- [Presenter] Hip-hop artist Andre 3000 once mused,
"What's cooler than being cool?"
The answer is being on our top five
list of coolest cyclists.
(laid back music)
There were very few things in the world of cycling
as cool as Tom Boonen kicking off the Classic season,
attacking up the Taaienberg in leg warmers and arm warmers.
Tornado Tom Tommeke and the Bom van Balen,
whatever you want to call him throughout his career.
Boonen put us all in a masterclass
in how to look when riding on the cobbles.
And he didn't just show everyone
how to look when riding cobbles.
He showed everyone how to ride cobbles as well,
winning three tours of Flanders
and no less than four editions of Paris-Roubaix.
Being arguably the greatest-ever Classics rider
is definitely cool in our books.
Anquetil says he started cycling
because girls were more attracted to one of his friends
who'd just started cycling, as opposed to him.
Take from that what you will.
Anquetil elevated time trialing to an art form,
even before the days of any real
aerodynamic tech advancements.
Before the finish of any road stage,
Anquetil would reportedly comb his hair
for whichever side of the road the cameras were on.
He would even has his domestiques
carry a spare comb just in case.
This well-chiseled Frenchman used
that seemingly effortless style on a bike
to win a whole heap of races in his career,
including one Vuelta Espana, two Giro D'Italia,
and a record five Tours de France.
(upbeat rock music)
Most of the the riders on this list
are here for that classy type of cool.
Understated, suave, sophisticated.
Mario Cipollini was a different type of cool.
Cipo is undoubtedly the biggest showman
in the history of the sport.
He was constantly receiving fines for wearing illegal kit,
including his iconic muscle, zebra, and tigerskin suits.
He would also regularly pull out of the Tour and the Vuelta
before the race hit the mountains,
and then send photos of himself relaxing on the beach
while the other riders suffered up the climbs.
All of this ego and bravado can ring a bit hollow
if you can't back it up with performance though.
Fortunately for Cipollini though, he's unquestionably
one of the greatest sprinters in the history of cycling.
Cipo won no less than 42 stages of the Giro,
12 stages of the Tour de France, Milan-San Remo,
and the World Championships Road Race,
among many, many others.
And of course, he did all of that
while looking effortlessly cool.
For those of you who don't know her,
Beryl Burton is one of the greatest British cyclists ever.
Burton won over 90 national championships
and seven world championships.
But it's her exploits over 12 hours
that make her one of the coolest cyclists ever.
In 1967, Burton set a new 12-hour time trial
world record of 277 and a half miles.
But that wasn't just the women's world record.
It was 3/4 of a mile further
than the men's record at the time.
While setting that record she caught
and passed Mike McNamara, who would go on to set a time
that would've broken the men's record.
And as if that wasn't enough, Burton is reported
to have given McNamara a sweet as she passed him.
Now that's cool, and very kindly.
This is a rider that most won't have heard of.
But Jan Janssen is the undisputed king of pre-race style.
These days, professional cyclists
spend every second outside of a race
in the casual wear provided by their team,
which usually consists of tracksuits, T shirts,
polo shirts, and caps all covered in sponsors' logos.
But Janssen never really went in for all that.
He was more likely to be seen
before a race in a full tailored suit
with his cycling kit in a leather suitcase
instead of a team-issued kit bag.
And really, is there any cooler way
to show up for a race than looking like that?
We hope you enjoyed this video.
And please leave us a comment if you think
there are any other riders past and present
that deserve a place on our list of coolest riders.
Who knows, there might be a part two
in the making very soon.
And for an idea of how not to be stylish on the bike,
check out this one from the GCN archives.
Top 10 cycling fashion disasters.