Male Cyclist of the year (2014)?

[El Pistolero]

Nope he beat the guys who turn up for the race fair and square,not he's problem they looked weak.I could come with this crap in Contador's Vuelta win,who did he beat a Froome who was in"training ride",a tired Valverde after TDF and an out of form Purito,see the analogy?Contador won because he was the best,not he's problem that the others couldn't keep up with him.
Pour Wiggo didn't even get the chance to defend his title so was a bit hard to repeat it.
And about that pathetically biased route i would take it any day above TDF 2015 horror

2015 Tour is a thousand times better.

If it's not Wiggo's problem then why is he still butthurt over the fact that Froome made Wiggo look like a fool during the 2012 Tour? When have we ever seen a Tour winner getting dropped without any effort by his team mate?

And Valverde was in better shape during the Vuelta than the Tour. Just look at how Pinot performed in that Vuelta (he finished above Valverde in the Tour). Froome on a training ride? You mean he had a less serious injury than Contador and still managed to lose.

 

[cineteq]

Nope he beat the guys who turn up for the race fair and square,not he's problem they looked weak.I could come with this crap in Contador's Vuelta win,who did he beat a Froome who was in"training ride",a tired Valverde after TDF and an out of form Purito,see the analogy?Contador won because he was the best,not he's problem that the others couldn't keep up with him.
Pour Wiggo didn't even get the chance to defend his title so was a bit hard to repeat it.
And about that pathetically biased route i would take it any day above TDF 2015 horror

Right on. We keep seeing this silly argument: "the field was weak" over and over.

 

[El Pistolero]

Maybe because the field was actually weak.

Or is beating Peraud impressive all of a sudden?

 

[Red Rick]

If you think about it none of the big races Wiggins won in 2012 were actually very mountanious. Paris nice had mende and 2 tt's, Romandie didn't have a mtf and a mid length tt, and the Dauphine was very much suited for the Sky train. Then came the Tour de Farce abomination. The competition in that Tour did suck btw. Contador wasn't there, Schleck wasn't there, Evans wasn't close his 2011 shape, Purito, who was the second best gt rider that year, wasn't there. A lot of other competitors crashed out of contention, including Valverde and everything that was even remotely Dutch. Nibali wasn't as good then as he is now and he had to deal with an injury later in the race.

All the climbs were either far from the finish or with a gentle gradient. Perfectly suited for the Sky train. Still he got dropped twice by his own teammate and I think he later admitted to being in trouble early in the Toussuire stage.

 

[Red Rick]

Right on. We keep seeing this silly argument: "the field was weak" over and over.

Lemme give you a couple of examples of strong fields

2008 Tour (Contador wasn't there)
2010 Tour (only the Italians weren't there)
2011 Tour (only Nibali and Purito weren't there)
2012 Vuelta (only Wiggins, who had no chance in hell, and Nibali weren't there)
2014 Vuelta (Most star studded field in the last years, even though none of the big 3 contenders finished the race in top shape)

 

[Angliru]

What isit it like without the mod power bet it kills you no? Haha saving someones post what a child. Good luck seeing Boonen and Cancellara win LBJ but Wiggins winning Roubaix on the other hand..., Nibali winning RVV on the other hand what is more likely? If Froome and Wiggins full on commited to Roubaix they would destroy Boonen, but i forgot you think Boonen can still win a monumuemt don't you lol, we know you are biast with Tom that is for sure. If Roubaix is so tough how can a man winning a GT compete lol.

The part about Wiggins and Froome destroying Boonen if they committed to Roubaix will haunt you for the rest of your cn forum life.

 

[cineteq]

Lemme give you a couple of examples of strong fields

2008 Tour (Contador wasn't there)
2010 Tour (only the Italians weren't there)
2011 Tour (only Nibali and Purito weren't there)
2012 Vuelta (only Wiggins, who had no chance in hell, and Nibali weren't there)
2014 Vuelta (Most star studded field in the last years, even though none of the big 3 contenders finished the race in top shape)

I understand your point. But lemme give you a reality check: Life is not fair. Life is not a video game.

 

[El Pistolero]

I understand your point. But lemme give you a reality check: Life is not fair. Life is not a video game.

You clearly never played Sonic 06 if you think video games are fair.

Life being unfair still doesn't change the fact that Nibali's competition was mediocre.

