Before Peter Sagan, before Mark Cavendish and even before Mario Cippolini there was Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, the Tashkent Terror.
Djamolidine struck fear into the hearts of other sprinters, not only for his rocketship speed, but also because no one flailed around on their bicycle quite like the rider from Uzbekistan. He sprinted with his head down, and his arms out, and weaved wildly from one side of the road to the other.
Although he won 17 Grand Tour stages, he’s mostly famous for the one he lost. During the last stage of the 1991 Tour de France he was on the final stretch of the Champ Elysees and his monster sprint looked like it was going to trumpet his green points jersey to victory. He was out of the saddle, full gas, when all of sudden he drifted way right in his normal chaotic style and nipped the barricade. He immediately took himself out and caused a peleton pile up.
It was epic and terrifying.
But what came next was even more breathtaking. He knew that in order to retain his green jersey he had to get up and finish. So with a broken collar bone, torn pho-denim jean kit and a massive road rash, the Tashkent Terror got off the tarmac, grabbed his bike and hobbled the final distance to the finish line.