Who deserves the Vélo d'Or the most so far?

[PremierAndrew]

Tbh, if Froome wins gold on Wednesday and finishes on the Vuelta podium, that should be more than enough. As good as Sagan has been, 1 monument, GW, 3 Tour stages and the green jersey isn't much better, if at all, than TdF + 2 Tour stages + Dauphine.

Sagan is ahead right now in many people's opinions partly because he has done this all whilst wearing rainbow (which is completely irrelevant as this was achieved in 2015)

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Tbh, if Froome wins gold on Wednesday and finishes on the Vuelta podium, that should be more than enough. As good as Sagan has been, 1 monument, GW, 3 Tour stages and the green jersey isn't much better, if at all, than TdF + 2 Tour stages + Dauphine.

Sagan is ahead right now in many people's opinions partly because he has done this all whilst wearing rainbow (which is completely irrelevant as this was achieved in 2015)

Sagan is ahead, because unlike Froome, he can't rely on a ridiculous strong team. And the rainbow jersey gives extra pressure and extra media attention (the media/sponsors also demand more of your time, so you can't rest or train as much). Those things can be detrimental for cyclists.

 

[dacooley]

one might think being the tour champ doesn't put any extra pressure and obligations.

 

[SKSemtex]

Re:

Tbh, if Froome wins gold on Wednesday and finishes on the Vuelta podium, that should be more than enough. As good as Sagan has been, 1 monument, GW, 3 Tour stages and the green jersey isn't much better, if at all, than TdF + 2 Tour stages + Dauphine.

Sagan is ahead right now in many people's opinions partly because he has done this all whilst wearing rainbow (which is completely irrelevant as this was achieved in 2015)

don't count your chickens before they're hatched

sagans not hatched chicken: podium MTB OGRR , Montreal or Quebec (both would be megasuper), podium WCRR

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Tbh, if Froome wins gold on Wednesday and finishes on the Vuelta podium, that should be more than enough.

A TDF win on its own is enough to win this award in many cases.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Tbh, if Froome wins gold on Wednesday and finishes on the Vuelta podium, that should be more than enough.

A TDF win on its own is enough to win this award in many cases.

If nobody else stands out. Sagan stands out, like, a lot

 

[DanielSong39]

Well, looks like one opportunity went by the wayside for Froome; not sure whether a podium finish in the Vuelta and a win in the World Championship Time Trial is enough. You never know, though.

There's also the possibility that the Vuelta winner wins the World Championship Road Race and steal the award from under everyone's noses. Stay tuned...

 

[Gloin22]

I don't think either of them care tbf. This is just a small award by shitty magazine..

 

[Põhja Konn]

Going strictly by the question posed in the OP, then Froome is out of the running because of his complete disregard for the first half of the season.
Only winning the Vuelta could put him back in contention.

If there has been one rider who has defined this season it is Sagan. As was the case with Evans, winning the rainbow jersey has changed him for better and continued success in that jersey has made him the standout star in road cycling.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Tbh, if Froome wins gold on Wednesday and finishes on the Vuelta podium, that should be more than enough.

A TDF win on its own is enough to win this award in many cases.

Big difference between who will win and who deserves to win. Like last year, Froome won but we all know Valverde deserved it.
Froome will probably end up winning it again this year, especially given that Sagan didn't do anything in PR, the other big French race

 

[IndianCyclist]

need to wait for Vuelta

 

[Red Rick]

Need to wait for the Canadian WT races and ALL THE OTHER RACES as well

 

[Mr.White]

Sagan is the prime pick for the moment, followed by Froome. But as some posters said, reward is meaningless, especially if you consider the fact that last year's top 3 were: Froome, Sagan and Aru. In my opinion at least 2 from that list shouldn't be there, and the winner should be different

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Sagan is the prime pick for the moment, followed by Froome. But as some posters said, reward is meaningless, especially if you consider the fact that last year's top 3 were: Froome, Sagan and Aru. In my opinion at least 2 from that list shouldn't be there, and the winner should be different

Yep, should have been 1) Valverde 2) Froome 3) Kristoff, with Froome and Kristoff being interchangable

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Sagan is the prime pick for the moment, followed by Froome. But as some posters said, reward is meaningless, especially if you consider the fact that last year's top 3 were: Froome, Sagan and Aru. In my opinion at least 2 from that list shouldn't be there, and the winner should be different

Yep, should have been 1) Valverde 2) Froome 3) Kristoff, with Froome and Kristoff being interchangable

No room in the top three for a guy that won two monuments?