 

[lebbegehtweider]

For sure Wiggins is not the best stage racer but he isn't that bad as some of you make him.

Even if two or three HC mountain finishes were added to the 2012 tour, do you really think Nibali had gained 6 minutes on Wiggins? Please remember Wiggins didn't loose any time in the mountains against anyone except for Froome.

Ok, the field wasn't that strong. However if you consider the guys from 2012 Giro, do you really think they could have beaten Wiggins at the Tour? Ok the Vuelta Rodriguez seemed stronger, but I don't think he would be able to gain back the time he would have lost in the TTs even if two HC finishes woukd have been added. And Contador wasn't that good also. And against the Sky train a Fuentes like attack wouldn't be possible. Only Froome could have bearen him in 2012.

And yes he had the ridicously strong Sky train, but if you remove Froome from it, it was still strong but not extraordinary (same level as 2014 Tinkoff) and would have been still sufficient for Wiggins.

He won with 6 minutes, thus there is much space for weakening the train, putting more mountains and stronger 2012 rivals and he still would have won.

On the other hand an in form Froome or Contador are better stage racer (nearly independent from the route), 2013/14 Nibali and Quintana are better too if its not ridicously biased to time trialers. Further the time went on and now there are several further riders that are at least on the same level on mountaineous or balanced routes. So Wiggins is surely not the best GT rider but a very good one for sure, and difficult to beat even by the top guys on a time trial course.

Would be fun to watch Wiggins on course like the 2015 Giro, but I think since he won the biggest price once he cannot motivate himself to train enough for a less important GT or for a further Tour, which would less likely to win against the big guys.

 

[cineteq]

Life being unfair still doesn't change the fact that Nibali's competition was mediocre.

<= These are the guys I've been talking about. Just because the claim competition was mediocre, then it was. Chances are these guys are closeted fanboys. Deal with it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

<= These are the guys I've been talking about. Just because the claim competition was mediocre, then it was. Chances are these guys are closeted fanboys. Deal with it.

Lol at you denying Nibali's competition was mediocre. Showing your inner fanboy again.

 

[lebbegehtweider]

Lemme give you a couple of examples of strong fields

2008 Tour (Contador wasn't there)
2010 Tour (only the Italians weren't there)
2011 Tour (only Nibali and Purito weren't there)
2012 Vuelta (only Wiggins, who had no chance in hell, and Nibali weren't there)
2014 Vuelta (Most star studded field in the last years, even though none of the big 3 contenders finished the race in top shape)

I fully agree that 2014 was a mediocre field. However the second was 7:30 behind and the fifth 11:30. If you look at the guys so far behind in the GTs you mentioned and in the other Tours Contador won, this would be also a mediocre field.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I fully agree that 2014 was a mediocre field. However the second was 7:30 behind and the fifth 11:30. If you look at the guys so far behind in the GTs you mentioned and in the other Tours Contador won, this would be also a mediocre field.

That is exactly the point though, right? The field was so weak 2nd place was over 7 minutes behind

 

[lebbegehtweider]

Yes, for sure. And it could have been some minutes more easily if Nibali had wanted.

I just want to make the point that if you want to rate Nibali in the 14 tour, you have to consider both the strength of the field and time differences made.

 

[Red Rick]

Yes, for sure. And it could have been some minutes more easily if Nibali had wanted.

I just want to make the point that if you want to rate Nibali in the 14 tour, you have to consider both the strength of the field and time differences made.

Everyone was riding for second place, they just let Nibali go whenever he wanted, in no way they tried to make the difference as small as possible. Hence the gap is bigger that is normally would have been

 

[lebbegehtweider]

Everyone was riding for second place, they just let Nibali go whenever he wanted, in no way they tried to make the difference as small as possible.

This is probably correct.

Hence the gap is bigger that is normally would have been

But this is not correct. There were only 2 mountain stages where Nibali finished alone. In the other stages he finished together with a group or at least one rival (Peraud). Thus the others maybe ignored Nibali but for sure tried to loose as little time as possible to Peraud or other riders in the front group.

The mentioned two stages are:
Belles Filles: The second lost only 15s and it was the first real MTF.
Hautacam: The second lost 1:10. I think for this stage your assumption is correct. However for sure Nibali was the strongest on that stage and I think he would have won with at least 30s anyway, most probably more.

