself. He broke his contract to sign with Quickstep for 2003 and stayed there all his career. In 2004 he won 3 Classics and 2 Tour de France stages.

Fabian Cancellara started his pro career at Mapei and carved out a niche as a time triallist to begin with. A couple of early victories in smaller races highlighted his promise.

Despite being Belgian, Gilbert started his career at French team FDJ in 2003. In 2005 he won enough French races to win the Coupe de France series. The following year he won his first Classic - Omloop het Nieuwsblad. 2008 saw him podium Milan San Remo for the first time, win Omloop again and win Le Samyn.