Clinic Awards 2015

[doperhopper]

Season coming to an end, let's wrap it up. Feel free to invent your favourite Clinic category and the nominee(s). Add explanation, reasoning, if you like.

We should perhaps not go towards some overall Golden Needle categories (the usual best rider, climber, etc.), but rather appreciate certain rather special aspects of cycling.

Let me start:

-------------------------------------
Clinical Hammer Of The Year - (unbelievable one day performance with biggest impact)

Chris Froome and Team Sky - Pierre St. Martin stage, TdF

Decisive time gains for the overall in an extraterrestrial mode, but it's actually the team that was more ridiculous than His Alien Majesty himself (esp. G. Thomas, LRP - Nairito hunter).

------------------------------------
Great Transformation Of The Year

Tom Dumoulin

From big TTer to mountain goat and GT threat, showing his teeth in TdS, full Dumurain mode in Vuelta, commenting that even he cannot believe it.

 

[Benotti69]

Category:Biggest IQ fail

Winner : Tom Danielson.



Category: Biggest Hyprocrite

Winner: Jonathan Vaughters.

 

[May0maniac]

Great Transformation Of The Year is a hard one, G gives Dumoulin a run for his money and you could also add Zakarin, even if his transformation is even stranger (busted when he was 19 and a TT guy, then became a good climber as a U23 rider after his ban, just look at his results in 2012, then once again just TT specialist in 2013, decent climber at a lower level in 2014, than the 2015 season. He really looks like a Katusha experiment.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Most vocal "clean" team manager with a positive test: Jonathon Vaughters

 

[Gung Ho Gun]

Re:

Great Transformation Of The Year is a hard one, G gives Dumoulin a run for his money and you could also add Zakarin, even if his transformation is even stranger (busted when he was 19 and a TT guy, then became a good climber as a U23 rider after his ban, just look at his results in 2012, then once again just TT specialist in 2013, decent climber at a lower level in 2014, than the 2015 season. He really looks like a Katusha experiment.

He really looks like Froome. On the bike, that is. Commentators have noted it as well.

 

[doperhopper]

Re:

Great Transformation Of The Year is a hard one, G gives Dumoulin a run for his money and you could also add Zakarin, even if his transformation is even stranger (busted when he was 19 and a TT guy, then became a good climber as a U23 rider after his ban, just look at his results in 2012, then once again just TT specialist in 2013, decent climber at a lower level in 2014, than the 2015 season. He really looks like a Katusha experiment.

Don't you dare to accuse Zakarin... of being in the same category as humble Dumoulin, or poor G!

He is already in his own category, "the Vino way".

In couple of years, there will be established "hors categorie" award of "Zakarin Of The Year".

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Re:

Great Transformation Of The Year is a hard one, G gives Dumoulin a run for his money and you could also add Zakarin, even if his transformation is even stranger (busted when he was 19 and a TT guy, then became a good climber as a U23 rider after his ban, just look at his results in 2012, then once again just TT specialist in 2013, decent climber at a lower level in 2014, than the 2015 season. He really looks like a Katusha experiment.

Hard one to choose. Zakarin transformed from low level to medium, Dumoulin from medium to high, and G from one end of the spectrum to the other (just generally. Don't get pissy if I underrated your favorite rider...). Zakarin looks like Froome and got noticed because of that.

Landa deserves a mention.

Category: "I secured my contract in 2014 and don't need to dope as hard anymore". Kittel would be the winner, but his latest transfer may make him ineligible for that award.

 

[BigMac]

Biggest IQ fail: Luca Paolini.

Most lols performance: Ilnur Zakarin.

 

[SeriousSam]

Sky continue to dominate the utterly ridiculous/least questioned by Big Media combined score.

 

[D-Queued]

Most closed "open book", even more notably so following a positive test: Jonathan Vaughters

Dave.

 

[The Hitch]

Re:

Biggest IQ fail: Luca Paolini.

Nah. Carlton Kirby holds an Armstrong like grip on this award.

 

[Red Rick]

The 'We have 9 of the 10 best riders in the race and still can't win the GC' Award goes to:

Team Astana for their performance in the Giro d'Italia

 

[Dr.Guess]

Best stage victory; Johnny Drama

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

The 'We have 9 of the 10 best riders in the race and still can't win the GC' Award goes to:

Team Astana for their performance in the Giro d'Italia

The 'I am alone against 9 vino minions, but still kick their asses' award goes to:
Alberto Contador

 

[Cake]

Most in-denial sport: a close tie between Rugby (both codes) and tennis.

 

[doperhopper]

and let's no forget...

Best Clean Cycling Metaphor

Vincenzo Nibali, letter to License Comission (threatening to kick them off)

"The team (=Astana) is a symbol of clean and honest sport. The team must continue to participate in all competitions."

 

[Rollthedice]

Best inhaler award: Luca Paolini
Best win against a lie detector: Kreuziger
Best lie: Froome's weight at Le Tour according to Sky
Best TTer turned mountain goat: Dumoulin
Best Froome impersonator: Zakarin
Best Valverde: this year
Best future GT winner: G Thomas
Best performance by a rider whose contract is about to expire: Landa
The Vino award goes to Vino and his boys from Giro and Vuelta.
Biggest disappointment of the year: Chris Horner

 

[The Hitch]

Re:

Most in-denial sport: a close tie between Rugby (both codes) and tennis.

Is cycling any less in denial? I think it's even more in denial.

 

[thehog]

President Cookson for being the most non-transparent, transparent president in UCI history. For having the ability to be more useless than Hein and Pat. For being so self serving he forgotten that he is actually the president and not a fan.

 

[Scarponi]

Best Colombian disappearing home for a long period: tie between quints and big boy betancur

 

[Dear Wiggo]

The cycling journalism award the "Cycley" awarded to David Walsh for journalistic production and propaganda services rendered to a single team during the year 2015.

 

[Handy Bendy Ghandi]

Category: "Reading this is a bit like repeatedly hitting yourself in the *** with a mallet and wondering why you're doing it"

Winner: The LeMond thread

 

[Miburo]

Gotta give it to Thomas. Tom Dumoulin beating froome and purito on that short hill was hilarious too.

 

[B_Ugli]

Re:

Best performance by a rider whose contract is about to expire: Landa

Strictly speaking this will be a 2016 award IMHO but here goes:

The award for the team that should have questioned a riders full *** performances but didn't, and blamed it on the team he was on before signing for them (also known as doing a Tiernen Locke): Team Sky

 

[King Of Molehill]

-------------------------------------
Clinical Hammer Of The Year - (unbelievable one day performance with biggest impact)

Chris Froome and Team Sky - Pierre St. Martin stage, TdF

Decisive time gains for the overall in an extraterrestrial mode, but it's actually the team that was more ridiculous than His Alien Majesty himself (esp. G. Thomas, LRP - Nairito hunter).
------------------------------------

Contador's epic surge up the Mortirolo on Stage 16 to save his Giro gets my vote for the pure drama of it and the fact he annihilated practically the entire Astana team who, along with Katusha were doing everything they could to get rid of him.