Rider of the Year 2012?

[Susan Westemeyer]

OK, so this is sort of a spin-off of the Rider to watch in 2012 thread. But this time it is for another story on the CN homepage.

what I want to know is: Who do you pick for rider of the year 2012? And why, in five sentences or less?

Remember, this will appear as a news story on CN. So give it your best.

Thanks.

Susan

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I'll nominate Alberto Contador Velasco:

Won many hearts in the 2011 edition of Tour de France with his aggressive riding, especially in the Alpe d'Huez stage where he staked everything on one throw, but in the end failed.
In 2012 he won't fail. He will be back, stronger than ever, and do the Tour-Vuelta double.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

rujano. he will win the giro 2012 in a way not seen since basso in 2006. except rujano does it clean. he will prove he is a climber from a different world

 

[Nick C.]

Peter Sagan: He has been bubbling over for a few years now. This is the year where the next step is the classics. I see him being a major player in the Ardennes, Milan-San Remo, perhaps even Flanders before moving onto the Tour where he can take a stage and then the Worlds. That being said, what I would like to see is a year without a one man show in the classics after the last two years of Gilbert and Cancellara.

P.S. Answer subject to change mid-January.

 

[Panda Claws]

Philippe Gilbert repeats 'nuff said.

We all remember Paris-Tours 2008, '09, The Amstel Gold Race 2010, '11 and Giro di Lombardia 2009, '10. Is there really anything stopping him from repeating 2011 too?

One might wonder if there will really be any stopping the Walloon avalanche and his new BMC superteam in 2012.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Mark Cavendish. He'll be super motivated by his Rainbow Stripes, by his BBC Sports Personality of The Year win and by the fact he's racing for a British Team. What's more, he'll have the backing of the strongest and most professional team in cycling. I'm expecting an MSR, Olympic Gold, Green Jersey and the usual bucket load of GT stage wins.

 

[sulgpallur]

Alberto Contador - Tour and Vuelta double

 

[RedheadDane]

I'd like to nominate Tony "Panzerwagen" Martin.
With his stellar campaign in 2011, claiming ITTs, of them the biggest being gold in the Elite Men's ITT at the world championships as well as the overall in various smaller stage races he'll be set to return for 2011, claim those and the Olympics.

Sorry if that didn't make sense...

 

[Old School]

Decisions decisions

So many to choose from:

Contador - Survives possible "prison" term, does Tour/Vuelta double
Sagan - Reaches levels he's been showing glimpses of
Cavendish - Takes every sprint he's in, wins Gold @ Olympics
Gilbert - Takes advantage of Thor & Evans being "watched", wins all Classics
Valverde - Back from the dead
Wiggins - Wins the Tour? Gold @ Olympics
Greipel - Learns to finally position himself like he should during a sprint


My heart says Sagan or Greipel, my mind says Contador...hence, since I'm always wrong...it's Gilbert again.

 

[jens_attacks]

PHIL
mainly because he will win san remo,ronde and surprisingly,roubaix too.also world champion

CONTADOR
tour and vuelta won easily

 

[TeoSheva]

Marcel Kittel

He will win more races than everyone, and if his team will be invited to the Tour he will win more stages than Cavendish. At the end of the 2012, he will be crowned as the best sprinter of the world.

 

[Christian]

Andy Schleck - Tour de France & WC RR double. First rider to do that since what's his face

 

[Tank Engine]

EBH. His season will just get better and better as it goes on. He'll scorch them all in the sprint at MSR when Cav can't follow on the Poggio, follow up with a win in GW, podium on a couple of occasions in the Ardennes. He'll win three stages in the tour when he's given days off from leading Cav out and go on to win the Vuelta.

p.s. In October he'll bring world peace.

 

[Panda Claws]

EBH. His season will just get better and better as it goes on. He'll scorch them all in the sprint at MSR when Cav can't follow on the Poggio, follow up with a win in GW, podium on a couple of occasions in the Ardennes. He'll win three stages in the tour when he's given days off from leading Cav out and go on to win the Vuelta.

p.s. In October he'll bring world peace.

Boasson Hagen can't manage the ardennes yet.

 

[oboy77]

Fabian Cancellara will be back with the vengeance.

After "disappointing" 2011 season he will win at least two monuments (RVV, PR), some stages in Tour and olympic and world TT titles in 2012.

 

[maltiv]

EBH. His season will just get better and better as it goes on. He'll scorch them all in the sprint at MSR when Cav can't follow on the Poggio, follow up with a win in GW, podium on a couple of occasions in the Ardennes. He'll win three stages in the tour when he's given days off from leading Cav out and go on to win the Vuelta.

p.s. In October he'll bring world peace.

