Year End Awards 2017

[Sestriere]

Cyclist of the year: Chris Froome, you can say what you want but nothing tops the double.
Sprinter of the year: Kittel, 5th Scheldeprijs beats them all
Classics rider of the year: Gilbert, left my mouth wide open on that Sunday afternoon...
Time-trialist of the year: Gonna say Dennis for a bit more variety.
Climber of the year: Dunno. Froome, Nibali and Landa were on a very high level in two Grand Tours, so probably one of them. Barguil, Porte and Contador with honorable mentions but not as consistent. No one really stood out for me.
Most improved rider of the year: Teuns, from zero to hero in a month.
Most versatile rider of the year: Moscon, that guy is crazy.
U23 rider of the year: Gaviria, winning 4 stages in his first Grand Tour at 22? Little doubt about this one.
Breakthrough rider of the year: Teuns, he's going to start winning big soon.
Team of the year: Quick-Step, from an epic Quick-Step-fail to total annihilation of the field within 24h? Only they can do it.

Best race of the year: De Ronde. Maybe I had too much Belgian bear during the race, but I was pretty thrilled that night.
Best race performance of the year: Gilbert, I guess it's all said now.
Craziest moment of the year: Dumoulin deciding to take a bathroom break at the foot of Umbrail.
Best race design of the year (no not in the thread ) : De Muur back in de Ronde.
I could not believe my eyes, when the legendary mountain goat Luke Rowe chased down Quintana on the Croix de Fer.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Cyclist of the year: Greg van Avermaet
Sprinter of the year: Not a clue
Classics rider of the year: Greg van Avermaet
Time-trialist of the year: Tom Dumoulin
Climber of the year: Miguel Angel Lopez
Most improved rider of the year: Tom Dumoulin
Most versatile rider of the year: Gianni Moscon
U23 rider of the year: Egan Arley Bernal
Breakthrough rider of the year: Gianni Moscon
Team of the year: Sunweb

Best race of the year: Ronde van Vlaanderen
Best race performance of the year: Philippe Gilbert winning RVV
Craziest moment of the year: poopgate
Best race design of the year (no not in the thread ): Amstel Gold Race
You could not believe your eyes, when ... happened... poopgate

 

[Durden93]

Froome
Kittel
GVA
Dumoulin
Dumoulin
Moscon
Moscon
Gaviria
Sky on results, Quick Step on value (palmares relative to payroll).

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Cyclist of the year: Froome
Sprinter of the year: Kittel
Classics rider of the year: Phil Gil
Time-trialist of the year: Dumoulin
Climber of the year: Meintjes
Most improved rider of the year: Barguil/Zakarin
Most versatile rider of the year: Kwiatkowski
U23 rider of the year: Bernal
Breakthrough rider of the year: Moscon
Most exciting rider: Contador
Team of the year: Quickstep
Most disappointing rider of the year: Esteban Chaves (he had a good reason though)
Most disappointing team of the year: Movistar

Best race of the year: Criterium du Dauphine stage 8
Best stage race of year: Giro
Best race performance of the year: Phil Gil at Flanders/Contador winning on the Angliru
Craziest moment of the year: Poopgate
You could not believe your eyes, when ... happened... : We lost TV coverage in a crucial moment at the WC

No you did not....

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Cyclist of the year: Froome
Sprinter of the year: Kittel
Classics rider of the year: Phil Gil
Time-trialist of the year: Dumoulin
Climber of the year: Meintjes
Most improved rider of the year: Barguil/Zakarin
Most versatile rider of the year: Kwiatkowski
U23 rider of the year: Bernal
Breakthrough rider of the year: Moscon
Most exciting rider: Contador
Team of the year: Quickstep
Most disappointing rider of the year: Esteban Chaves (he had a good reason though)
Most disappointing team of the year: Movistar

Best race of the year: Criterium du Dauphine stage 8
Best stage race of year: Giro
Best race performance of the year: Phil Gil at Flanders/Contador winning on the Angliru
Craziest moment of the year: Poopgate
You could not believe your eyes, when ... happened... : We lost TV coverage in a crucial moment at the WC

No you did not....

 

[Red Rick]

Greg van Avermaet isn't even top 3 for me this year.

 

[Netserk]

Froome, Tom and ??? (Valverde?)

