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Rider of the year 2018

Page 9 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Who is the rider of the year 2018

  • Chris Froome

    Votes: 23 21.5%
  • Geraint Thomas

    Votes: 6 5.6%
  • Simon Yates

    Votes: 17 15.9%
  • Alejandro Valverde

    Votes: 27 25.2%
  • Tom Dumoulin

    Votes: 22 20.6%
  • Vincenzo Nibali

    Votes: 3 2.8%
  • Niki Terpstra

    Votes: 2 1.9%
  • Peter Sagan

    Votes: 2 1.9%
  • Thibaut Pinot

    Votes: 3 2.8%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 1.9%

  • Total voters
    107
Tonton said:
Btw, I voted for Tibopino...I have a fanboy reputation at stake here :) . I had to stuff the ballot, but in all seriousness, Simon-says-catch-me-if-you-can has an edge on everybody else IMO. To answer the "how much credit should he get for almost winning Il Giro, I'd say something like 75%. Fignon Tour '89 would be 90% or so. I agree that it's debatable, but more importantly, Yates was there pretty much year round at the top of the food chain.

1. Simon Yates

Ahead of Geraint TooFast and Dawg, I have to give the second place to Valverde, although he only peaked for 296 days in '18 :eek: . Winning big races, small races, and winning more year round. The definition of Rider of the Year, no? Not a great GT campaign for The Don, but GTs are not everything, as many here know. And the rainbow jersey, if we talk about rating comparisons, that's just below a GT IMO. It's a massive accomplishment...which is why Sagan takes a hit in many of the rankings posted here.

2. Alejandro Valverde

Sometimes we have to keep our reputations in tact at all costs. However, your boy had a very good Giro until he ended up in the hospital. Then came back and ended the season with a huge high.

I do think Yates has a good case for it. However, when el Bala continues to show he can hold an off peak for almost the entire season and then wins the one huge race that was missing from his palmares he has a great case as well.
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
Tonton having Nibali over Pinot just made my mind go boom.

You're right :) . I shouldn't have given Il Squalo credit for his injury, given credit for what could have been. Vincenzo was very much in the mix at the TdF. But looking back at '18, his MSR triumph was an absolute gem and so was his way to get second at the GDL. What a move, what a master tactician Nibali is. I love the guy.
 
Re: Re:

Tonton said:
Red Rick said:
Tonton having Nibali over Pinot just made my mind go boom.

You're right :) . I shouldn't have given Il Squalo credit for his injury, given credit for what could have been. Vincenzo was very much in the mix at the TdF. But looking back at '18, his MSR triumph was an absolute gem and so was his way to get second at the GDL. What a move, what a master tactician Nibali is. I love the guy.
Love em both. They've had some great races together.
 
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
Tonton said:
Red Rick said:
Tonton having Nibali over Pinot just made my mind go boom.

You're right :) . I shouldn't have given Il Squalo credit for his injury, given credit for what could have been. Vincenzo was very much in the mix at the TdF. But looking back at '18, his MSR triumph was an absolute gem and so was his way to get second at the GDL. What a move, what a master tactician Nibali is. I love the guy.
Love em both. They've had some great races together.

By far the 2 most likeable riders in peloton for me as well.
 
Can't understand why Valverde, for one race you usually dont win over riders with multiple success, Froome, Yates, Dumoulin definitelly better, for mě Dumoulin was best even if he didnt won any race.
 
Re:

bassano said:
Can't understand why Valverde, for one race you usually dont win over riders with multiple success, Froome, Yates, Dumoulin definitelly better, for mě Dumoulin was best even if he didnt won any race.


Valverde had 14 wins for the entire season which is his 2nd highest win total of his career and a win total no other GC rider came close to. Yates, Froome and Dumoulin had no where near the number of wins Valverde had. He was winning races from the start of the season through the end of the season.
 
Re:

bassano said:
Can't understand why Valverde, for one race you usually dont win over riders with multiple success, Froome, Yates, Dumoulin definitelly better, for mě Dumoulin was best even if he didnt won any race.

:lol: Multiple successes?! Froome? Dumoulin? :eek: :lol:
Valverde, one race :confused:
Hillarious post!
 
Re: Re:

Blanco said:
bassano said:
Can't understand why Valverde, for one race you usually dont win over riders with multiple success, Froome, Yates, Dumoulin definitelly better, for mě Dumoulin was best even if he didnt won any race.

:lol: Multiple successes?! Froome? Dumoulin? :eek: :lol:
Valverde, one race :confused:
Hillarious post!
don't you get tired from constant proving what a king valverde is while how massively froome sucks in his career? ;)
 
I voted Yates before I actually gave it any thought as he is undeniably the rider who's stock has grown but when I actually put some thought into Alejandro edges it. If he had of hung on to a podium at Vuelta it would be clearer in my mind as a real good GT placing is the main thing missing from his 2018 palmares
 
Re: Re:

tobydawq said:
Red Rick said:
"Froome had a better year than Valverde"

"Small races matter"

"But what about Viviani then"

"Now big races matter"

Catalunya vs. Adriatica Ionica Race.

Cavendish, Trentin and Nizzolo amongst others are (at least on paper) not that bad of a competition. Is it at least on the same level of competition compared to Valverde beating the superstars called McCarthy and Impey in Catalunya ...
 
Re: Re:

Akuryo said:
tobydawq said:
Red Rick said:
"Froome had a better year than Valverde"

"Small races matter"

"But what about Viviani then"

"Now big races matter"

Catalunya vs. Adriatica Ionica Race.

