Cyclists' Nicknames
In an effort to popularize the sport and make the racers interesting to less committed sports fans, early 20th century journalists took to creating nicknames for the riders. Tour father Henri Desgrange was a particularly energetic namer.
The tradition didn't stop with Desgrange and today nearly every popular rider has a handle given to him by his teammates, fans or sports writers. Here is a sampling. I haven't bothered listing common diminutives, such as "Bill" for William or Dédé for André.
I've linked riders with their interviews or histories posted on BikeRaceInfo
Special thanks to Les Woodland and Larry Theobald of CycleItalia
A
Djamolidine Abdoujaparov: The Tashkent Terror
Jean Aerts: Brummel van de fiets
Ugo Agostoni: The King of the Descents (Re delle discese)
Jean Alavoine: Gars Jean
Henry Anglade: Napoleon
Jacques Anquetil: Monsieur Chrono, Maître Jacques
Maurice Archambaud: Chubby Cheeks
Lance Armstrong: Mellow Johnny, Big Tex, The Boss
Hippolyte Aucouturier: The Terrible
B
Federico Bahamontes: The Eagle of Toledo
Ercole Baldini: The Fast Train from Forlì (Direttisimo di Forlì)
Gino Bartali: The Man of Iron (L’uomo di ferro), Gino the Pious
Michele Bartoli: Lion Cub (Leoncino), The Warrior (Il Guerriero)
Daniele Bennati: The Panther
Ivan Basso: Ivan the Terrible
Gaetano Belloni: The Eternal Second (Eterno secondo)
Antonio Bevilacqua: Big Lips (Labbrone)
Paolo Bettini: The Cricket (Il Grillo)
Alfredo Binda: Campionissimo, The Trumpeter of Cittiglio (Trombettiere di Cittiglio)
Franco Bitossi: The Crazy Heart (Cuore Matto)
Tom Boonen: Tommeke, Tornado Tom
Ottavio Bottecchia: The Mason from Friuli (Le Maçon de Frioul)
Hernan Buenahora: The Little Goat from Barichara (El Cabrito de Barichara)
C
Fabian Cancellara: Spartacus
Jimmy Casper: The Little Ghost
Mark Cavendish: The Manx Missile
Mirko Celestino: Sputnik
Claudio Chiappucci: The Devil (El Diablo)
Mario Chiesa: The Fugitive (Il Fugativo)
Franco Chioccioli: Little Coppi (Coppino)
Eugène Christophe: The Old Gaul (Le Vieux Gaulois), Cri-cri
Mario Cipollini: The Lion King (Re Leone), Super Mario
Thierry Claveyrolet: The Eagle of Vizille, Clavette
Salvatore Commesso: Toto
Alberto Contador: El Pistolero
Fausto Coppi: Il Campionissimo, The Heron (Airone)
Damiano Cunego: The Little Prince of Verona (Principino Veronese)
D
Roger de Vlaeminck: The Gypsy from Eeklo, Monsieur Paris–Roubix
Danilo Di Luca: Killer
E
Cadel Evans: Cuddles
F
François Faber: The Giant of Colombes
Laurent Fignon: The Professor
Juan Antonio Flecha: Robin Hood, The Archer
G
Luigi Ganna: The King of Mud
Carlo Galetti: Squirrel of the Canals (Scoiattolo dei Navigli)
Maurice Garin: The Little Chimneysweep (Le petit ramoneur), The White Bulldog
Charly Gaul: The Angel of the Mountains, Monsieur Pi-pi
Stefano Garzelli: The Little Pirate (Il Piratino), The Jaguar
Raphaël Géminiani: Top Gun (Le Gran Fusil)
Giovanni Gerbi: The Red Devil
Felice Gimondi: The Aristocrat
Costante Girardengo: Campionissimo, The Novi Runt