 

[Roku]

Cyclist of the year: Tom Dumoulin
Sprinter of the year: Marcel Kittel
Classics rider of the year: Greg Van Avermaet
Time-trialist of the year: Primoz Roglic
Climber of the year: Blank.
Most improved rider of the year: Oliver Naesen / Matteo Trentin (Tied)
Most versatile rider of the year: Gianni Moscon / Michal Kwiatkowski (Tied)
Team of the year: Quick Step

Best race of the year: Giro d'Italia
Best race performance of the year: Tom Dumoulin - Giro
Craziest moment of the year: Poopgate.
You could not believe your eyes, when ... happened... Dumoulin stepping out of the bike to take a ***.

 

[Echoes]

Rather Greg was so dominant this year there should be no 2nd nor 3rd because nobody gets close to him. :exclaim:

 

[Durden93]

Re:

Froome, Tom and ??? (Valverde?)

You could argue that this year's top 3 is Froome, Dumoulin and Nibali. I wouldn't, though.

 

[Durden93]

It appears I missed a few categories.
Race of the year: Amstel
Race Performance of the year: Gilbert (Ronde)

 

[mikii4567]

Re:

Cyclist of the year: Dumoulin
Sprinter of the year: Kittel
Classics rider of the year: Gilbert, after a win in the best race of the year
Time-trialist of the year: Dumoulin
Climber of the year: I don't really know either. Probably Landa though
Most improved rider of the year: Woods
Most versatile rider of the year: Moscon
U23 rider of the year: Gaviria
Breakthrough rider of the year: Teuns
Team of the year: Quick-Step

Best race of the year: Ronde van Vlaanderen. Huge, epic race. Loved every second of it, 100/10 rating
Best race performance of the year: Gilbert
Craziest moment of the year: Dumoulin before Umbrail
Best race design of the year (no not in the thread ): maybe controversial, but Vuelta. On paper it could've been an epic edition, sadly Sky prevented that from happening
I could not believe my eyes, when Contador announced retirement

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Froome, Tom and ??? (Valverde?)

Nibali.

I don't think winning a monument and a few other classics to go with that is that special. Sagan (WRR, which is bigger than a monument), Kwiatkowski and Gilbert all did that this year, and GvA was probably the least emphatic monument win of the year.

Winning a monument and getting 2 GT podiums in one year is very unique, and I think only Chaves has done it before him this decade.


Honorary mentions to Valverde though, had a top 7 year even though it ended on the prologue of the Tour. And I think it's very close this year between Valverde, Gilbert, Kwiatkowski, GvA and Sagan.

 

[El Pistolero]

Rather Greg was so dominant this year there should be no 2nd nor 3rd because nobody gets close to him. :exclaim:

Van Avermaet had a very disappointing second half of the season.

Sagan really was the only cyclist that was in great shape for most races he entered (first half lacked results because of bad luck and unintelligent racing).

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Froome, Tom and ??? (Valverde?)

Nibali.

I don't think winning a monument and a few other classics to go with that is that special. Sagan (WRR, which is bigger than a monument), Kwiatkowski and Gilbert all did that this year, and GvA was probably the least emphatic monument win of the year.

Winning a monument and getting 2 GT podiums in one year is very unique, and I think only Chaves has done it before him this decade.


Honorary mentions to Valverde though, had a top 7 year even though it ended on the prologue of the Tour. And I think it's very close this year between Valverde, Gilbert, Kwiatkowski, GvA and Sagan.

Eh, Stybar was wheel-sucking him for quite a few KMs and Greg didn't care or complain, he simply rode on... and won. That's impressive.

Kwiatko won Milan-San Remo because he wheel-sucked Sagan, like he always does. His victory in Strade Bianche was the most blatant motor-pacing I've ever seen (this is more the fault of the organizers, but still).

His win in Gent-Wevelgem was also amazing, it was one of the best one-day races of the year for sure.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Froome, Tom and ??? (Valverde?)

Nibali.

I don't think winning a monument and a few other classics to go with that is that special. Sagan (WRR, which is bigger than a monument), Kwiatkowski and Gilbert all did that this year, and GvA was probably the least emphatic monument win of the year.

Winning a monument and getting 2 GT podiums in one year is very unique, and I think only Chaves has done it before him this decade.


