Despite the well-documented doping scandal, Lance Armstrong is still widely viewed as the greatest cyclist of all time.
The Richardson, Texas native emerged as one of the world’s most beloved and well-respected athletes in the mid ‘90s. Armstrong won seven straight Tour de France races from 1999 to 2005.
In a Jan. 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong came clean and admitted that he was involved in doping. He was subsequently stripped of his many cycling victories, including the seven Tour de France victories.
Despite the scandal, Armstrong still holds a reputation as one of the greatest and most influential cycling legends. Looking at today’s generation of top cyclists, are there any who could realistically join Armstrong in the conversation for the cycling GOAT (greatest of all time?)
One person to watch is Phoenix, Arizona native Brandon McNulty. The 23-year-old is a dark horse candidate to win this year’s Tour de France race. Arizona sports betting launched in September, and some of the state’s top sportsbooks are offering risk-free bets of up to $1,000.
Gamblers in Arizona can bet on the state’s major professional sports teams as well individual sports like martial arts, cycling and tennis.
Now, McNulty has a long way to go in matching Armstrong’s level of greatness. The latter didn’t need long to take the cycling world by storm, after all.
When he was just 21 years of age, Armstrong emerged victorious in the men’s race at the 1993 UCI Road World Championships. That same year, Armstrong also claimed the gold medal in the United States National Road Race Championships.
As an 18-year-old, McNulty finished first in the junior men’s time trial at 2016 UCI World Championships.
McNulty, who turns 24 in April, had his breakthrough moment as a professional when he took home the 2019 Giro di Sicilia crown as a 21-year-old. McNulty also competed in the road race at the 2020 Summer Olympic games. He kept pace with Richard Carapaz, who pulled away near the tail end of the race to claim first place.
Although McNulty fell short of winning Olympic gold, he put the cycling world on notice with an impressive performance against one of the world’s best.
McNulty still has a long way to go in achieving legendary status, but you can’t overlook his early success and near-victory at the 2020 Olympics. Don’t be surprised if McNulty breaks through with multiple major victories over these next few years.
The McNulty-Lance Armstrong comparisons seem like a stretch right now, but the Phoenix cycling standout is on a promising trajectory.
Tadej Pogačar & Wout van Aert On Clear Paths To Greatness
If there are one or two active cyclists who could join the club of all-time greats, it’s Tadej Pogačar and Wout van Aert.
Pogačar, who’s currently ranked as the No. 1 men’s cyclist in the world, won the 2020 and 2021 Tour de France tournaments.
With Armstrong having his seven victories stripped, Pogačar is just one of two men’s cyclists to have won consecutive Tour de France tournaments since 1996. The other is four-time winner Chris Froome, who won the Tour de France in(2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Only eight cyclists have won at least three Tour de France tournaments. Pogačar is just 23 years of age and still has most of his prime years ahead of him, so time is certainly on the Slovenian’s side to add more titles in his rapidly growing trophy room.
Among all active cyclists, Pogačar is certainly the lead candidate to become the next ultra-dominant and all-time great racer.
27-year-old van Aert will greatly challenge Pogačar and the rest of the field for the top cyclist of this generation. The Belgian is a three-time winner of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, having won it three years in a row from 2016 to 2018.
van Aert had another impressive year in 2021, winning the Tour of Britain race before taking silver in the men’s time trial at the 2021 UCI Road World Championships.
Thanks to his two Tour de France victories, Pogačar is well ahead of van Aert in the race for the best cyclist of this era. But it should be neck-and-neck between these two for many years to come.
But right now, Pogačar has to be considered the front-runner to become the next Lance Armstrong.
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