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Your 2018 Season Highlights

Page 2 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
- Best rider of the year:
1. Valverde
2. Sagan
3. S. Yates
4. Thomas
5. Froome
6. Viviani
7. Dumoulin

- Best team of the year: QuickStep
- Best climber of the year: S. Yates
- Best sprinter of the year: Viviani
- Classics rider of the year: Sagan
- Breakthrough of the year: Valgren Andersen
- Newcomer of the year: Bernal

- Best single day of racing:
1. Paris-Roubaix
2. Lombardia
3. World championship

- Best stage race: Basque Country
- Best overall ride of the year: Sagan (Paris-Roubaix)
- Best climbing performance: Froome (stage 19 Giro)
- Best/most entertaining sprint: Sagan (stage 2 Tour)
- Best designed race/stage: New Paris-Tours/world's road race

- Most emotional moment: Degenkolb winning cobbled Tour stage after long absence.
- Most underrated performance:
1. Quintana's stage wins in Switzerland and Tour; proving that he's still got it on his good days.
2. Nibali's Milano-Sanremo
3. López making two GT podiums.
- Most spirited ride that wasn't rewarded: Pozzovivo with 28 top 10s./Pinot and Yates in Giro.
- My jaw dropped at orbital velocity when ... happened: Evenepoel returning from crash at world's junior race.
- I literally laughed out loud when:
1. Jan Ullrich made the news again.
2. Tafi announced his comeback

- The "True Spirit of the Cyclingnews Forum Award":
1. De Marchi
2. Pozzovivo
3. Pinot
4. Alaphilippe
5. De Gendt
6. Roglic
 
- Best rider of the year: Tom Dumoilin. Winning is overrated.
- Best team of the year: QuickStep.
- Best climber of the year: I'm tempted to say Chis Froome, since his performance on the Finestre was an instant classic, but I'll go with Simon Yates.
- Best sprinter of the year: Dylan Groenewegen was the best pure sprinter and he's currently the fastest man in the peloton, but Elia Viviani won more and won some tougher races too (NC springs to mind). So Viviani gets the edge.
- Classics rider of the year: coin toss between Peter Sagan and Niki Terpstra, the latter looking a tad more dominant in his big wins.
- Breakthrough of the year: Primoz Roglic. HM: Bernal, Ackermann, Mas.
- Newcomer of the year: Ben O'Connor, I feel like we're forgetting what this guy was doing before crashing out of the Giro. And, unlike the Bernal/Mas/Sosa of this world, he was a no name before 2018.

- Best single day of racing: This is really really tough. Froome raid in Giro stage 19 has already reached legendary status in my mind (being on the Finestre to witness it surely helped). Lombardia was also an incredible race, with top riders attacking from 50km out and never looking back. Paris-Nice also had his fair share of amazing racing, especially in its last stage. But I'll go with Strade Bianche, because it looked like cycling from a different era, with riders covered in mud and relentlessly attacking eachother. Benoot breaking the curse was also a great moment of joy for me.
- Best stage race: Paris-Nice was brilliant. Giro was great but the route was a bit anemic for my liking.
- Best overall ride of the year: Chris Froome - Giro stage 19, a day to remember.
- Best climbing performance: Simon Yates - Giro stage 15 to Sappada.
- Best/most entertaining sprint: no such thing.
- Best designed race/stage: No need to look for fancy stuff. We all know that Paris-Roubaix is always the best designed race of the year.

- Most emotional moment: Thibaut Pinot and Vincenzo Nibali had quite the emotional rollercoaster throughout the season so their testa a testa over the hills of Lombardia (with Pinot finally winning his favorite race and Nibali getting back to a high level after we all wondered if his career was over) was clearly the most emotional moment of the year for me.
- Most underrated performance: Silvan Dillier - Paris Roubaix. I don't think he's given enough credit for his second place. He'd been in the break for a long time before being caught by Sagan and then he kept taking pulls almost to the finish line.
- Most spirited ride that wasn't rewarded: Steven Kruijswijk - Tour stage 12. He made me dream he could derail the Sky train for a couple of hours, and then Bernal happened. Remarkable nonetheless.
- My jaw dropped at orbital velocity when: I'll quote tobydawq here "Óscar Rodríguez of whom I had never heard before got up to and went past Majka and Teuns on la Camperona."
- I literally laughed out loud when: it was a gloomy day, early February. I was having lunch or dinner (or probably both together) with my girlfriend and her family when my brother called me on the phone. And I was like: what the hell, he never calls me, something serious must have happened. I pick up the phone and he's screaming something that I don't understand, I figure he's in the hospital with severe wounds or something. I tell him to calm down and he screams louder: the *** I calm down Moreno Moser just won the f*cking Laigueglia and you totally missed it. And yeah I laughed and stayed happy for the whole week :)

The "True Spirit of the Cyclingnews Forum Award" - Andrea Tafi claiming he'll be back racing PR at 52 years old. I mean the guys down there in the clinic must be preparing a champagne vertical tasting for April. Unreal stuff.
 
