Season in Review. Your thoughts?

[auscyclefan94]

As all the big races are coming to an end i thought i would start a thread reviewing the season.

Who was the big surprise?

Who was the big dissapointment?

Dissapointing and Best team?

Favourite victory for the year?

What are you looking forward to during 2010?

 

[auscyclefan94]

I will start off...

Surprise - To go left field, i think Johny Hoogerland has been quite impressive and even when he has looked out of it he gets back on the front and attacks.

Dissapointment - Lance Armstrong, he hasn't matured at all and goes with petty little fights like incidents such as Simeoni's, bassons' and Halgand's

Worst team for the year - AG2R, they have a lot of quality riders but seem to fail to deliver. Originally going to give it to Lotto but since August they have been superb.

Best all round team for the year - Saxo bank, even though their Vuelta was dissapointing, they can win/place in any type of race and they are always a major player of any race.

Favourite victory - Evans at the Worlds, gutsy, panache and well fought out. great race as well. Only race other than PR that they show live in Aus.

Looking forward to in 2010 - Armstrong/Contador battle at the tour and to see guys like menchov, sastre and evans to be back at the tour. I'm also hoping gesink has a another shot at the tour. He's a talent.

 

[luckyboy]

Surprise - To go left field, i think Johny Hoogerland has been quite impressive and even when he has looked out of it he gets back on the front and attacks.

I'm skeptical about JH. As someone else said a while back, crits to 12th in a GT in a year?

Worst team for the year - AG2R, they have a lot of quality riders but seem to fail to deliver. Originally going to give it to Lotto but since August they have been superb.

I know its easy to do, but you seem to have forgotten Fuji. Also - Nocentini's time in yellow.



SUPRISE: I wouldn't have predicted Evans' WC win.

DISAPPOINTMENT: No dopers caught at the TdF, Sylvain Chavanel not doing much, how dull the GT GC battles were.

WORST TEAM: Fuji-Servetto - completely anonymous season.

BEST TEAM: 17 GT stage wins for Columbia was pretty impressive, as well as Milan-San Remo, Gent-Wev & Tour of Britain. Either them or Saxo.

FAVE VICTORIES: Moncoutie @ Sierra Nevada, Feillu @ Andorra, Voeckler @ Perpignan, Gilbert @ Anagni, Giro Lombardia.

LOOKING FORWARD 2010: Hopefully, the GTs will be more exciting (Astana owning RS), some kind of big doping revelation..

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

SUPRISE: I wouldn't have predicted Evans' WC win. +1 (along with wiggo)

DISAPPOINTMENT: No dopers caught at the TdF, Sylvain Chavanel not doing much, how dull the GT GC battles were. +1

WORST TEAM: Fuji-Servetto - completely anonymous season. +1

BEST TEAM: 17 GT stage wins for Columbia was pretty impressive, as well as Milan-San Remo, Gent-Wev & Tour of Britain. Either them or Saxo.
THC for sure

FAVE VICTORIES: Moncoutie @ Sierra Nevada, Feillu @ Andorra, Voeckler @ Perpignan, Gilbert @ Anagni, Giro Lombardia.
too hard for me to choose.

LOOKING FORWARD 2010: Hopefully, the GTs will be more exciting (Astana owning RS), some kind of big doping revelation..
youngsters owning the oldies

mine in red

 

[luckyboy]

THC for sure

Yeah, I don't really know why I put SB there - Columbia won a lot more.

too hard for me to choose.

How about Rabo - Menchov, Boom, Garate. Did Gesink win Amstel Gold or was he just off?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

na he came 3rd. I didn't watch emilia so I can't say that is my favorite. Menchov's victories were nice, but nothing too special.
Garate's win was special for sure, and I did enjoy booms win too.

TBH I loved cunego's last stage win the vuelta. I have a soft spot for the little prince

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

SUPRISE: Evans faltering so badly in the Tour, and winning the Worlds.

DISAPPOINTMENT: Little if any progress on stopping doping. Also, Lance turning the sport into it being about him, and all who followed. Leipheimer's never attacking style, and failure to attempt to lead his own team once again.

WORST TEAM: Fuji-Servetto, or Katusha. All that money...

BEST TEAM: Columbia. Cervelo over achieved.

FAVE VICTORIES: Cancellara's World's ITT victory.

LOOKING FORWARD 2010: Superior webcasting, better doping controls, demise of the UCI, cracking of the omerta, race radios being limited. Less media wallpaper focus on Lance (hey, a guy can dream, no?!)

