Male Cyclist of the year (2014)?

[El Pistolero]

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

Kristoff had a much better year than Quintana. He won a Monument (beating Cancellara), fifth in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, won 2 Tour stages and the Vattenfall Cyclassics.

Quintana won the Giro... Beating Uran...

 

[cineteq]

Quintana won the Giro... Beating Uran...

Oh yeah, he beat a "mediocre" field, I forgot...my bad

 

[Red Rick]

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

By no means Quintana was the best rider of the whole year. He won one GT, got 2nd in TA that's it. The fact that both other GT winners clearly did better this year means that he shouldn't have gotten any votes at all.

The classic riders in the poll all have a huge win and a couple of other big wins/podiums.

And you have Valverde who podiumed 100 times in 80 race days or something close to that

Edit: GVA, T. Martin and Degenkolb have less to do on that list, but neither of them won something better than a Tour stage

 

[Red Rick]

Oh yeah, he beat a "mediocre" field, I forgot...my bad

So you think Nibali is the best rider of the year because he won the Tour and nothing else, but still you think Quintana should've gotten votes cause he won an inferior race and nothing else.

Anyway, the Giro field was by far the weakest of the year in GT's

 

[cineteq]

By no means Quintana was the best rider of the whole year. He won one GT, got 2nd in TA that's it. The fact that both other GT winners clearly did better this year means that he shouldn't have gotten any votes at all.

Would you ever read properly? I was comparing Nairo with Kristoff. We all know Lo Squalo was the Cyclist of the year!

 

[Red Rick]

Would you ever read properly? I was comparing Nairo with Kristoff. We all know Lo Squalo was the Cyclist of the year!

I was simple referring to the poll and thread title. It's perfectly possible to think that Quintana had a better year than Kristoff, but Quintana was pretty clearly the 3rd best GC rider this year, whilst Kristf off had a very versatile year that, with the lack off (lets agree to disagree) a clearly dominant GC rider, could qualify as the best with numerous classic wins, good placings, TdF stages and other impressive performances

 

[Jspear]

By no means Quintana was the best rider of the whole year. He won one GT, got 2nd in TA that's it. The fact that both other GT winners clearly did better this year means that he shouldn't have gotten any votes at all.

The classic riders in the poll all have a huge win and a couple of other big wins/podiums.

And you have Valverde who podiumed 100 times in 80 race days or something close to that

Edit: GVA, T. Martin and Degenkolb have less to do on that list, but neither of them won something better than a Tour stage

I'd say it is debatable with whether Nibali did better than Quintana or not. NQ won San Luis and Vuelta a Burgos + the Giro. Outside of the Tour Nibali only won the national RR. When talking about cyclist of the year we are talking about the whole year. NQ won in the beginning, middle, and end of the year, Nibali did not.

 

[scholar]

And Cancellara would've beaten Wiggo at the 2011 WC TT without that little mistake near the end.

Yeah, and Wiggins would have beaten Martin in the 2013 WC TT if he had been a minute faster. And if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

 

[Red Rick]

I'd say it is debatable with whether Nibali did better than Quintana or not. NQ won San Luis and Vuelta a Burgos + the Giro. Outside of the Tour Nibali only won the national RR. When talking about cyclist of the year we are talking about the whole year. NQ won in the beginning, middle, and end of the year, Nibali did not.

People claiming Nibali was the best have the argument that he won the biggest race in super dominant fashion (after his main rivals crashed out)

Quintana might have been better all year round than Nibali, but then there's a man named Alberto Contador who wiped Quintana's candy *** every time they raced this year.

There's not a single thing Quintana has done best this year

 

[El Pistolero]

Yeah, and Wiggins would have beaten Martin in the 2013 WC TT if he had been a minute faster. And if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

Cancellara was stronger in the TT than Wiggo in 2011. That's a fact.

 

[cineteq]

I was simple referring to the poll and thread title. It's perfectly possible to think that Quintana had a better year than Kristoff, but Quintana was pretty clearly the 3rd best GC rider this year, whilst Kristf off had a very versatile year that, with the lack off (lets agree to disagree) a clearly dominant GC rider, could qualify as the best with numerous classic wins, good placings, TdF stages and other impressive performances

I agree neither guy should be consider for the title. There should've been just 2 riders in the poll. Btw, I wouldn't reward a rider who settles for 2nd or 3rd like Valverde since there is already a prize for that.

 

[cineteq]

When talking about cyclist of the year we are talking about the whole year. NQ won in the beginning, middle, and end of the year, Nibali did not.

Where is the definition of cyclist of the year? We're not talking about the most regular rider of the year here. We know it was Contador.

 

[scholar]

Cancellara was stronger in the TT than Wiggo in 2011. That's a fact.

Yes, and it's also a fact that he finished behind Wiggo.
Whether you see that as evidence that Cancellara's performance was better (because he was stronger) or worse (because he finished behind despite being stronger) is a matter of taste. Or, arguably more accurately, a matter of prejudice.