- Best rider of the year: G
- Best team of the year: Quickstep
- Best climber of the year: G
- Best sprinter of the year: Viviani.
- Classics rider of the year: Alaphilippe
- Breakthrough of the year: Ackermann
- Newcomer of the year: pros: Jakobsen. Otherwise Evenepoel, obviously

- Best single day of racing: Paris-Roubaix
- Best stage race: Tour de France by default.
- Best overall ride of the year: Froome's Giro solo
- Best breathing through the nose climbing performance: G soft pedalling on La Rosière, L'Alpe d'Huez, Portet.
- Best all-out climbing performance: Any one of Simon Yates' three most ridiculous Giro exploits

- Best/most entertaining sprint: Gaviria, first Tour stage.
- Best designed race/stage: Giro Sappada stage

- Most emotional moment: Degenkolb Tour / Valverde Worlds
- Most underrated performance: It's rated highly alright, but still: Geraint's Tour. Didn't even have to ****ing try.
- Most spirited ride that wasn't rewarded: Kruijswijk Alpe
- My jaw dropped at orbital velocity when ... happened - never
- I literally laughed out loud when: Yates' Etna, Froome powering away on Finestre and extending his lead on Sestriere, Aru's TT and Tony Martin's reaction

- The "True Spirit of the Cyclingnews Forum Award":
Pinot's ride and his teammates' support when he got sick at the Giro. Didn't expect him to be the best climber in some of the autumn races after that. Quite a comeback.
 
Re:

Libertine Seguros said:
Also, another laugh out loud moment - George Bennett's interview at Jafferau. Whether he intended the implications the internet read into it or not, it was refreshing to see such a candid post-race interview, not the usual clichés.

Yeah, that was great. Forgot about that one.

https://www.facebook.com/TeamLottoNLJumboCycling/videos/george-bennett-did-froome-stay-away/1077639339051494/

^ they *still* have that video up, haha.

And Tony Martin, of course ...
https://www.lequipe.fr/Medias/Actualites/Giro-la-deception-de-tony-martin-apres-l-arrivee-de-fabio-aru/903556

another classic.

The Giro really did deliver on the comedic front. No other race came even remotely close.
 
- Best rider of the year: Tom Dumoulin
- Best team of the year: Quickstep
- Best climber of the year: Simon Yates
- Best sprinter of the year: Elia Viviani
- Classics rider of the year: Peter Sagan
- Breakthrough of the year: Enric Mas
- Newcomer of the year: Egan Bernal

- Best single day of racing: Il Lombardia
- Best stage race: Vuelta a España
- Best overall ride of the year: ..Froome's coup
- Best climbing performance: Simon Yates until his breakdown in the Giro
- Best/most entertaining sprint: Bouhanni's stage win was fun to watch, even though Viviani was a beast, despite no lead out that day
- Best designed race/stage: Strade Bianche I guess. Love that race, just like all other Italian one day races.

- Most emotional moment: Pinot's Lombardia victory
- Most underrated performance: Vanendert's unexpected (even though I had noticed him in Pais Vasco) 3rd place at La Fleche, even though he was riding for Wellens.
- Most spirited ride that wasn't rewarded: Dani Navarro being 1-200 meters from stage victory in the Dauphine, until Adam Yates stole it from him :mad:
- My jaw dropped at orbital velocity when Froome's alien ride, after looking human for most of the Giro. :eek: happened
- I literally laughed out loud when Froome toying was with Dumoulin and the others the day after his coup. All the other riders where knackered, whereas he didn't look the least bit tired the day after that solo ride. Just saw Libertine mentioning Bennett's "he did a Landis" interview, that was fun as hell and summing up many people's feelings about Froome's ride.
 
Re: Re:

18-Valve. (pithy) said:
Libertine Seguros said:
Also, another laugh out loud moment - George Bennett's interview at Jafferau. Whether he intended the implications the internet read into it or not, it was refreshing to see such a candid post-race interview, not the usual clichés.

Yeah, that was great. Forgot about that one.

https://www.facebook.com/TeamLottoNLJumboCycling/videos/george-bennett-did-froome-stay-away/1077639339051494/

^ they *still* have that video up, haha.

And Tony Martin, of course ...
https://www.lequipe.fr/Medias/Actualites/Giro-la-deception-de-tony-martin-apres-l-arrivee-de-fabio-aru/903556

another classic.

