Breakout riders of the 2012 Season.

[dlwssonic]

We are coming to the end of the season there have been quite a few breakout riders.
I will start by naming a few.

Moreno Moser
Taylor Phinney
Nairo Quintana
Tejay van Garderen
Thibaut Pinot
John Degenkolb
Ryder Hesjedal
Sergio Henao
Rigoberto Uran
Carlos Betancur
Arnaud Demare
Nacer Bouhanni
Gianni Meersman

 

[gerundium]

Think including Sagan here should still be mandatory.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

 

[El Pistolero]

Taylor Phinney impressed me most.

4th at the Olympic time trial and road race. Second in the WC TTT and ITT. Giro prologue winner and wore the maglia rosa for a while. Did pretty good in Paris-Roubaix as well.

For a 22 year old, those are impressive results.

For the record, Sagan already broke through in 2009 if you ask me.

 

[trevim]

For the record, Sagan already broke through in 2009 if you ask me.

I agree with you but I get another perspective in the sense that only this year Sagan has shown that he can be there at the end of the big classics. Until now he was "just" an amazing stage-hunter, now he's a contender for the big ones. Of course that's only natural because he's young....
Degenkolb wasn't really a surprise, more of a confirmation and progression, the same for Pinot, Phinney, Uran.
Moser was probably the biggest breakout rider. I didn't even knew him and he starts winning left and right. I was mostly impressed with Van Garderen: he had an amazing engine for the TT and now he combines it with climbing skills and 3 week consistency. A bit like Talansky too. The most amazing climber was really Quintana: the quality of the work he did for Valverde in the Vuelta is great even when you consider an experienced pro. For a 1st year rider in Europe it's unbelievable.

 

[maltiv]

For the record, Sagan already broke through in 2009 if you ask me.

Surely you mean 2010? In 2009 he was still a u23 rider. He had decent results, but nothing that indicated he would become the beast he is today.

For me it's probably Moser, who came from "nothing" and really showed class throughout the entire season. Of course, there were youngsters who had better results, but those were more expected.

Obviously Nordhaug should be mentioned as well, who went from being largely unknown to becoming a regular winner and a contender for all hilly classics. In the start of the season the commentators on Eurosport had no idea who he was (for example when he attacked in Criterium International they thought he was Froome, even if they look nothing alike), but towards the end, he was being tipped as one of the favourites for the Worlds.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Bradley Wiggins.

 

[CraZyCaLL]

Close between Quintana, Moser and Demare. I voted for Nairo

 

[The Hitch]

Quintana best for me. Followed by Phinney and Moser.

Bradley Wiggins.

Edit, i see Ryder is in the poll, so this makes sense.

 

[dlwssonic]

I have to agree about Moreno Moser being a huge breakout rider.
He wasn't very well known before this year.
Must agree about Nordhaug too.

 

[El Pistolero]

Surely you mean 2010? In 2009 he was still a u23 rider. He had decent results, but nothing that indicated he would become the beast he is today.

For me it's probably Moser, who came from "nothing" and really showed class throughout the entire season. Of course, there were youngsters who had better results, but those were more expected.

Obviously Nordhaug should be mentioned as well, who went from being largely unknown to becoming a regular winner and a contender for all hilly classics. In the start of the season the commentators on Eurosport had no idea who he was (for example when he attacked in Criterium International they thought he was Froome, even if they look nothing alike), but towards the end, he was being tipped as one of the favourites for the Worlds.

Yeah, 2010 Tour Down Under/Paris-Nice. I already knew him from the U23 ranks though, he was a beast there. Very good mountain-biker, crosser and road cyclist. Just got my years mixed up a bit lol.

 

[jens_attacks]

Jtl










.......

 

[Afrank]

Gotta say TJVG, he's been hyped up a lot to be the next American GT contender but he finally showed this year that he could deliver on what people expected of him.

Phinney, Moser, and Uran a close second. Don't know why Ryder is included in the poll, his breakthrough came when he got a top 10 in the Tour IMHO.

 

[skidmark]

Andy Schleck. I mean, he won his first Tour de France in February, right?

Seriously, though, I'd say those listed above, De Gendt, Degenkolb... as far as 'coming out of nowhere to win stuff', you can't beat JTL.

 

[woodenswan]

obvious Nairo Quintana pick is obvious

 

[ILovecycling]

Nairo

........

 

[Roude Leiw]

Voted Nairo, would have included Bouhanni instead of Demare personally. Nacer beat him fair and square at the french nationals, was more consistent throughout the year.

 

[SafeBet]

I'm voting for Moreno cause I'm a fanboy but TJVG really impressed me.

 

[blaxland]

Rafael Maijka(Tinkoff/saxo bank)

 

[Libertine Seguros]

No mentions of Sergio Henao? I know we all thought he'd be a big deal when he came to the WT, but this was still his neo-pro year.

Other than that, Moser, Tiernan-Locke and Quintana. And Talansky.

In terms of breaking out as in stepping up a level without being new, Alexander Kristoff has quietly accumulated a good season, and Rui Costa has shown new sides to himself.

 

[Netserk]

No mentions of Sergio Henao? I know we all thought he'd be a big deal when he came to the WT, but this was still his neo-pro year.

Other than that, Moser, Tiernan-Locke and Quintana. And Talansky.

In terms of breaking out as in stepping up a level without being new, Alexander Kristoff has quietly accumulated a good season, and Rui Costa has shown new sides to himself.

Agree. IMO he has shown to have similar abilities as Kirchen.
Referring to Costa ofc.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Julien Simon - had only 1 win in 4 years as a pro before this season. 5 wins this year

 

[luckyboy]

Moser, then Quintana and Phinney.

Special mention to Bouhanni and Henao as well.

 

[aarononymous]

I'd take Henao over Uran, I was expecting a little more from Uran in the Giro, Henao seemed to finish strong in most of his support roles throughout the year for Rigo.

 

[Wilba60]

Turbo Durbo

Is Durbridge too young to be breaking out? In his first year he won his first ever pro race at Circuit de la Sarthe with just two remaining team mates to protect him. Then took out the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, followed by his prologue win against the big guns at the Dauphine. Third in the TTT World titles with OGE, 5th overall at Eneco and then winning the Duo Normand with Tuft.

Not sure if that classifies for a breakout year but must stand him in good stead in the best first year rider.