Top Ten of 2012

[Zam_Olyas]

Top ten male professional cyclist of 2012 by biciciclismo.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=56419

10. Rui Costa (Movistar Team, 1986)
9. Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank, 1983)

 

[Parrulo]

Top ten male professional cyclist of 2012 by biciciclismo.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=56419

10. Rui Costa (Movistar Team, 1986)
9. Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank, 1983)

imo Rui had a better season then lulu

 

[Netserk]

1st: Wiggins
2nd: Boonen
3rd: Purito
4th: Contador
5th: Hesjedal
6th: Gerrans
7th: Nibali
8th: Valverde
9th: Martin
10th: Gilbert

Honourable mentions go to: Costa, Sagan, EBH, Iglinsky, Degenkolb, Froome and Sanchez (Samu).

IMO

 

[Parrulo]

1st: Wiggins
2nd: Boonen
3rd: Purito
4th: Contador
5th: Hesjedal
6th: Gerrans
7th: Nibali
8th: Valverde
9th: Martin
10th: Gilbert

Honourable mentions go to: Costa, Sagan, EBH, Iglinsky, Degenkolb, Froome and Sanchez (Samu).

IMO

how does 1 good performance in an entire season put any of those 2 inside the top 10?

Sagan and Costa had better seasons, and same could be argued for EBH and Froome

 

[theyoungest]

imo Rui had a better season then lulu

He did. Lulu was the best Spaniard in the Tour de France though, so it makes sense for Biciciclismo to include him.

 

[barmaher]

1st: Boonen
2nd: Wiggins
3rd: Purito
4th: Contador
5th: Gerrans
6th: Sagan
7th: Hesjedal
8th: Nibali
9th: Valverde
10th: EBH or Degenkolb or Iglinskiy or Froome or Greipel

 

[Bavarianrider]

1.Boonen
2.Wiggins
3.Sagan
4.Froom
5.Hejsedal
6.Rodriguez
7.Greipl
8. Vino
9. Van Gaderen
10. Gilbert

 

[vladimir]

1. Boonen - impressive 4 wins in a row E3-Paris Roubaix
2. Sagan - incredible season for a 22 year old
3. Contador - won the toughest 3 week race this year
4. Wiggins - impressive results, but TDF win not that impressive...
5. EBH - biased maybe but apart from Paris-Roubaix impressive form all season
6. Purito - almost but no cigar
7. Pozzovivo - best climber when in top form
8. Gilbert - impressive worlds win
9. Samu Sanchez - finally won his home race, unlucky with injuries
10. Froome - should have won TDF

 

[barmaher]

You rate Spanish cyclists very low, BR.

 

[theyoungest]

1.Boonen
2.Wiggins
3.Sagan
4.Froom
5.Hejsedal
6.Rodriguez
7.Greipl
8. Vino
9. Van Gaderen
10. Gilbert

How did Hesjedal have a better season than Contador?

 

[El Pistolero]

1. Wiggins
2. Boonen
3. Rodriguez
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Hesjedal
7. Greipel
8. Nibali
9. Gilbert
10. Froome

Honestly, Hesjedal is probably the worst rider by far in this top ten, but he still won the Giro so yeah... Froome should be higher if you think about it, but he only won one race...

Honorable mentions to Simon Gerrans and EBH. I'd probably have included EBH if he wasn't playing second fiddle so much at Team Sky. Simon Gerrans was a surprise Monument winner à la Iglinsky, but he won more races than the latter.

 

[Jaunty Monty]

1. Wiggins
2. Boonen
3. Rodriguez
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Hesjedal
7. Greipel
8. Nibali
9. Gilbert
10. Froome

^
This

10char

 

[woodenswan]

1. Boonen
2. Wiggins
3. Purito
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Hesjedal
7. Greipel
8. Gerrans
9. Gilbert
10. Valverde

 

[Afrank]

1. Purito
2. Wiggins
3. Boonen
4. Sagan
5. Hesjedal
6. Valverde
7. Contador
8. Gilbert
9. Degenkolb
10. Nibali

 

[Mellow Velo]

1. Wiggins
2. Boonen
3. Rodriguez
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Hesjedal
7. Greipel
8. Nibali
9. Gilbert
10. Froome

This, more or less for me, too.
Well done, El P..............for once.

 

[dlwssonic]

how does 1 good performance in an entire season put any of those 2 inside the top 10?

Sagan and Costa had better seasons, and same could be argued for EBH and Froome

I would agree that sagan should CERTAINLY be in the top 10. But Gilbert deserves to be in there after all, the worlds is the biggest one day race of the year.

 

[Lexman]

1. Wiggins
2. Boonen
3. Rodriguez
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Hesjedal
7. Greipel
8. Nibali
9. Gilbert
10. Froome

.