 

[powderpuff]

SUPRISE: Lance did manage to hold onto a podium place at the TdF; Gesink performing so consistently well when not injured. Frank Schleck finished a race without hitting the tarmac!

DISAPPOINTMENT: SIL mgmt, Leipheimer +1, LA side show. Lack of decent USA team at worlds, it's not just about the TdF.

WORST TEAM: Katusha. +1... Astana other than AC didn't really perform to expectations.

BEST TEAM: Columbia, Australian Road team.

FAVE VICTORIES: I know i'm biased but have to go with Cadel at the worlds. Cadel not pulling out of TdF on stage 17, this was the start of the new Cadel.

LOOKING FORWARD 2010: No TTT in TdF; hopefully no major crashes on the cobbles; Lance riding his bike for the love of it(without all the sideshow, cancer etc); Coucke being institutionalized. My cycling jersey not looking so fat.

 

[craig1985]

SURPISE: Cadal winning the Worlds. BradWiggins finishing 4th (I know, I know) at the TdF.

DISAPPOINTMENT: Alejandro Valverde winning the Tour of Catalonia, the Dauphine, the Tour of Burgos, and the Vuelta after he was banned in Italy and should be serving a two year ban right now. Look, I love his racing style, and his collection of awesome cars, but really, he should be banned right now. Also the total show of contempt LL, LA, and Chris Horner showed towards European races. You have the Giro coming up, shouldn't doing races in Europe (like the Tour of Romandy), instead of beating up local professionals at races where they are a lot stronger and shouldn't be racing (what does it prove winning the Tour of Gila?) at that event.

WORST TEAM: Fuji and Milram. Katusha get a spot because of two positives and for some reason I do not trust Ivanov. Quick Step when it came to the GT sprints.

BEST TEAM: Columbia without a doubt. Name me a stage race where they did not get at least one stage win. Just one, any of them will do.

FAVE VICTORIES: Greg Henderson's Vuelta stage win, David Moncoutie's win at the Vuelta. Add Alberto Contador winning the Tour, but then I wanted him to.

LOOKING FORWARD 2010: That the Tour de France won't be a complete snooze fest, the Classics to continue to be exciting. And seeing how EBH will go as a leader at Team Sky in only his 3rd year as a professional.

 

[ingsve]

Who was the big surprise?

I would have to say that Wiggins is probably the biggest surprise.

Who was the big dissapointment?

Kim Kirchen. Got his season ruined by an early season injury but never really came to life after that.

Dissapointing and Best team?

Most disapointing team must be Team Milram. Fuji was probably was worst team but noone should have expected much from them but Milram has some riders that have shown good promise in the past but they failed to deliver time after time.

The best team is surely Columbia. All they lacked was a high GC success in the 3 GTs but they still made their mark on all three GTs none the less and other than that they have been consistent throughout the season both in classics and shorter stage races.

Favourite victory for the year?

Contador in TdF. I would have preferred some other riders to win but given the situation Contador was under the entire year from the Lance squad it was nice to see him prevail in spite of all that negativity. So, it's not as much his victory in the race but more his psychological victory over Lance.

What are you looking forward to during 2010?

Team Sky. It's always nice to have some fresh blood in the peloton, like we had with Cervélo this year. Also since Team Sky has a distinct Nordic flavor next year it will be extra interesting to see how they do.

 

[Willow22]

+1 on most of these craig, you've pretty much hit it on the head imo, esp. regarding valverde. Also disappointed with Sil-lotto's classics season, and not seeing mcewen vs cav at the tour. favourite win was heinrich at the tour.

 

[issoisso]

Who was the big surprise?
Hoogerland was a huge surprise. And considering the....*ahem*...reputation he already carried with him from his days at Van Vliet, I can't see that as good. I won't elaborate, as this isn't the clinic. Let's just say "what luckyboy said"

I'd like to nominate the Caisse youngsters. Sure, they're good and they can all be top riders, but aside from Madrazo they all delivered quite well on their first season as neo-pros, which was surprising. They really were extremely good.

Van Hecke being so strong in flanders was a novelty.
Van Hummel took quite a leap in ability. Always nice to see.

Wiggins definitely deserves a mention. I didn't doubt he could be this good in time, but.....this soon? The quick change shocked me quite a bit.

Devenyns and the younger of the Masciarelli brothers should also be noted.

Who was the big dissapointment?

Van Avermaet was supposed to have his coming out party as a top rider. What happened?