Honorary mentions to Valverde though, had a top 7 year even though it ended on the prologue of the Tour. And I think it's very close this year between Valverde, Gilbert, Kwiatkowski, GvA and Sagan.

Eh, Stybar was wheel-sucking him for quite a few KMs and Greg didn't care or complain, he simply rode on... and won. That's impressive.

Kwiatko won Milan-San Remo because he wheel-sucked Sagan, like he always does.

His win in Gent-Wevelgem was also amazing, it was one of the best one-day races of the year for sure.

GW was Terpstra-gate right? Or was that E3?

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Froome, Tom and ??? (Valverde?)

Nibali.

I don't think winning a monument and a few other classics to go with that is that special. Sagan (WRR, which is bigger than a monument), Kwiatkowski and Gilbert all did that this year, and GvA was probably the least emphatic monument win of the year.

Winning a monument and getting 2 GT podiums in one year is very unique, and I think only Chaves has done it before him this decade.


Honorary mentions to Valverde though, had a top 7 year even though it ended on the prologue of the Tour. And I think it's very close this year between Valverde, Gilbert, Kwiatkowski, GvA and Sagan.

Eh, Stybar was wheel-sucking him for quite a few KMs and Greg didn't care or complain, he simply rode on... and won. That's impressive.

Kwiatko won Milan-San Remo because he wheel-sucked Sagan, like he always does.

His win in Gent-Wevelgem was also amazing, it was one of the best one-day races of the year for sure.

GW was Terpstra-gate right? Or was that E3?

Yeah, that was G-W.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

hard to determine cyclist of the year. Froome rode a very quiet first part of the season, but won Tour+Vuelta.
Van Avermaet had a great classics season, but an uninspiring 2nd half. Many top placings but with boring racing and more focussed on WT points.
Sagan was good everywhere but sometimes had the whole peloton against him.
Dumoulin had a great Giro and a great august/sept with binck bank + WC ITT but was a bit absent in the middle of the season and went off with illness.
Valverde was fantastisc in the spring but then broke his season in the TDF
Nibali was good but not good enough in the Giro and Vuelta, but had a great end..
Kwiatkowski also had a great spring but also some very long off-periods

All in all, I have to go for Froome because of the uniqueness of Tour + Vuelta.
The only thing that could have topped that was Van Avermaet, Dumoulin or Kwiatkowski winning the worlds RR or Lombardia or both. And they didn't

 

[El Pistolero]

hard to determine cyclist of the year. Froome rode a very quiet first part of the season, but won Tour+Vuelta.
Van Avermaet had a great classics season, but an uninspiring 2nd half. Many top placings but with boring racing and more focussed on WT points.
Sagan was good everywhere but sometimes had the whole peloton against him.
Dumoulin had a great Giro and a great august/sept with binck bank + WC ITT but was a bit absent in the middle of the season and went off with illness.
Valverde was fantastisc in the spring but then broke his season in the TDF
Nibali was good but not good enough in the Giro and Vuelta, but had a great end..
Kwiatkowski also had a great spring but also some very long off-periods

All in all, I have to go for Froome because of the uniqueness of Tour + Vuelta.
The only thing that could have topped that was Van Avermaet, Dumoulin or Kwiatkowski winning the worlds RR or Lombardia or both. And they didn't

I agree for once, except the last paragraph. Can't call someone a rider of the year with such uninspired racing, otherwise I'd have to vote Cavendish for cyclist of 2011.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Re: Re:

Cyclist of the year: Froome
Sprinter of the year: Kittel
Classics rider of the year: Phil Gil
Time-trialist of the year: Dumoulin
Climber of the year: Meintjes
Most improved rider of the year: Barguil/Zakarin
Most versatile rider of the year: Kwiatkowski
U23 rider of the year: Bernal
Breakthrough rider of the year: Moscon
Most exciting rider: Contador
Team of the year: Quickstep
Most disappointing rider of the year: Esteban Chaves (he had a good reason though)
Most disappointing team of the year: Movistar

Best race of the year: Criterium du Dauphine stage 8
Best stage race of year: Giro
Best race performance of the year: Phil Gil at Flanders/Contador winning on the Angliru
Craziest moment of the year: Poopgate
You could not believe your eyes, when ... happened... : We lost TV coverage in a crucial moment at the WC

No you did not....

