Cycling Weekly's all-time ranking of British pro riders
- Friday, 16 September 2011
- 19 Comments
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Who is the best British male rider of all-time?
Cycling Weekly has devised a ranking system to try to answer the question once for all.
Our list will no doubt create controversy because many British cycling fans are divided. Is Tom Simpson the greatest Briton, or should it be Robert Millar?
Last year we unveiled our all-time list of British pro winners, a league table of riders ranked according to the number of top professional race victories they've achieved.
As many readers pointed out, ranking purely by wins isn't necessarily the best system to determine who's the greatest. Mark Cavendish tops the league with 72, but Simpson won many of the very biggest one-day races in the world, and Robert Millar, with just 16 victories, is surely Britain's best stage racer of all-time.
So, we've spent ages devising a points system that is weighted towards rewarding success in the biggest and most prestigious races.
And we've recognised the importance of wearing the leader's jersey in a grand tour or winning the king of the mountains or points competitions by awarding points for these achievements too.
Then we scoured the record books for every result that counts towards our list since racing resumed after World War Two, and we've come up with Cycling Weekly's All-Time British Ranking.
Let the debate commence.
CYCLING WEEKLY'S ALL-TIME RANKING
Last update 9 February 2012. Ranking will be updated regularly.
1 ROBERT MILLAR 2,900 points
Pro: 1980-95
2 Tom Simpson 2,545 points
Pro: 1958-1967
3 Mark Cavendish 2,395 points
Pro: 2007-present
4 Chris Boardman 1,965 points
Pro: 1993-2000
5 David Millar 1,505 points*
Pro: 1997-present
6 Barry Hoban 1,455 points
Pro: 1962-1981
7 Bradley Wiggins 950 points
Pro: 2002-present
8 Michael Wright 800 points
Pro: 1962-1976
9 Max Sciandri 675 points **
Pro: raced as a British rider 1995-2004
10 Sean Yates 635 points
Pro: 1982-1996
11 Brian Robinson 605 points
Pro: 1952-1963
12 Malcolm Elliott 380 points
Pro: 1984-1997
13= Roger Hammond 235 points
Pro: 1998-present
13= Chris Froome 235 points
Pro: 2007-present
15 Jeremy Hunt 230 points
Pro: 1996-present
16 Vin Denson 155 points
Pro: 1959-1969
17 Alan Ramsbottom 150 points
Pro: 1961-1966
18= Graham Jones 120 points
Pro: 1979-1988
18= Paul Sherwen 120 points
Pro: 1978-1987
David Millar: Points for results that were stripped after admitting he had doped are not included (for example world time trial championship 2003).
Max Sciandri: Only points scored from 1995 onwards, when Sciandri took out a British racing licence, are included.
Scroll down to see how the points have been allocated
ANALYSING CW'S RANKING
Scotland's Robert Millar, who is ninth in the table of British pro winners, with 16 victories, tops the ranking. In 16 years as a professional (1980-1995), Millar was one of the finest climbers in the peloton.
He's the only British rider to have finished on the podium at the Giro d'Italia (second in 1987) and the Vuelta a Espana (second in 1985 and 1986). Millar's fourth place in the 1984 Tour de France is the highest by a British rider. That year he also won the polka-dot jersey as king of the mountains.
That Millar was Britain's greatest ever stage racer can be in little doubt. But it wasn't just in the grand tours that Millar excelled. He also won the Dauphiné Libéré (1990) and Tour of Catalonia (1985). His best one-day performances were sixth in the World Road Race Championships in Barcelona in 1984, and third in the 1988 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Debate usually boils down to whether Millar or Tom Simpson deserves to be recognised as the greatest Briton, and while the Scot's grand tour performances give him the edge in our ranking, there is no doubt Simpson's palmares is stronger.
In the 1960s he won the world professional road race title and three of the one-day races universally recognised as the monuments of cycling - Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and the Tour of Lombardy. Add to that a sixth-place finish in the Tour de France and a string of other top ten finishes in the Classics.
Many fans still consider Chris Boardman to have been a time trial specialist with very few other strings to his bow, but a closer examination of his career shows that to be an unfair assessment.
Yes, the great majority of Boardman's 41 wins were achieved in time trial stages, and he never made an impression on the general classification of the Tour de France or the one-day Classics. But he did finish second and fifth overall in the Dauphiné Libéré and third in Paris-Nice, results which are sometimes overlooked.
Mark Cavendish is a rider who is sure to continue rocketing up the rankings
in the coming years - perhaps even sitting in the top spot. In just five seasons Cavendish has
already made history. He is the first British rider to win four stages in
a single Tour de France (2008) and has since won six in one edition of the Tour (2009) and taken the Tour's green jersey (2011).
In fifth place is Barry Hoban, who clocked up a lot of points by winning eight stages of the Tour de France and Ghent-Wevelgem but was also third in the Tour's green jersey competition one year, as well as third in Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Along with Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins and David Millar are the only other currently active riders in the top ten.
Michael Wright, who was British born but lived most of his life in Belgium, is usually considered a sprinter and Classics rider, but he was also fifth overall in the 1969 Vuelta a Espana.
In eighth place is Max Sciandri who switched nationality from Italian to British in the mid-1990s and had a good record in one-day races. Some may be surprised to see Sean Yates, who was considered to be a domestique, so high, but he had a long career spanning 15 seasons and won some big races. Among his victories were stages of the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Paris-Nice, as well as the Tour of Belgium's overall title. He was also second at Ghent-Wevelgem, behind Gerrit Solleveld in 1988, and fifth in Paris-Roubaix.
Brian Robinson can be seen as one of the pioneers of British cycling. He went to France and made an impact in the 1950s, paving the way for the Simpson generation to try to make a living in the sport. Robinson was a respected team worker, but he won too, most notably the Dauphiné Libéré in 1961 and a stage in the Tour de France. He was also third in the 1957 Milan-San Remo, at the time a truly jaw-dropping achievement.
POINTS-SCORING SYSTEM
TOUR DE FRANCE
Overall top 20 score: 250, 225, 200, 180, 160, 150, 140, 130, 120, 110, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 25, 20
Stages, top three score: 50, 10, 5
Final KOM and points competition, top three score: 50, 10, 5
Bonus for each day in leader's jersey: 25
Bonus for completing the Tour, but finishing outside top 20: 10
GIRO D'ITALIA & VUELTA A ESPANA
Overall top 15 score: 200, 175, 150, 130, 110, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10
Stages, winner scores: 30
Final KOM and points competition, winner scores: 30
Bonus for each day in leader's jersey: 15
Bonus for completing the race, but finishing outside top 15: 5
CATEGORY A STAGE RACES
Paris-Nice, Dauphiné Libéré, Tour of Switzerland
Overall top five score: 110, 75, 60, 40, 20
Stages, winner scores: 20
CATEGORY B STAGE RACES
Tirreno-Adriatico, Criterium International, Tour of the Basque Country, Tour of Romandie, Tour of Catalonia, Tour of Germany, Midi Libre (defunct)
Overall top three score: 60, 40, 20
Stages, winner scores: 15
CATEGORY C STAGE RACES
includes, Tour of California, Four Days of Dunkirk, Eneco Tour, Tour of Belgium, Tour of Portugal
Overall, top three score: 40, 20, 10
Stages, winner scores: 10
CATEGORY D STAGE RACES
All other stage races
Overall, winner scores: 10
Stages, winner scores: 5
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, OLYMPIC GAMES, MONUMENTS
World Championship road race and time trial, elite era Olympic Games road race and time trial (1996-date), Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour of Lombardy
Top 15 score: 200, 150, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5
CATEGORY A ONE-DAY RACES
Ghent-Wevelgem, Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne, Paris-Tours
Top 10 score: 110, 75, 60, 50, 40, 30, 25, 15, 10, 5
CATEGORY B ONE-DAY RACES
Het Volk, Vattenfalls Cyclassics, San Sebastian Classic, GP Plouay, British World Cup (defunct), GP Americas (defunct), GP des Nations (defunct)
Top three score: 60, 40, 20
CATEGORY C ONE-DAY RACES
Including Scheldeprijs, Henninger Turm, Giro del Lazio, Paris-Brussels, Milan-Turin
Top three score: 40, 20, 10
CATEGORY D ONE-DAY RACES
All other one-day races, including British National RR and TT Championships
Winner scores: 10
Reader comments
Add your commentsJune 18 21:29
Dick Phillips
How can you call this an all time ranking of British Pro riders, when it is restricted to roadmen, and is only post-1945? Nothing wrong with the concept, but the title contradicrts the content..
June 22 20:28
Mike Revill
On actual results the rankings seem fair enough .People forget how consistent Robert Millar was over his career. No disrespect to Chris Boardman his achievements were fantastic,especially for a clean rider, however i think Barry Hoban should be ranked higher but that's only my opinion. Regarding Mark Cavendish the world is his oyster, an awesome career ahead of him.
August 07 15:35
Stirlo
I cna't wrk out where Wiggins has won 160 points, at least before this year's Tour. If he really had 160, comine diwth the 185 he picked up in France, that takes him to 12th already. And he will rise quickly on this ranking system. A few more top 10s in the Tour and he'll be right up there.Would be nice to see an update of these rankings.
July 27 14:40
Tim
This is excellent CW but please can we have the same for the women? Thank you.
July 27 14:50
Baz
Very interesting; just the thing for a winter's evening. Of more pressing importance, whether we like it or not, are the Pro Tour points which largely determine how many riders we can send to the Worlds. The latest UCI rankings (yes, I know, we all hate the UCI but they run the show) have us way down the list with far fewer points than post-tour last year and by far the majority of points we do have are courtesy of just two riders - Cav, of course, mainly for his five tour stage wins and Roger Hammond for his impressive early season classics campaign. Come on, guys, a few more points or there'll only be two riders to form a train (assuming anybody can be persuaded to play that role).
July 27 16:27
Janh1
British male rider of all time shouldn't exclude the trackstars... Hate to think of Sir Chris Hoy not even being considered.
July 27 19:13
Ken Evans
The length of a career is an indication of the quality of the rider.