Ciolek continues to show he has the talent to be elite, but not the luck or the mindset so far. Then again, he is one of the youngest riders in the Pro scene. Let's give him time.

Theo Bos. Personality wise. What an ***.

Where was Antón? Seriously? A complete turd of a season.

Dissapointing and Best team?
I think it's unanimous that Columbia takes one cake.

Personally, I think AG2R takes the other one. As Lavenu himself put it, the big names thought too well of themselves and didn't try hard. Nocentini had one lucky breakaway at the Tour, but he's no climber and he was nowhere in the classics where he has an obligation to be top dog.

Even the youngsters sucked, exception to Kadri.


Favourite victory for the year?
Too many to mention. It's hard to pick one

What are you looking forward to during 2010?
Good racing, same as every year, I guess. Other than that, I echo Alpe's words.

 

[craig1985]

Agree about the Caisse youngsters, Rui Costa looks a like a future star. And Dani Moreno, although he has been around a few years, has had a fine season. Crazy to think at the start of last season he was unemployed.

 

[sadfitty]

Biggest surprise?
I think Heinrich Haussler should be mentioned.

Biggest disappointment?
Sastre and Evans at the tour. Didn't think either of them would win, but for such consistent contenders to do so miserably is a big disappointment.

Worst team?
No doubt: Lampre.

Best team?

Great spring campaign by Cervelo, but lack of GC performance in the Tour+Vuelta

Columbia got a lot of victories, but no GT GC performance whatsoever.

Astana get's DQ because of no results in the classics

And the winner is: Saxo Bank. Really, Saxo is the only team that can win cobbled classics, Ardennes classics and GTs.

 

[issoisso]

Agree about the Caisse youngsters, Rui Costa looks a like a future star. And Dani Moreno, although he has been around a few years, has had a fine season. Crazy to think at the start of last season he was unemployed.

Amador also did very well in the smaller races despite a serious injury early in the season and Jeanesson was at times climbing with the best at the Giro. He even attacked the favorites on the Vesuvio.

Madrazo was the only disappointing one. But I guess that's due to the weight of expectation. The spanish fans openly expect him to be "the new Induráin" when clearly his youth results don't come anywhere near close to indicating that kind of quality.

 

[Moondance]

Biggest Surprise: Heinrich Haussler performing like a beast during the early classics season, Johnny Hoogerland doing so in September-October (actually all of Vacansoleil was impressive).

Biggest Disappointment: The Tour de France in general. It was looking so good, and ended up being so boring. Cav was unbeatable in a sprint, and too many top GC guys crashed out (Gesink) or didn't perform (Menchov, Evans, Sastre). Also, Italians. A relatively bleak season in terms of major wins for the major superpowers of pro cycling. Only Scarponi in the Tirreno and dope fiend Davide Rebellin in Fleche Wallonne and Pellizotti in the polka dots spring to mind. Greg van Avermaet, Ballan, Freire are some of the names that spring immeadiatly to mind in terms of personal underperforming.

Worst Team: Fuji-Servetto. Normally i don't like to see major teams going under, but in this case I honestly couldn't care less. I hope Cobo finds a good team, he's their only rider I care about.

Best Team: Columbia-HTC, plenty of victories, and not just limited to the sprints. Honorable mention goes to Cervelo, who built the foundations for a great team looks like.

Best Victory: Stijn Devolder in Ronde of Flanders. RvV is easily my favorite race of the year, and Devolder wins it again with a dominant race. Shame the rest of his season sucked.

Looking forward to: The young guns. I want to overdose on Edvald Boasson Hagen, Andy Schleck, Robert Gesink, the overrated Jakob Fuglsang, Lars Boom, Roman Kreuziger etc. next year. If anyone over 30 wins a race next year, I will cry.

 

[ingsve]

Great spring campaign by Cervelo, but lack of GC performance in the Tour+Vuelta

Getting a rider in 9th on GC in the Vuelta isn't what I would call lack of performance even though Deignan did come more from behind rather than being part of the top field.

 

[stefrees]

Biggest surprise: Wiggo (still now cant believe he came 4th!) Armstrong 3rd, No showings of evans/menchov/sastre at the tour

Biggest disappointment: Again no showings of evans et al at the tour, armstrong trying to turn the tour de france into a tour de lance, boonen in the sprints

Best team: Columbia or Saxo Bank are the only two contendors, garmin prob best of the rest in terms of competing all season.

Worst team: Milram, Fuji Servetto, Euskaltel? what have they done, a 2nd in the Vuelta?