 

[Jspear]

People claiming Nibali was the best have the argument that he won the biggest race in super dominant fashion (after his main rivals crashed out)

Quintana might have been better all year round than Nibali, but then there's a man named Alberto Contador who wiped Quintana's candy *** every time they raced this year.

There's not a single thing Quintana has done best this year

And I agree that he is the cyclist of the year. I was only stating that I thought NQ had a better overall season than Nibali.

Where is the definition of cyclist of the year? We're not talking about the most regular rider of the year here. We know it was Contador.

The definition was laid out in the OP. Read the wording of the OP carefully. He was talking about who did better throughout the season as a whole. If the question had been "who won the biggest race of the year?" I would have voted for Nibali as well.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Where is the definition of cyclist of the year? We're not talking about the most regular rider of the year here. We know it was Contador.

Not most regular. We are talking about the rider who, over the course of the entire year, was the best.

 

[Akuryo]

Not most regular. We are talking about the rider who, over the course of the entire year, was the best.

Exactly. And in my book that is Contador > Valverde > Kristoff > Kwiatkowski > Nibali

Nibali, to be honest, s&cked at every race in 2014 except the Tour. Of course, he was great there, but the other three guys were pretty much consistent throughout the year. Kwiatkowski had a slow June/July, but other than that he kept winning races.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Exactly. And in my book that is Contador > Valverde > Kristoff > Kwiatkowski > Nibali

Nibali, to be honest, s&cked at every race in 2014 except the Tour. Of course, he was great there, but the other three guys were pretty much consistent throughout the year. Kwiatkowski had a slow June/July, but other than that he kept winning races.

If Nibali had beaten Froome and Contador at the TDF, he might have been in with a shout, however, he did not. He sucked all year except for 1 month, never showed he was stronger than his rivals (but those rivals showed they were stronger than him several times), so in my opinion he is not even close to being the best cyclist of the year. It's between Valverde and Contador, and for both a case could be made, depends if you value placings or important wins higher.

 

[scholar]

If Nibali had beaten Froome and Contador at the TDF, he might have been in with a shout, however, he did not.

Yes he did. He didn't necessarily show he was stronger, but all three were there on the start line, and only one of them finished. He beat them.

(This doesn't mean I think Nibali had the best season, or a better season than Contador: there's a valid argument that he did, but I disagree with it. But he did beat both of them in the Tour.)

And obviously there's no point voting in a poll for the best male road rider of 2014 that doesn't include Terpstra.

 

[Netserk]

Marcel Kittel; the awesome GC rider who beat both Contador and Froome in the Tour de France

 

[LaFlorecita]

Marcel Kittel; the awesome GC rider who beat both Contador and Froome in the Tour de France

Lol, I know.

Surely being the best sprinter and one of the best GC racers (beat Froome and Contador in the most important stage race of the year) should earn him the cyclist of the year title.

And don't forget about legendary Cheng Ji, in 20 years time we will still remember 2014 as the year he beat Froome and Contador

 

[The Hitch]

Yes he did. He didn't necessarily show he was stronger, but all three were there on the start line, and only one of them finished. He beat them.
.

That's a dumb way of looking at it and you are probably sitting behind your computer sniggering at having posted it and perhaps annoyed a Contador fan or 2.

If Nibali was immune from crashes it would be an argument, maybe. But he is not. That Contador crashed out of this race and not a different one, and that Nibali had crashes in other races and not this one, was luck.

Not to mention that with this logic, everyone beat Contador and Froome. Ji Cheng did too. Maybe he should be the favourite for next years Tour instead of those 2

 

[scholar]

All fair points, and you're all right, of course. Nonetheless, it's worth remembering firstly that Nibali won the Tour, rather than merely finishing it, and secondly, and more importantly, that crashes aren't only a matter of luck, but also of positioning, handling, and pressure as a result of GC standings.

 

[cineteq]

If Nibali had beaten Froome and Contador at the TDF, he might have been in with a shout, however, he did not.

Did Contador and Froome finish this year's Tour? We all know the answer, thank you

I suggest you move on or face the truth, it will be less painful.

 

[Jspear]

All fair points, and you're all right, of course. Nonetheless, it's worth remembering firstly that Nibali won the Tour, rather than merely finishing it, and secondly, and more importantly, that crashes aren't only a matter of luck, but also of positioning, handling, and pressure as a result of GC standings.

I doubt AC crashed because of pressure he was feeling. He was very confident with his form (he said so.) He crashed while grabbing something from his pocket. Nibali crashed at the worlds this year....must have been his poor positioning and bike handling skills plus the pressure to perform for Italy.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Did Contador and Froome finish this year's Tour? We all know the answer, thank you

I suggest you move on or face the truth, it will be less painful.

If you could just bother to read what I actually wrote, that'd be great.

I suggest YOU face the truth and acknowledge Nibali simply wasn't as good this year as Alberto.