What @Skijumper Roglic fan is trying to say is that, he considers vingegaard the rider of the year, because he did mutant performances in the tour, like we didn't saw a long time ago.
That is a point.
At the risk of being repetitive, I think you have to bear in mind that there are three orders of magnitude in cycling, GTs, monuments and Worlds, with everything else taking second fiddle by a longshot. As KZD has pointed out, having netted the hat trick (and at 22 mind you) Remco's season was golden. By contrast, Pogacar did not win the Tour as the heavy favorite and he did not win Worlds, whereas his Lombardia takes a back seat to Evenepoel's Liege, especially for the way the Belgian stampted his authority all over that race. And even though Pogacar got second in France, he was dominated by a stronger rider both in the high mountains and in the TT, creating a gaping hole in his results this year that not even Strade Bianche and Tirreno can fill imo. Only winning Flanders would have somewhat, but not entirely, made up for losing the Tour. So his season was only silver at best. Lastly, Vingegaard, yes, won the Tour in sound fashion, but nothing else. Yet winning your first Tour against a great one like Pogacar, would have been good enough to win the prize in any other season except this one I believe. Since, especially considering his age and that he has finally fully come back from a life and career threatening crash, Remco's rare and exceptional feat of winning a monument, a GT and Worlds the same year gives him the edge. I thus think the jury shall deem Remco's golden year to have more luster than Jonas's. I also think that it's the addition of Worlds, won, moreover, in such dominating fashion, which puts Remco's season ultimately on a higher plain than either Pogacar's or Vingegaard's.
I honestly think they are one notch down, since they are in the greater scheme of things prepatory for bigger goals; the former precisely for the monuments, the latter indeed for the Tour. Although, of course, they are prestigious in their own right, but not exclusively in their own right and I think that's the difference with monuments and Worlds. I'd thus take a win in MSR, Flanders, PR or Liege over Tirreno or PN, just as I'd take winning the Tour over Dauphine or Suisse (and I'd even take Flanders, Roubaix and Liege, with only perhaps not MSR - though I love la primavera - over these second tier stage races). Whereas I'd take the rainbow jersey over all stage races except GTs.
I'd say until the Indurain/Pantani era the Giro was more significant than the Vuelta, but nowadays, even though it's my favorite GT, unfortunately it just doesn't get the Bigs of yore to be even or higher than the Spanish GT. This largely depended om the late August move of the Vuelta since 1995, however. Prior to that the Giro was ahead and just below the Tour. Today I'd put Worlds on par with the Vuelta and the Giro, if not a wee notch above the latter, but again depending who wins what and on which course. And again who wins which monument versus the Worlds, and on what type of course regarding the latter, determines how I think they should be weighed into any potential Velo d'Or prize candidate. Let's say in general Flanders, PR and Liege can be on par with Worlds, but likely not MSR and Lombardia. My two cents.
Yes, but the Olympic RR used to be an amateur event and thus does not have the pedigree as Worlds (in cycling). Yet now they are probably equally prestigious on the day, but the Rainbow Jersey in cycling means more, as the wearer is a point of reference for an entire season. Although, for the athletes, as Bettini put it, the intercollegate and global aspects, have now made by he Olympic RR a huge deal, even if only cycling fans will watch it.
Your positioning of MSR is sacrelige, however, as it goes after PR, LBL, Ronde, (Lombardia?). I know, the course is easy, but the time of the year and the capi make it magical. And I'd put Itzulia after PN and TDS, with San Sebastian and Strade (bless it's soul) at the bottom, but only for historical reasons. Worlds depends on the course and who wins, if not terribly hard and won by an outsider, then after Giro and Vuelta. If epic and won by a champion then where you put it.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram