Vélo d'Or 2015

[PremierAndrew]

I'd go for Kristoff, the guy was unstoppable in spring. Can't help but feel that Valverde would get a lot less votes if Kristoff's acheivements were more recent.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

I'd go for Kristoff, the guy was unstoppable in spring. Can't help but feel that Valverde would get a lot less votes if Kristoff's acheivements were more recent.

They are very close indeed, but you are probably right that people tend to forget about races like GP Plouay and Vattenfall. Mainly I think Kristoff was a bit below par in the Tour. Valverde edges him for that reason alone.

 

[damian13ster]

It is really tight between Valverde and Froome with Kristoff not far behind.
I would like it to go to Valverde but any of them would be good and justified choice

 

[Brullnux]

Kristoff, Degenkolb or valverde.
Probably Valverde as Degenkolb was weak (by his standards) in the second half of the season, struggling to beat a sprinting field that once rid of Sagan and Bouhanni had Impey, Sbaragli, Van Poppel and Drucker as the best sprinters and Kristoff was not that good in the Tour. Voted Kristoff, though, otherwise Bala would just run away with it.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

I'd go for Kristoff, the guy was unstoppable in spring. Can't help but feel that Valverde would get a lot less votes if Kristoff's acheivements were more recent.

I have to agree with you even though I'm a Valverde fan. Kristoff fairly comfortably for me.

 

[MatParker1711]

Froome did something historic at the tour and was the first to do it in nearly fifty years, puts him over the top for me.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

Froome did something historic at the tour and was the first to do it in nearly fifty years, puts him over the top for me.

I'm clueless. Enlighten me

 

[Queens Boulevard]

Re: Re:

Froome did something historic at the tour and was the first to do it in nearly fifty years, puts him over the top for me.

I'm clueless. Enlighten me

I was also curious. Apparently he was the first rider to win the Yellow and Polka Dot at the TDF in the same year since 1970...which would place it at nearly 50 years I guess. That's all I could find.

 

[bala v]

Re:

Froome did something historic at the tour and was the first to do it in nearly fifty years, puts him over the top for me.

Yeah, he got a cup of piss all over him

 

[maltiv]

Re:

Froome did something historic at the tour and was the first to do it in nearly fifty years, puts him over the top for me.

He only did that due to some silly rules which meant that essentially the best climber in the race would win the KOM jersey, even if not trying to do so. Luckily the rules have been changed for next year's edition.

He's definitely not the first guy "in 50 years" to win TDF and being the best climber, I imagine this would have been a very common scenario if the rules had been like this all along.

 

[hrotha]

What's with this weird tendency to take random stuff that never happened before but which was never considered significant and thus no one had ever striven for, and suddenly making a big fuss out of it although it happened by sheer coincidence?

Vélo d'Or 2015 for Pourseyedi for the Taiwan-Japan-Iran An Treble.

 

[Jakub]

Re: Re:

Froome did something historic at the tour and was the first to do it in nearly fifty years, puts him over the top for me.

Yeah, he got a cup of piss all over him

 

[gunara]

'Alexander Kristoff wins Velo d'Or' and 'Alexander Kristoff is the best cyclist of the season' still somehow sound weird to me. I recognize how good he is and all, but.... Well, Froome's rise is even more out of the blue, but at least it's....out of the blue. While Kristoff, at least I've noticed him when he was younger, but I must admit that I seriously underestimated him, used to take all the hype about him as joke, and never thought he'd be able to reach this height in his career. And I'm not thinking clinic, I just remember the way I used to see him.
Anyway, I'm okay with him winning, although I'd prefer Bala

 

[blackcat]

Re:

Kristoff, Degenkolb or valverde.
Probably Valverde as Degenkolb was weak (by his standards) in the second half of the season, struggling to beat a sprinting field that once rid of Sagan and Bouhanni had Impey, Sbaragli, Van Poppel and Drucker as the best sprinters and Kristoff was not that good in the Tour. Voted Kristoff, though, otherwise Bala would just run away with it.

Impey was leading out Gerro and Matthews... those guys got injured... Impey gets half a chance to ride for himself

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

Froome did something historic at the tour and was the first to do it in nearly fifty years, puts him over the top for me.

I'm clueless. Enlighten me

I was also curious. Apparently he was the first rider to win the Yellow and Polka Dot at the TDF in the same year since 1970...which would place it at nearly 50 years I guess. That's all I could find.

And all it took was several massive overhauls of the rules to guarantee it happened. Wow, what an achievement!

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

Froome did something historic at the tour and was the first to do it in nearly fifty years, puts him over the top for me.

I'm clueless. Enlighten me

I was also curious. Apparently he was the first rider to win the Yellow and Polka Dot at the TDF in the same year since 1970...which would place it at nearly 50 years I guess. That's all I could find.

And all it took was several massive overhauls of the rules to guarantee it happened. Wow, what an achievement!

why are so many people on here acting as if froome was the one who changed the rule? why so precious? its like a bunch of one direction fans on here sometimes.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

Froome did something historic at the tour and was the first to do it in nearly fifty years, puts him over the top for me.

I'm clueless. Enlighten me

I was also curious. Apparently he was the first rider to win the Yellow and Polka Dot at the TDF in the same year since 1970...which would place it at nearly 50 years I guess. That's all I could find.

And all it took was several massive overhauls of the rules to guarantee it happened. Wow, what an achievement!

why are so many people on here acting as if froome was the one who changed the rule? why so precious? its like a bunch of one direction fans on here sometimes.

No, just pointing out that he didn't really do anything that most previous Tour winners wouldn't have done with current rules

 

[King Boonen]

I'm failing to understand how Kristoff and Sagan are getting votes. Sagan's season was basically a bust until the WCRR. One good race doesn't make a whole season. Kristoff was good but his only real win of note was Flanders.

Really I think it's between Degenkolb and Valverde. Degenkolb takes it for me with those two monuments, but Valverde had a fantastic season and it's purely my bias to the monuments that gave it to Degenkolb...

 

[Fernandez]

I dont find how any rider this year could be chosen before Valverde. He has been number one in the UCI ranking, procyclingstats ranking, CQ ranking and whatever ranking made this year, soooo... The only rider who comes close to Valverde in these rankings is Kristoff.

 

[bala v]

Re:

I dont find how any rider this year could be chosen before Valverde. He has been number one in the UCI ranking, procyclingstats ranking, CQ ranking and whatever ranking made this year, soooo... The only rider who comes close to Valverde in these rankings is Kristoff.

Velo Magazine favors TDF winners heavily, that's how.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

I'm failing to understand how Kristoff and Sagan are getting votes. Sagan's season was basically a bust until the WCRR. One good race doesn't make a whole season. Kristoff was good but his only real win of note was Flanders.

Really I think it's between Degenkolb and Valverde. Degenkolb takes it for me with those two monuments, but Valverde had a fantastic season and it's purely my bias to the monuments that gave it to Degenkolb...

Kristoff was 2nd in MSR and top 10 in PR too along with his win at RVV. He also had 20 wins overall, which was the most in the peloton this season. Not to mention Degenkolb hardly did anything in spring except his two monuments, unlike Kristoff who seemed unbeatable at one point. Not criticising Degenkolb for not showing his hand in the smaller races, but Kristoff was the better rider in spring this year. Are you still failing to understand how Kristoff is getting votes?

And for what it's worth, I dislike Kristoff, but he had one hell of a successful season

 

[DFA123]

Re:

I dont find how any rider this year could be chosen before Valverde. He has been number one in the UCI ranking, procyclingstats ranking, CQ ranking and whatever ranking made this year, soooo... The only rider who comes close to Valverde in these rankings is Kristoff.

I think it is people just being contrary for the sake of it, or biased either against Valverde or for another rider.

The guy was a whisker away from doing the Ardennes triple, then followed it up with a TDF podium, Vuelta points jersey, National Championship and numerous other impressive victories in stage races. Plus he finished top 5 in every major one day race that he entered. He's not just by far the best rider this season, it's one of the most impressive seasons by any rider in the last 30 years.

I agree with King Boonen that Degenkolb is the only one that deserves a mention in comparsion - because the double he achieved was incredible - but it still falls well short of Valverde's achievements. Kristoff and Sagan had one major achievement each and a bunch of minor results, with both disappointing in the Grand Tours. Nowhere near Valverde - who exelled in both monuments and GTs this year.

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

I dont find how any rider this year could be chosen before Valverde. He has been number one in the UCI ranking, procyclingstats ranking, CQ ranking and whatever ranking made this year, soooo... The only rider who comes close to Valverde in these rankings is Kristoff.

I think it is people just being contrary for the sake of it, or biased either against Valverde or for another rider.

The guy was a whisker away from doing the Ardennes triple, then followed it up with a TDF podium, Vuelta points jersey, National Championship and numerous other impressive victories in stage races. Plus he finished top 5 in every major one day race that he entered. He's not just by far the best rider this season, it's one of the most impressive seasons by any rider in the last 30 years.

I agree with King Boonen that Degenkolb is the only one that deserves a mention in comparsion - because the double he achieved was incredible - but it still falls well short of Valverde's achievements. Kristoff and Sagan had one major achievement each and a bunch of minor results, with both disappointing in the Grand Tours. Nowhere near Valverde - who exelled in both monuments and GTs this year.

Please. What Valverde did is in a category with riders winning 2 GT's in a year? In the last 5 years alone, there were 2 better years (Phil 2011, Wiggo 2012).

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

I dont find how any rider this year could be chosen before Valverde. He has been number one in the UCI ranking, procyclingstats ranking, CQ ranking and whatever ranking made this year, soooo... The only rider who comes close to Valverde in these rankings is Kristoff.

I think it is people just being contrary for the sake of it, or biased either against Valverde or for another rider.

The guy was a whisker away from doing the Ardennes triple, then followed it up with a TDF podium, Vuelta points jersey, National Championship and numerous other impressive victories in stage races. Plus he finished top 5 in every major one day race that he entered. He's not just by far the best rider this season, it's one of the most impressive seasons by any rider in the last 30 years.

I agree with King Boonen that Degenkolb is the only one that deserves a mention in comparsion - because the double he achieved was incredible - but it still falls well short of Valverde's achievements. Kristoff and Sagan had one major achievement each and a bunch of minor results, with both disappointing in the Grand Tours. Nowhere near Valverde - who exelled in both monuments and GTs this year.

Please. What Valverde did is in a category with riders winning 2 GT's in a year? In the last 5 years alone, there were 2 better years (Phil 2011, Wiggo 2012).

I'd argue Nibali 2013, Cancellara 2010 and 2013, and Boonen 2012 are up there with Valverde 2015. I reckon PhilGil and Boonen probably best this decade.

Valverde has been consistent and all, but big victories lack slightly. If people start arguing Bala because of big victories, then it's a losing argument, as 'all' he has Flèche, Liege and a Vuelta stage. 3 stages at Catalunya, Spanish RR less big victories, and Trofeo Serra Tramuntana as a minor victory. 3rd at the Tour was very good, 7th at the Vuelta very disappoint in by his standards, especially against quite a weak field. I'm not sure if it was even his best year this year GT-wise if yours solely look at palmares. 2014 actually looks better on paper. Ofc the field at Tour 2014 was weak and it could have been 2nd and 3rd. Has best year ever, but not by a large margin. For sure, not the best season of the last 30 years by any stretch.

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

I dont find how any rider this year could be chosen before Valverde. He has been number one in the UCI ranking, procyclingstats ranking, CQ ranking and whatever ranking made this year, soooo... The only rider who comes close to Valverde in these rankings is Kristoff.

I think it is people just being contrary for the sake of it, or biased either against Valverde or for another rider.

The guy was a whisker away from doing the Ardennes triple, then followed it up with a TDF podium, Vuelta points jersey, National Championship and numerous other impressive victories in stage races. Plus he finished top 5 in every major one day race that he entered. He's not just by far the best rider this season, it's one of the most impressive seasons by any rider in the last 30 years.

I agree with King Boonen that Degenkolb is the only one that deserves a mention in comparsion - because the double he achieved was incredible - but it still falls well short of Valverde's achievements. Kristoff and Sagan had one major achievement each and a bunch of minor results, with both disappointing in the Grand Tours. Nowhere near Valverde - who exelled in both monuments and GTs this year.

Please. What Valverde did is in a category with riders winning 2 GT's in a year? In the last 5 years alone, there were 2 better years (Phil 2011, Wiggo 2012).

I don't think so...