The Giro really did deliver on the comedic front. No other race came even remotely close.
Both fantastic :D :D :D
 
Aug 3, 2017
44
2
3,585
- Best rider of the year: Dumoulin
- Best team of the year: Quick Step
- Best climber of the year: S. Yates
- Best sprinter of the year: Groenewegen
- Classics rider of the year: Sagan (or Nibali?)
- Breakthrough of the year: Thomas
- Newcomer of the year: Evenepoel

- Best single day of racing: Lombardia (but Strade Bianche was epic too)
- Best stage race: Giro
- Best overall ride of the year: Froome
- Best climbing performance: Quintana to Portet d'Aspet?
- Best/most entertaining sprint: Paris Nice first stage, they were all exhausted long before the finish line! It's rather uncommon to witness a Demare/Izaguirre duel. A link because I think that I'm the only one to remember this:
https://www.eurosport.fr/cyclisme/paris-nice/2018/arnaud-demare-remporte-la-1re-etape-au-millimetre-pres_sto6663435/story.shtml
- Best designed race/stage: Lombardia (the order of the four last climbs seems perfect to me)

- Most emotional moment: Valverde at world and Pinot at Lombardia
- Most underrated performance: Bernal in the Tour?
- Most spirited ride that wasn't rewarded: Kruijswick in the Alpe-d'Huez stage
- My jaw dropped at orbital velocity when ... happened: Cancellaru
- I literally laughed out loud when: I saw Tony Martin's reaction to the above

- The "True Spirit of the Cyclingnews Forum Award": Nibali and Pinot at Lombardia: what we dream to see each race and what we (usually) never get
 
Re:

AnatoleNovak said:
- Best rider of the year: Dumoulin
- Best team of the year: Quick Step
- Best climber of the year: S. Yates
- Best sprinter of the year: Groenewegen
- Classics rider of the year: Sagan (or Nibali?)
- Breakthrough of the year: Thomas
- Newcomer of the year: Evenepoel

- Best single day of racing: Lombardia (but Strade Bianche was epic too)
- Best stage race: Giro
- Best overall ride of the year: Froome
- Best climbing performance: Quintana to Portet d'Aspet?
- Best/most entertaining sprint: Paris Nice first stage, they were all exhausted long before the finish line! It's rather uncommon to witness a Demare/Izaguirre duel. A link because I think that I'm the only one to remember this:
https://www.eurosport.fr/cyclisme/paris-nice/2018/arnaud-demare-remporte-la-1re-etape-au-millimetre-pres_sto6663435/story.shtml
- Best designed race/stage: Lombardia (the order of the four last climbs seems perfect to me)

- Most emotional moment: Valverde at world and Pinot at Lombardia
- Most underrated performance: Bernal in the Tour?
- Most spirited ride that wasn't rewarded: Kruijswick in the Alpe-d'Huez stage
- My jaw dropped at orbital velocity when ... happened: Cancellaru
- I literally laughed out loud when: I saw Tony Martin's reaction to the above

- The "True Spirit of the Cyclingnews Forum Award": Nibali and Pinot at Lombardia: what we dream to see each race and what we (usually) never get

Good call with that sprint. And yes, I think that's the only time a photo finish has been necessary to separate Gorka from Démare in a sprint!
 
RedheadDane said:
Koronin said:
Tonton said:
Best rider: Simon Yates. Great Giro, redemption at the Vuelta, good for him.
Best disappointment: Nairo Quintana.
Valverde. He can win Wimbledon too.
Best breaking the curse: Benoot.
Best one-day race, sportsmanship award, Nibali and Pinot.


LOL, I think Valverde is more likely to race Paris-Roubiax (which he said the only way he'll be in that race is in the team car) than he is to participate in Wimbledon. :lol: :lol:

Never say never.


Well maybe in about 5-8 years he'll start his new career as a cobbled classics specialist. Although he has said in the past he might race it in the Masters division.
 
- Best rider of the year: Tom Dumoulin (although he narrowly missed out on all his big targets, his ability back up an already impressive Giro-Tour performances with the way he did at the Wolrds lifts him above everyone else when an entire season is taken into account)

- Best team of the year: Quickstep (self-explanatory really)
- Best climber of the year: Simon Yates
- Best sprinter of the year: Dylan Groenewegen
- Classics rider of the year: Sagan (although it is really close with Terpstra)

- Breakthrough of the year: Simon Yates (he was already established as top-10 GC rider, but this year rose to a different level altogether)
- Newcomer of the year: as a WT level classics rider, Wout van Aert.