Cavendish, Trentin and Nizzolo amongst others are (at least on paper) not that bad of a competition. Is it at least on the same level of competition compared to Valverde beating the superstars called McCarthy and Impey in Catalunya ...

With the Quickstep train, it's bad competition.

Also, Valverde winning Catalunya outright was what I meant (opposing the "only Grand Tours, Worlds and Monuments count" nonsense).
 
Re: Re:

Akuryo said:
tobydawq said:
Red Rick said:
"Froome had a better year than Valverde"

"Small races matter"

"But what about Viviani then"

"Now big races matter"

Catalunya vs. Adriatica Ionica Race.

Cavendish, Trentin and Nizzolo amongst others are (at least on paper) not that bad of a competition. Is it at least on the same level of competition compared to Valverde beating the superstars called McCarthy and Impey in Catalunya ...

That would only be for the field sprint stage he won. He also beat Bernal in the mountain stage and won the overall.
 
Re: Re:

Koronin said:
Akuryo said:
tobydawq said:
Red Rick said:
"Froome had a better year than Valverde"

"Small races matter"

"But what about Viviani then"

"Now big races matter"

Catalunya vs. Adriatica Ionica Race.

Cavendish, Trentin and Nizzolo amongst others are (at least on paper) not that bad of a competition. Is it at least on the same level of competition compared to Valverde beating the superstars called McCarthy and Impey in Catalunya ...

That would only be for the field sprint stage he won. He also beat Bernal in the mountain stage and won the overall.

And certain Simon Yates among others...
 
Re: Re:

Koronin said:
Akuryo said:
tobydawq said:
Red Rick said:
"Froome had a better year than Valverde"

"Small races matter"

"But what about Viviani then"

"Now big races matter"

Catalunya vs. Adriatica Ionica Race.

Cavendish, Trentin and Nizzolo amongst others are (at least on paper) not that bad of a competition. Is it at least on the same level of competition compared to Valverde beating the superstars called McCarthy and Impey in Catalunya ...

That would only be for the field sprint stage he won. He also beat Bernal in the mountain stage and won the overall.

So now do you see how stupid it is to pick one race when comparing a whole season? I can also just search for a stage/day where a certain rider did not have the best competition. My point was to prove exactly that.
 
Re: Re:

Akuryo said:
Koronin said:
Akuryo said:
tobydawq said:
Red Rick said:
"Froome had a better year than Valverde"

"Small races matter"

"But what about Viviani then"

"Now big races matter"

Catalunya vs. Adriatica Ionica Race.

Cavendish, Trentin and Nizzolo amongst others are (at least on paper) not that bad of a competition. Is it at least on the same level of competition compared to Valverde beating the superstars called McCarthy and Impey in Catalunya ...

That would only be for the field sprint stage he won. He also beat Bernal in the mountain stage and won the overall.

So now do you see how stupid it is to pick one race when comparing a whole season? I can also just search for a stage/day where a certain rider did not have the best competition. My point was to prove exactly that.

Thus proving that Valverde is rider of the year as he had the best entire season.
 
Re:

bassano said:
Can't understand why Valverde, for one race you usually dont win over riders with multiple success, Froome, Yates, Dumoulin definitelly better, for mě Dumoulin was best even if he didnt won any race.

To be honest, three WT races: WCRR, Catalunya, Abu Dhabi.
And why Valverde?
The answer is on 8th page: "In fact, Yates is probably the best rider of the year, but I'm a big, big fan of Don Alejandro so I gave him an edge over Simon". :lol:
 
Re: Re:

Bot. Sky_Bot said:
bassano said:
Can't understand why Valverde, for one race you usually dont win over riders with multiple success, Froome, Yates, Dumoulin definitelly better, for mě Dumoulin was best even if he didnt won any race.

To be honest, three WT races: WCRR, Catalunya, Abu Dhabi.
And why Valverde?
The answer is on 8th page: "In fact, Yates is probably the best rider of the year, but I'm a big, big fan of Don Alejandro so I gave him an edge over Simon". :lol:

I was just being honest, you should try sometime too ;)
 
Re:

rick james said:
How in the name of Christ on a bike can folk say big tam D...he’s won nothing this year
Why?

Probably because even though he didn't win a GT, monument or rainbow jersey his season was very impressive. I don't think that would be an unfair statement to make.

And before you say I'm biased, I voted Froome in the poll, and you know how much I love him.
 
...we can't be surprised that personal feelings interfere with our judgement. At least that's one thing that is human in pro-cycling :D .

Jokes put aside, fanboy-ism is one thing: delusion is another. Since there's no multiple monument winner, only GT winners and the World Champion can seriously be part of the discussion; the biggest winners.

For non-GT riders, Peter Sagan was, in recent years, the best of the best. In '18, one monument and GW, green jersey and two or three stages, but a frustrating Vuelta and the loss of his rainbow jersey. Still a great season for us mortals, but not enough.

Now that Sagan is gone, to me, next is the tie-breaker, wingspan, who was the rider of the...year, twelve months (nine actually), not just May or usually July, the same old case that was made about/against Armstrong time and time again.

Unlike you want to consider Trentino as the 4th GT and Milano-Torino as the 6th monument (which they are :p ), it's Yates vs. Valverde, Froome not far behind, Geraint is a little further. But Tom was Raymond Dumoulor in '18, and he doesn't belong here. Come on :eek: ...

Sagan-Light could be a brand of beer, in '18 cycling it was Alaf', who also offered some hints of Valverde, winning two GCs, FW and San-Sebastian, polka-dot and two Tour stages. In many of our rankings...underrated.

But it's OK. We have our preferences. Nothing wrong.