Walter Godefroot: The Bulldog of Flanders
Aitor Gonzalez: The Terminator
Giuseppe Guerini: Beppe Turbo
Learco Guerra: The Human Locomotive
H
Andy Hampsten: Ernie
Roger Hassenforder: The Clown, The Bandit
Bernard Hinault: The Badger (Le Blaireau)
Thor Hushovd: The Norwegian Bull, The God of Thunder
Luis "Lucho" Herrera: The Little Gardener (El Jardinerito)
I
Emile Idée: The King of the Chevreuse
Miguel Indurain: Big Mig, El Navarro
J
Laurent Jalabert: The Panda, JaJa
Jan Janssen: The Professor
José-Maria Jimenez: The Bad One (El Chaba), The Little Bull (Torito)
Julio Jimenez: The Watchmaker of Avila
K
Sean Kelly: King Kelly
Ron Kiefel: Wookie
Marcel Kint: The Black Eagle
Hugo Koblet: The Pedaler of Charm, le bel Hugo
Ferdy Kubler: The Eagle of Adilswil, The Nose (Die Nase)
Hennie Kuiper: The Gentleman
Karl-Heinz Kunde: The Flea
L
Octave Lapize: Curly (Frisé)
André Leducq: Le Joyeux Dédé
Greg LeMond: Le Monster
M
Freddy Maertens: The Ogre
Sylvére Maes: The Crafty Father (Le Père futé)
Antonin Magne: The Monk
Fiorenzo Magni: The Lion of Flanders, The Third Man
Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal
Francesco Moser: The Sheriff (Sceriffo)
N
Gastone Nencini: The Lion of Mugello
Vincenzo Nibali: The Shark of the Strait (Squalo dello Stretto)
Andrea Noè: Grumpy (Brontolo, from the Seven Dwarves)
O
Harm Ottenbros: The Eagle of Hoogerheide (De Adelaar van Hoogerheide)
P
Marco Pantani: The Pirate (Il Pirata), Elefantino
Eberardo Pavesi: The Lawyer (L’avvocato)
Fabio Parra: The Condor of the Andes
William Pedon: Torchy
Franco Pellizotti: the Dolphin of Bibbione (Delfino di Bibbione)
Alessandro Petacchi: Ale-Jet
Jacquie Phelan: Alice B. Toeclips
Davis Phinney: Cash Register
Domenico Piemontesi: The Bowler (Baslot)
Leonardo Piepoli: The Flying Trullo (Trullo volante)
Marco Pinotti: The Engineer (l’Ingegnere)
Eddy Planckaert: The Small One (Die Kleine)
Raymond Poulidor: The Eternal Second, Pou-Pou
Domenico Pozzovivo: The Flea
Q
Ivan Quaranta: The Leopard
R
Michael Rasmussen: Chicken
Riccardo Riccò: The Pharmacist, The Cobra
Bjarne Riis: The Eagle of Herning
Jean Robic: Old Leatherhead, Biquet
Tony Rominger: The Mouse, The Hammer, The Camel
José Rujano: Coffee Man
S
Giuseppe Santhià: Pinot
Paolo Savoldelli: Babyface, Il Falco
Briek Schotte: Iron Briek
Patrick Sercu: The Flemish Arrow (Vlaamse Pijl)
Luca Scinto: The Python (Il Pittone)
Oscar Sevilla: The Kid (El Niño)
Gilberto Simoni: Gibo, The Eagle of Palu di Giovo (Aquila di Palu di Giovo)
Tom Simpson: Mister Tom
François Simon: Spud
T
Andrea Tafi: The Gladiator (Il Gladiatore), Il Taffone
Philippe Thys: Fat Dog
Vicente Trueba: The Flea of Torrelavega
Pavel Tonkov: The Czar
U
Diego Ulissi: The Little Train (Il Pendolino)
Jan Ullrich: The Kaiser, Der Jan
V
Alejandro Valverde: The Green Bullet
Wim Van Est: Iron Will
Edwig van Hooydonck: Eddy Bosberg
Rik van Looy: The Emperor of Herentals, Rik II
Jac van Meer: Jakske
Rik van Steenbergen: Rik I
René Vietto: King René (Le Roi René)
W
Rini Wagtmans: Tufty (Kuifje)