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Sagan is the prime pick for the moment, followed by Froome. But as some posters said, reward is meaningless, especially if you consider the fact that last year's top 3 were: Froome, Sagan and Aru. In my opinion at least 2 from that list shouldn't be there, and the winner should be different

Yep, should have been 1) Valverde 2) Froome 3) Kristoff, with Froome and Kristoff being interchangable

No room in the top three for a guy that won two monuments?

Not when one dominated the entire year, one won the Tour along with a couple of other important stage races and one won one monument, finished runner up in another and seemed invincible during spring

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

Sagan is the prime pick for the moment, followed by Froome. But as some posters said, reward is meaningless, especially if you consider the fact that last year's top 3 were: Froome, Sagan and Aru. In my opinion at least 2 from that list shouldn't be there, and the winner should be different

Yep, should have been 1) Valverde 2) Froome 3) Kristoff, with Froome and Kristoff being interchangable

Agree. I would put Kristoff in 2nd though. The guy was amazing, he won 20 races, plus some notable podiums and results (MSR, WCRR). Degenkolb was also brilliant with his 2 Monument wins, but he lacks only a little bit to match this guys

 

[Arredondo]

Don't know really. If Van Avermaet is able to win Quebec/Montreal, Lombardia (on the 2014 route it's very much possible) or can become WC in Qatar (after a hard race), he surely deserves the Velo d'Or.

Just as Sagan, it's a rider who is able to perform well from february till the end of the year. And he has beaten Sagan a couple of times this year, which is also important.

As it stands now, if you look at the results of Sagan and GvA:

Sagan
1st Flanders (monument)
1st Gent-Wevelgem (semi-classic)
3 stages + green + couple of days yellow in the Tour

Van Avermaet
1st Olympics (as important as Flanders)
1st Omloop (semi-classic)
1st Tirreno (big stage race)
1 stage + couple of days yellow in the Tour

So both have won a monument/really big race + a semi-classic. In favour of Sagan is that he won more stages at the Tour + the green jersey, and some other minor wins in races like Suisse and California. On the other hand, Van Avermaet has won a big stage race.

So i think it's pretty equal atm.

 

[staubsauger]

No one has been that outstanding so far that it would be unfair to just award it to Froome as he has won the Tour. Even if he wasn't that dominant compared to 2013 or 2015!

That said, in fact I hope as well that either GVA or Sagqn archives some more major wins to win that award fully deserved.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

Don't know really. If Van Avermaet is able to win Quebec/Montreal, Lombardia (on the 2014 route it's very much possible) or can become WC in Qatar (after a hard race), he surely deserves the Velo d'Or.

Just as Sagan, it's a rider who is able to perform well from february till the end of the year. And he has beaten Sagan a couple of times this year, which is also important.

As it stands now, if you look at the results of Sagan and GvA:

Sagan
1st Flanders (monument)
1st Gent-Wevelgem (semi-classic)
3 stages + green + couple of days yellow in the Tour

Van Avermaet
1st Olympics (as important as Flanders)
1st Omloop (semi-classic)
1st Tirreno (big stage race)
1 stage + couple of days yellow in the Tour

So both have won a monument/really big race + a semi-classic. In favour of Sagan is that he won more stages at the Tour + the green jersey, and some other minor wins in races like Suisse and California. On the other hand, Van Avermaet has won a big stage race.

So i think it's pretty equal atm.

No, it's not. You must take into account all notable results, not just the biggest wins.

Sagan won 9 races: Flanders, GW, 3 Tour stages, 2 Suisse stages and 2 California stages + Green Jersey. He was also second in Tirreno, E3 and Het Volk and 4th at Strade Bianche.

Van Avermaet won 5 races: Olympics RR, Tirreno GC + stage, Tour stage and Het Volk. He was 3rd at Qatar GC and National Championship and 5th at MSR and San Sebastian.

They are very similar riders and both target similar races, so I think that CQ Rankings or newly introduced UCI World Rankings provide a true picture of both riders season so far. Sagan has the edge in both (2183/1673 CQ, and 3233/2408 UCI).

So for me, Sagan has the edge. In fact I would put Froome ahead of Van Avermaet too...