He won't do the Ardennes, but I hope you're right nonetheless

Realistically though, no one will be close to Contador. He is in his best age and wants to redeem himself. Honestly I think he will win pretty much every single race he enters (TDF, T-A, Pais Vasco, 1 ardennes classic etc).

 

[Parrulo]

He won't do the Ardennes, but I hope you're right nonetheless

Realistically though, no one will be close to Contador. He is in his best age and wants to redeem himself. Honestly I think he will win pretty much every single race he enters (TDF, T-A, Pais Vasco, 1 ardennes classic etc).

if cleared contador will crush every1 has he must have a lot of accumulated frustrations, he won't ride the ardennes tho but i could see him winning every stage race he enters starting with san luis and finishing with the vuelta

 

[maltiv]

if cleared contador will crush every1 has he must have a lot of accumulated frustrations, he won't ride the ardennes tho but i could see him winning every stage race he enters starting with san luis and finishing with the vuelta

Wonder if he'll have a go at the worlds too...

 

[Cobblestoned]

If I only knew that, I wouldn't follow cycling any more.
New season, new chance. Cards mixed again.

New stars are born, and some stars shining yesterday just fade away.

 

[Parrulo]

Wonder if he'll have a go at the worlds too...

i think he will, both at the worlds and the olympics, thats why he has such a light first part of the season with only san luis, algarve, T-A and pais vasco then he will rest until the dauphine and do the tour, the olympics, the vuelta and the worlds, maybe even lombardy.

sounds like a pretty good calender if you ask me.

 

[Dancing On The Pedals]

EBH. His season will just get better and better as it goes on. He'll scorch them all in the sprint at MSR when Cav can't follow on the Poggio, follow up with a win in GW, podium on a couple of occasions in the Ardennes. He'll win three stages in the tour when he's given days off from leading Cav out and go on to win the Vuelta.

p.s. In October he'll bring world peace.

EBH won't be given time off from leading out Cav, that's crazy talk

In all seriousness, if he is allowed to race, Contador for me. Hard to see past him for a Tour-Vuelta double, plus a whole load of other stuff he enters, as has been mentioned above.

For the youngsters, I think Kittel, Degenkolb, and of course, Sagan will all have good seasons, and I can't wait to see how Sagan continues to develop. That guy has so much talent it's a little scary. It will also be interesting to see how Henao goes at Sky.

If Gilbert is able to repeat in 2012 then he will push Contador mighty close for 'rider of the year', however, his battle against Valverde should be fascinating to watch.

I also think Rolland and Vanendert will have good seasons. Could be interesting to see what Vanendert can do in the Ardennes without domestique-ing for Phil.

 

[Panda Claws]

EBH won't be given time off from leading out Cav, that's crazy talk

In all seriousness, if he is allowed to race, Contador for me. Hard to see past him for a Tour-Vuelta double, plus a whole load of other stuff he enters, as has been mentioned above.

For the youngsters, I think Kittel, Degenkolb, and of course, Sagan will all have good seasons, and I can't wait to see how Sagan continues to develop. That guy has so much talent it's a little scary. It will also be interesting to see how Henao goes at Sky.

If Gilbert is able to repeat in 2012 then he will push Contador mighty close for 'rider of the year', however, his battle against Valverde should be fascinating to watch.

I also think Rolland and Vanendert will have good seasons. Could be interesting to see what Vanendert can do in the Ardennes without domestique-ing for Phil.

I do not get all this Valverde hype, even in 2010 he didn't measure up to Phil in the classics. Do not get me wrong he is a good rider but I do not think it will be much of a duel.

 

[cineteq]

My pick is Peter Sagan. He has the proven ability to win sprints in flat and hills in GT stages, also a possible candidate to win the TdF green jersey and he has a great potential to win few one-day classics.

 

[theyoungest]

I do not get all this Valverde hype, even in 2010 he didn't measure up to Phil in the classics. Do not get me wrong he is a good rider but I do not think it will be much of a duel.

And before 2010 Gilbert was nowhere nearly as good as Valverde in those classics... it's just a matter of what you choose to look at. Valverde's 2010 season didn't seem to have much of a build up, just race everything you can before you get suspended.

Those were also the days of Eyafatnajökull, or whatever that volcano was called, causing him to arrive in Maastricht for the Amstel Gold Race the night before race day.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Can we keep this thread on just answering the question, please? For the news article, you know...

Ta.

Susan