 

[Tonton]

Cyclist of the year: Dawg has to get that one. I want to say Dumoulin, but let's be real: the double is a huge feat.
Sprinter of the year: Le Beau Marcel was the fastest sprinter, period. Again, I hate to admit it, but it's true.
Classics rider of the year: very close call, but I give the nod to GVA over Gilbert.
Time-trialist of the year : Dumourain, no question.
Climber of the year: tough to tell: Quintana didn't dominate, Barguil deserves a mention for his July exploits, Giropino week-3 was impressive, but to me Landa deserves this.
Most improved rider of the year: I don't consider that Zakarin improved that much; he just fulfilled his potential. On the other hand, Major Tom went from a podium contender to the best GT rider in the World, I would argue. Dumoulin then.
Most versatile rider of the year: Too bad that Don Alejandro had his season shortened, otherwise he'd win the award every year. To me, Kwiat deserves it in '18. He won MSR, la Strade, and San Sebastian, podium at l'Amstel and LBL, AND he was the workhorse for the Sky train at the TdF, showing an incredible engine, and obviously some serious climbing skills.
U23 rider of the year: Gaviria with a big margin over Gaudu-Bernal.
Breakthrough rider of the year: I'll be biased: it goes to Arnaud Demare who went from being a second tier sprinter, barely better than Bouhani and Coquard, to being the second or third fastest guy in the pro peloton.
Team of the year: Sunweb ahead of $$$ky.
Best race of the year: The Ronde, by a mile.
Best race performance of the year: Nibali GDL or Gilbert RVV. Tossup...I take it back! Dumoulin-Giro.
Craziest moment of the year: The Dump.
Best GT of the year: Il Giro.
Bad Guy Award: Nacer won't make it five in a row. Moscon wins that one ahead of Bakelants.
Sportsmanship moment of the year: the two FDJ at le Tour de l'Ain.
Best career happy ending of the year: Alberto Contador will win this bike race...Magic on Angliru.

 

[DNP-Old]

Cyclist of the year: Greg Van Avermaet for the third year in a row and for the third year in a row I'm the only one naming him, though this time I have every ranking on my side but CNF = GT as we all know.
Sprinter of the year: Arnaud Démare
Classics rider of the year: Greg Van Avermaet obviously
Time-trialist of the year: Tom Dumoulin
Climber of the year: I don't know
Most improved rider of the year: Dylan Teuns
Most versatile rider of the year: Mathieu Van der Poel [cyclocross (sand, hills, flat), road (hills, dirt roads, sprint), MTB (cross-country, marathon)]
U23 rider of the year: Mathieu Van der Poel
Breakthrough rider of the year: Dylan Teuns
Team of the year: Beobank Corendon


Best race of the year: Paris-Roubaix (every year it is, anyway)
Best race performance of the year: Greg Van Avermaet winning Paris-Roubaix
Craziest moment of the year: Mathieu Van der Poel getting back from Moun Ventoux in Lille at 11pm on the eve of the Elfstedenronde and present at the start of the race at 9am before getting outsprinted by Wout Van Aert in the sprint.
Best race design of the year (no not in the thread ): must necessarily be something new? Paris-Roubaix like every year of course.
You could not believe your eyes, when ... happened... so many riders punctured at the Cyclocross Worlds

Wtf is this?

 

[Parker]

You could not believe your eyes, when ... happened...: Dumoulin's poo again until I remember something better

I've remembered something better - the Aqua Blue bus at the Vuelta

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Cyclist of the year: Froome
Sprinter of the year: Kittel
Classics rider of the year: GVA
Time-trialist of the year: Dumoulin
Climber of the year: Froome
Most improved rider of the year: Dumoulin
Most versatile rider of the year: Kwiatkowski
U23 rider of the year: Gaviria
Breakthrough rider of the year: Moscon
Team of the year: Sky

Most disappointing rider of the year: Quintana
Most disappointing team of the year: Movistar

Best race of the year: Dauphine last stage
Best stage race of the year: Vuelta
Craziest moment of the year: Dumoulin toilet
You could not believe your eyes, when ... happened... : Dumoulin toilet

 

[sir fly]

Sagan made history by winning the third title in a row.
Hard to say it makes him Cyclist of the year, since he underperformed in the spring, but Best race performance of the year could be an adequate alternative. But then again, where to put Gilbert's solo?
Can't go through all the other categories, I'm too lazy, just wanted to point out the paradox.