Favourite race: Milan san remo

 

[Ibanez]

Biggest surprise: Echoing what a lot of people have said, Hoogerland and Wiggins. Ben Swift has been pretty good in the sprints as a neo pro. Haussler has taken a big leap this year, even though his haircut is worse. Armstrong as well, I did not expect a podium for him, even if the route and having by far the strongest guy in the race worked in his favour.

Biggest disappointment: All the 08 contenders at the tour.

Best team: Columbia of course, to the point of me getting sick of seeing them win.

Worst team: Milram and Fuji. Anonymous. Not good for German cycling I imagine.

Favourite race: I loved MSR, but that was long before I started suffering from 'cav fatigue'. PR was great, serious drama in that race. Same with the WC, last two laps were incredible. But I think my favourite race of the year has to be the giro. Even though they neutered it a bit, the Menchov Di Luca duel with Pellizotti and Sastre occasionally riding away was great. Di Luca rode a seriously gutsy race. Also, it was fun to watch Lance claim to be there for Levi but work for him once all race......after trying to leave him behind and getting dropped himself.

 

[ak-zaaf]

Biggest Surprise: A Dutch guy winning a GT stage, Wiggo, Haussler, Johnny Testosteronny, Evans in the tour.

Biggest Disappointment: TDF, Hushovd falling in Roubaix.

Worst Team: Columbia, don't trust them.

Best Team: Columbia, but I still don't trust them.

Best Victory: Boonen in Roubaix. Schlecklet in LBL. Farrar in the 'LBL' stage at eneco tour.

Looking forward to: The cyclo-cross season!
for 2010: Theo Bos, youngsters taking over, Astana vs. shack, the first sunday of april.

 

[issoisso]

I forgot an obvious one: Langeveld was a major disappointment

 

[Moondance]

I forgot an obvious one: Langeveld was a major disappointment

I don't know about that. Granted I was never particularly keen on Langeveld, so maybe I don't consider him to be a disappointment, but he was third in Eneco Tour, and got a couple of other wins here and there, and performed well in a domestique role in some of the classics.

Last season as I recall he didn't win anything, finished 2nd in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, look pretty good for a 15 minute stretch in the Ronde, and had an abysmal Tour de France where he was completely invisible. Not particularly inspiring if you ask me.

 

[ingsve]

I don't know about that. Granted I was never particularly keen on Langeveld, so maybe I don't consider him to be a disappointment, but he was third in Eneco Tour, and got a couple of other wins here and there, and performed well in a domestique role in some of the classics.

Last season as I recall he didn't win anything, finished 2nd in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, look pretty good for a 15 minute stretch in the Ronde, and had an abysmal Tour de France where he was completely invisible. Not particularly inspiring if you ask me.

Ya, disappointment is intimately tied to what expectations we have on someone and expectation varies alot between people and also it is tied to how much a rider is hyped domestically or internationally.

 

[craig1985]

I forgot an obvious one: Langeveld was a major disappointment

The same guy who said racing the Tour was not for him and the Classics were what he cared about. Also, RVV aside, what did Stijn Devolder do all year? And let's face it, he wins because he can attack because Boonen is still there in the bunch. Another disappointment is that a knee injury forced Dan Martin out of his Tour debut. I know his uncle preferred him not to race the Tour (and he should know a thing or two about cycling, he won the Giro, TdF, and the Worlds all in one year). I wasn't expecting miracles out of Martin, but you know, a member of Bike Pure gets my support.

Another one for the biggest surprise: Anthony Roux winning a stage at the Vuelta. Who? I had never heard of him until then. And then he sprays champagne over the podium girls, WAG.

As for a favourite race, I really enjoyed Paris-Nice. Alberto Contador had it won until he forgot to eat and bonked big time for Luis Leon Sanchez to win (I think most people on here would of dropped Contador when he bonked). Plus the wind and strong cross winds made it a nightmare for the riders in the early stages of the race. Jeremy Roy got his maiden pro win as well.

I could go on all day.

 

[sadfitty]

Getting a rider in 9th on GC in the Vuelta isn't what I would call lack of performance even though Deignan did come more from behind rather than being part of the top field.

A 9th in the Vuelta and a 17th in the Tour isn't bad, sure, but we're talking about the BEST teams in the world. Those results doesn't measure up to those of eg. Saxo...During the spring campaign CTT was among the very best and they had a good Giro. Since then, Hushovd's one-man-show in the Tour was the "team's" best performance. HH also got a stage, but then what...9th and a stage in the Vuelta? OK, but not great....