 

[trucido]

I think people have gotten so used to Sagan winning green that they forget how difficult it is in terms of effort. I'd like to see a Tour where Sagan didn't go for green and purely stage wins like GvA to see what would happen.

Also G-W > Omloop. When was the last time someone won Omloop and a spring monument in the same year? No one peaks for Omloop.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Don't know really. If Van Avermaet is able to win Quebec/Montreal, Lombardia (on the 2014 route it's very much possible) or can become WC in Qatar (after a hard race), he surely deserves the Velo d'Or.

Just as Sagan, it's a rider who is able to perform well from february till the end of the year. And he has beaten Sagan a couple of times this year, which is also important.

As it stands now, if you look at the results of Sagan and GvA:

Sagan
1st Flanders (monument)
1st Gent-Wevelgem (semi-classic)
3 stages + green + couple of days yellow in the Tour

Van Avermaet
1st Olympics (as important as Flanders)
1st Omloop (semi-classic)
1st Tirreno (big stage race)
1 stage + couple of days yellow in the Tour

So both have won a monument/really big race + a semi-classic. In favour of Sagan is that he won more stages at the Tour + the green jersey, and some other minor wins in races like Suisse and California. On the other hand, Van Avermaet has won a big stage race.

So i think it's pretty equal atm.

Olympics is more important than Flanders, even Van Avermaet said that, and he's Flemish.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Don't know really. If Van Avermaet is able to win Quebec/Montreal, Lombardia (on the 2014 route it's very much possible) or can become WC in Qatar (after a hard race), he surely deserves the Velo d'Or.

Just as Sagan, it's a rider who is able to perform well from february till the end of the year. And he has beaten Sagan a couple of times this year, which is also important.

As it stands now, if you look at the results of Sagan and GvA:

Sagan
1st Flanders (monument)
1st Gent-Wevelgem (semi-classic)
3 stages + green + couple of days yellow in the Tour

Van Avermaet
1st Olympics (as important as Flanders)
1st Omloop (semi-classic)
1st Tirreno (big stage race)
1 stage + couple of days yellow in the Tour

So both have won a monument/really big race + a semi-classic. In favour of Sagan is that he won more stages at the Tour + the green jersey, and some other minor wins in races like Suisse and California. On the other hand, Van Avermaet has won a big stage race.

So i think it's pretty equal atm.

Olympics is more important than Flanders, even Van Avermaet said that, and he's Flemish.

If you look at it like that, Froome should win basically, and I think we'd agree that Froome shouldn't win

 

[saganftw]

this is the same argument as messi vs. cristiano ronaldo,yes ronaldo won european championship and champions league and basically that will win him ballon dor...but messi is better player,he just is even with lesser achievements

so it comes down to what do the people who award the price value more,i value the entertainment more because im a fan of cycling first

 

[MacBAir]

Re:

Don't know really. If Van Avermaet is able to win Quebec/Montreal, Lombardia (on the 2014 route it's very much possible) or can become WC in Qatar (after a hard race), he surely deserves the Velo d'Or.

Just as Sagan, it's a rider who is able to perform well from february till the end of the year. And he has beaten Sagan a couple of times this year, which is also important.

As it stands now, if you look at the results of Sagan and GvA:

Sagan
1st Flanders (monument)
1st Gent-Wevelgem (semi-classic)
3 stages + green + couple of days yellow in the Tour

Van Avermaet
1st Olympics (as important as Flanders)
1st Omloop (semi-classic)
1st Tirreno (big stage race)
1 stage + couple of days yellow in the Tour

So both have won a monument/really big race + a semi-classic. In favour of Sagan is that he won more stages at the Tour + the green jersey, and some other minor wins in races like Suisse and California. On the other hand, Van Avermaet has won a big stage race.

So i think it's pretty equal atm.

The Velo d'or isn't measured just in wins. Are you going to ignore who made second to GVA on tirreno and how? Are you going to ignore all other amazing Sagan's performances against a variety of different opponents? Are you going to ignore that every time Sagan is competing with Greg, Greg only wheelsucks him? Be it on a tirreno stage, a california stage trying to wheelsuck him 150 km out, etc.?

There's a points system in place to determine how has better results/wins. (Sagan is ahead, too)

The Velo d'Or should be for the best rider of the season. That is Peter (so far).