Thus we are talking about 40-50s at max that would have been "gifted" by his rivals.
On the other hand he was clearly the strongest in the mountains and could have gained much more time in the other 4 mountain stages.

 

[LaFlorecita]

This is probably correct.

But this is not correct. There were only 2 mountain stages where Nibali finished alone. In the other stages he finished together with a group or at least one rival (Peraud). Thus the others maybe ignored Nibali but for sure tried to loose as little time as possible to Peraud or other riders in the front group.

The mentioned two stages are:
Belles Filles: The second lost only 15s and it was the first real MTF.
Hautacam: The second lost 1:10. I think for this stage your assumption is correct. However for sure Nibali was the strongest on that stage and I think he would have won with at least 30s anyway, most probably more.

Thus we are talking about 40-50s at max that would have been "gifted" by his rivals.
On the other hand he was clearly the strongest in the mountains and could have gained much more time in the other 4 mountain stages.

Is anyone arguing Nibali was not miles ahead of his competition?

 

[The Hitch]

The Tour field was weak, the route was pathetically biased and Wiggo hasn't been able to repeat it since. Why? Because he's not a very good climber at all. Usually the Tour has mountains in it.

I think we all remember the Giro 2013 lol!

Ok, so cobo should never have won the 2011 vuelta because he has been so poor in all races since- pistolero logic.

And how did Andy podium all those tours. It Cant have been because he was a good climber since pistolero logic says that since Andy looked really weak last year he must always have been a weak rider.

No rider ever improves or gets worse. They are always as good as whatever random gt pistolero selects for them to suit whateber agenda he is trying to push.

 

[lebbegehtweider]

Is anyone arguing Nibali was not miles ahead of his competition?

I just answered to the statement below.

Everyone was riding for second place, they just let Nibali go whenever he wanted, in no way they tried to make the difference as small as possible. Hence the gap is bigger that is normally would have been

 

[El Pistolero]

Ok, so cobo should never have won the 2011 vuelta because he has been so poor in all races since- pistolero logic.

And how did Andy podium all those tours. It Cant have been because he was a good climber since pistolero logic says that since Andy looked really weak last year he must always have been a weak rider.

No rider ever improves or gets worse. They are always as good as whatever random gt pistolero selects for them to suit whateber agenda he is trying to push.

Not a lot of people will remember Cobo as a Vuelta winner, that's for sure.

Repeating success is a lot harder than doing it for the first time. Andy will be easily forgotten as well by most. Not a winner.

Wiggo got lucky everything fell into his lap into 2012. Did he work hard in the winter of 2011-2012 and throughout the year? No doubt, but without all those factors I listed Wiggo would not have won much in 2012 besides time trials. He only won the Olympics because Tony Martin and Cancellara experienced bad luck anyway.

 

[Parker]

He only won the Olympics because Tony Martin and Cancellara experienced bad luck anyway.

At that point in time Cancellara hadn't beaten Wiggins in a TT over 10km for over two years (and still hasn't since) and Martin lost all of the TTs he did against Wiggins in 2012.

 

[Jspear]

Not a lot of people will remember Cobo as a Vuelta winner, that's for sure.

Repeating success is a lot harder than doing it for the first time. Andy will be easily forgotten as well by most. Not a winner.

Wiggo got lucky everything fell into his lap into 2012. Did he work hard in the winter of 2011-2012 and throughout the year? No doubt, but without all those factors I listed Wiggo would not have won much in 2012 besides time trials. He only won the Olympics because Tony Martin and Cancellara experienced bad luck anyway.

Andy will be remembered by most true cycling fans. He was at the top of the sport for much longer than Cobo.

 

[Escarabajo]

A. Kristoff 15 votes??

Is this the new Vino option?

 

[cineteq]

A. Kristoff 15 votes??

Is this the new Vino option?

And Quintana, the Giro winner, has 2 votes. The poll results are a joke.

 

[El Pistolero]

At that point in time Cancellara hadn't beaten Wiggins in a TT over 10km for over two years (and still hasn't since) and Martin lost all of the TTs he did against Wiggins in 2012.

Might want to look at all the bad luck Tony Martin had throughout 2012. And Cancellara would've beaten Wiggo at the 2011 WC TT without that little mistake near the end.