I can find myself in this selection.... although i might change
1. Boonen
2. Wiggins

 

[whittashau]

1. Boonen
2. Wiggins
3. Purito
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Froome
7. Hesjedal
8. Nibali
9. Greipel
10. Degenkolb

11. Gerrans
12. Valverde
13. EBH

Also, to those who put Valverde above Nibali...how do you justify that? Tour podium, TA winner and 2 monument podiums vs a Vuelta podium and podium results in mid-level races?

 

[maltiv]

I would agree that sagan should CERTAINLY be in the top 10. But Gilbert deserves to be in there after all, the worlds is the biggest one day race of the year.

Still, he's 22nd on the CQ ranking, which most would agree is a pretty accurate ranking. I mean, most lists here basically consist of 10 from the top 15 in the CQ ranking at some slightly different order, but to include a guy who has scored only 1000 cq points (his worst points-tally in five years) is certainly not mandatory. Particularly considering the fact that he effectively only was a reasonably good rider for a month or so, which in my view doesn't qualify in a top 10 for the year.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

1. Wiggins
2. Boonen
3. Rodriguez
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Hesjedal
7. Greipel
8. Nibali
9. Gilbert
10. Froome

Honestly, Hesjedal is probably the worst rider by far in this top ten, but he still won the Giro so yeah... Froome should be higher if you think about it, but he only won one race...

Honorable mentions to Simon Gerrans and EBH. I'd probably have included EBH if he wasn't playing second fiddle so much at Team Sky. Simon Gerrans was a surprise Monument winner à la Iglinsky, but he won more races than the latter.

Can't really think of any other list than this, perhaps Degenkolb instead of Froome because Froome only won 1 race in the end

 

[woodenswan]

1. Boonen
2. Wiggins
3. Purito
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Froome
7. Hesjedal
8. Nibali
9. Greipel
10. Degenkolb

11. Gerrans
12. Valverde
13. EBH

Also, to those who put Valverde above Nibali...how do you justify that? Tour podium, TA winner and 2 monument podiums vs a Vuelta podium and podium results in mid-level races?

3 Gt stages + Vuelta Points classification + a number of stage wins and a smallish stag erace vs TA. and a smallish stage race

i guess there's one major distinction to be made regarding 2 groups of people showing themselves in threads like these: some of us value overall competitiveness and podiums over actual wins. nothing' wrong with either approach really. for me however, sports are about wins 1st and foremost.

2nd places.. "Of all the losers, you came in 1st.. of that group. You're the #1 loser. Noone lost ahead of you." - Seinfeld

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyIl_iVTxy4

 

[El Pistolero]

Can't really think of any other list than this, perhaps Degenkolb instead of Froome because Froome only won 1 race in the end

Yeah, I forgot him with my honorable mentions. The reason I included Froome was because he was arguably the strongest man in the Tour de France and he wasn't bad at the Vuelta either. On the other hand, the sprinting field at the Vuelta was weak. But Degenkolb impressed me never the less at the WC in Limburg with his fourth place. He had a slow start of the season though. He was good in Milan-San Remo, but that's about the only thing I can remember from him in the spring classics. Last year he was pretty good at the Omloop het Nieuwsblad, but this year he didn't really do anything during the cobbled classics.

I think Milan-San Remo next year will be a battle between Peter Sagan and John Degenkolb. Unless Cavendish survives the Poggio.

 

[kanari]

1. Wiggins
2. Boonen
3. Rodriguez
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Hesjedal
7. Greipel
8. Nibali
9. Gilbert
10. Froome

Pretty much this, I would have switched Nibali and Greipel though.

 

[skidmark]

Also, to those who put Valverde above Nibali...how do you justify that? Tour podium, TA winner and 2 monument podiums vs a Vuelta podium and podium results in mid-level races?

Uh, is the Worlds a 'mid-level race'?

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

1. Boonen
2. Wiggins
3. Purito
4. Sagan
5. Contador
6. Froome
7. Hesjedal
8. Nibali
9. Greipel
10. Degenkolb

11. Gerrans
12. Valverde
13. EBH

Also, to those who put Valverde above Nibali...how do you justify that? Tour podium, TA winner and 2 monument podiums vs a Vuelta podium and podium results in mid-level races?

Valverde deserves to be in the top-10 over Degenkolb and Greipel, though. He was second in the Vuelta, got a bronze medal at the Worlds, and won a stage at the Tour + another 2 at the Vuelta + the points jersey. Greipel and Degenkolb can't compete with that as far as high-profile results are concerned. No way in hell.

I'd also put Cavendish ahead of those guys with wins in both the Tour and the Giro. His last two wins at the TDF **** on Greipel's entire season. Regardless, Greipel only has 3 Tour stages and NOTHING else of substance, whereas Degenkolb won a handful of stages in a Vuelta completely devoid of top-level sprinters. No other important wins, or high profile podiums in any classic, for that matter. He had some very good results, but no one cares about 4th places in big races, or podium places in small races.