Tommy Simpson, Max Sciandri, and David Millar,
are the most complete all around riders listed.
No mention is made if the results were dope tested,
or obtained before good tests were available or made.
July 28 12:22
Simon Yates
It seems unfair to limit this to the road only, with the notable exceptions of Obree, Hoy, Pendleton etc.
July 28 13:13
Andy
What about the Vuelta?
February 21 11:18
Garry Hendry
Whether by design or by factual reality the outcome is pretty much what most people would have expected with Robert Millar and Tom Simpson coming out on top, and rightly so. Robert Millar, but for a couple of pieces of misfortune and niavety, could have been head and shoulders above everyone else. Chris Boardman being so high up the table was a bit of a suprise to me, respect due. The other thing that is worth taking into consideration is awarding points (somehow) for supporting others in winning i.e. domestique duties. That would put Robert Millar further ahead and without doubt push Sean Yates and David Millar further up the table as well as recognising some of the other unsung riders. You 'have' to judge track separately and it's easier, it's all about wins e.g. World / Olympic medals.
May 29 22:07
David
Would be nice to see an update of this. By my calculations Geraint Thomas now has 120 points depending on how one or two races are classified. David Millar must be closing on Hoban too.
June 14 13:00
Dave
The top 2 are correct definately, you only have to think what Simpson achieved and against the likes of Anquetil etc, Roberts' list of performances is incredible when you look at it, remember this is the rider who as an amateur turned up at the British Road Race championships with the jersey he won the previous year so confident was he of winning a second time.
I was privileged to follow him for the last lap in the I.O.M when he won the British Pro championship and it was a master class in riding.
Regarding Chris Boardman I was once asked by a retired Dutch Pro why we in the UK were so negative about him as in this guys opinion Boardman was grossly under rated and if his team required a change of focus from his forte then he could have applied himself and won some of the one day classics.
June 29 03:10
David
So I guess I miss-categorised some of Thomas' rides. We know he has 25 points from two Tour and one Giro finish. 30 points for 10th in Flanders, 10 for the national road race and 10 for second in a tour stage. So that's 75. That leaves the Rundfahrt and perhaps second in Dwars de Vlaaderen. If they were both category C races (tour and one-day respectively) then Thomas would have another 60 points and be on the list. If they were both D races, he's just be at 85. Be interested to know, personally I think they should both be Cs, or at least the Vlaaderen which is a semi-classic. Either way, it won't be too long before he makes the list, and Ben Swift can't be far off either. I think he's scored 60 points just this year assuming the Tour Down under is a C race which it ought to be given its world tour status.
August 04 14:57
Bobby
I wondered why the stage/jersey winners in the Giro/Vuelta are valued so low. In the TdF and all the other categories points for between 4 and just over 5 stage wins equal the winners points whereas for the Giro/Vuelta it takes almost 7 stages.
Robert Millar's KOM jersey in the Giro is worth 60% of the points awarded for the TdF Polka Dot jersey whereas the winner of the Giro/Vuelta is given 80% of the points for the TdF winner.
Mark Cavendish's performance this year with 5 stage wins and the Green Jersey is worth 20% more than the winner. Yet if he performed the same feat in the Giro/Vuelta he would only get the same points as the runner up.
Surely this is inconsistant and either the Giro/Vuelta stage/jersey wins be increased to 40 points or the overall winners points reduced to 150.
September 01 10:15
Ochre Jersey
The Tour Down Under is worth as many UCI Pro-Tour points as the Paris-Nice, so perhaps it should be ranked Category A! I'm hoping Wiggins can make history and win the Vuelta after his TDF crash. Cadel's made history as first Australian TDF winner, and Cav first Green winner. Chris Hoy is undoubtably Britain's greatest ever track cyclist, but the title 'Pro' is misleading, as this is road cycling only.
September 15 19:45
Dave
Looks like Froome should now be on the list. I think he has 235 points, 220 just from the Vuelta (175 for second, 30 for a stage and 15 for a day in red). And Wiggo is now up to 8th I think. Exciting times.
September 26 10:19
J Dunn
There is a slight bias against Grand Tour stage wins in this calculation - 50 points per win sounds fair but Cavendish deserves a special bonus of at least 50 for winning so many of them so fast.
He is. after all, one of the top stage winners in Le Tour of all time - that consistency takes some doing and seems under-rewarded.
September 26 11:08
paul
Cant work out why Dave Millar's had his results scrubbed off when Simpson was clearly "on-it" yet isn't regarded as a cheat?
At least cycling is cleaner (not totally clean) and that we can be fairly certain that the Sky riders at least, are clean.
Is it a coincidence that countries like GB and France, with the most stringent doping regulations, are now doing so well? And that the powerhouses, like Italy, are not?
Brilliant to see GB doing so well, amazing rise up the ranks, Bejing 2008 finally comes to fruition on the Pro scene.
October 08 14:47
David
It would be interesting to know what category some of the more modern pro tour races fall into. The Tour down Under and the Tour of Beijing for example. In terms of UCI status they ought to be As but I would think C or perhaps B would be more realistic?