- Best single day of racing: Il Lombardia (it is just fresher in the memory than Strade Bianche and as a cycling fan I really needed the combination of excellent race crowned by a thoroughly likable winner, (as it happened in Lombardia) after the atrocities on display from late May through to July)

- Best overall ride of the year: Objectively, Froome on Finestre stage, but emotionally, it was the absolute low point for me during my time as a cycling fan.

- Best climbing performance: Simon Yates during the first two and half week of the Giro
- Best/most entertaining sprint: Don't remember any particular sprint specifically.
- Best designed race/stage: Paris - Tours (for how much better an already decent race got thanks to a new route)

- Most emotional moment: Pinot winning Lombardia. (Culmination of his rise from the ashes of the Giro)
- Most underrated performance: Lopez podiuming both the Giro and the Vuelta
- Most spirited ride that wasn't rewarded: Dumoulin's Giro-Tour double performance
- My jaw dropped at orbital velocity when ... happened: CancellAru
- I literally laughed out loud when: Nibali trolled the chasing group in Lombardia, also Najar channeling his inner Sayar.
 
Koronin said:
RedheadDane said:
Koronin said:
Tonton said:
Best rider: Simon Yates. Great Giro, redemption at the Vuelta, good for him.
Best disappointment: Nairo Quintana.
Valverde. He can win Wimbledon too.
Best breaking the curse: Benoot.
Best one-day race, sportsmanship award, Nibali and Pinot.


LOL, I think Valverde is more likely to race Paris-Roubiax (which he said the only way he'll be in that race is in the team car) than he is to participate in Wimbledon. :lol: :lol:

Never say never.


Well maybe in about 5-8 years he'll start his new career as a cobbled classics specialist. Although he has said in the past he might race it in the Masters division.

I meant the Wimbledon part.
 

  • - Best rider of the year: Froome
    - Best team of the year: Sky
    - Best climber of the year: Froome
    - Best sprinter of the year: Sagan
    - Classics rider of the year: Terpstra
    - Breakthrough of the year: Yates
    - Newcomer of the year: Evenpoel

    - Best single day of racing: Giro Finestre Stage
    - Best stage race: Giro
    - Best overall ride of the year: Froome's solo
    - Best climbing performance: Froome's solo
    - Best/most entertaining sprint: Valverde v Sagan in the Vuelta
    - Best designed race/stage: Col de Portet in the Tour

    - Most emotional moment: Degenkolb's Tour win
    - Most underrated performance: Froome's 3rd place in the Tour
    - Most spirited ride that wasn't rewarded: Bardet at Strade Bianche
    - My jaw dropped at orbital velocity when ... happened: Yates cracked early on Finestre
    - I literally laughed out loud when: Thomas won on Alpe d'Huez

    - The "True Spirit of the Cyclingnews Forum Award": Ullrich

 
Re: Re:

tobydawq said:
AnatoleNovak said:
- Best/most entertaining sprint: Paris Nice first stage, they were all exhausted long before the finish line! It's rather uncommon to witness a Demare/Izaguirre duel. A link because I think that I'm the only one to remember this:
https://www.eurosport.fr/cyclisme/paris-nice/2018/arnaud-demare-remporte-la-1re-etape-au-millimetre-pres_sto6663435/story.shtml

Good call with that sprint. And yes, I think that's the only time a photo finish has been necessary to separate Gorka from Démare in a sprint!
Technically an uphill sprint (2km á 5%), so kind of common overlap for a tough sprinter and explosive climber/allrounder. Don't forget we had Alaphilippe against Démare on a similar finish last year in Paris-Nice (not that Gorka is as explosive as Alaphilippe), so it can happen. But it was a really nice sprint nonetheless.
 
Re: Re:

Cance > TheRest said:
tobydawq said:
AnatoleNovak said:
- Best/most entertaining sprint: Paris Nice first stage, they were all exhausted long before the finish line! It's rather uncommon to witness a Demare/Izaguirre duel. A link because I think that I'm the only one to remember this:
https://www.eurosport.fr/cyclisme/paris-nice/2018/arnaud-demare-remporte-la-1re-etape-au-millimetre-pres_sto6663435/story.shtml

Good call with that sprint. And yes, I think that's the only time a photo finish has been necessary to separate Gorka from Démare in a sprint!
Technically an uphill sprint (2km á 5%), so kind of common overlap for a tough sprinter and explosive climber/allrounder. Don't forget we had Alaphilippe against Démare on a similar finish last year in Paris-Nice (not that Gorka is as explosive as Alaphilippe), so it can happen. But it was a really nice sprint nonetheless.

Alaphilippe vs. Démare was just the two of them, and Alaphilippe got mugged.

But of course, you're right, the 2018 PN sprint was just on the limit to suit either type of rider, though I must say I had never seen Gorka sprint that well before. The cobbles perhaps helped him somehow (he has a past as a cross rider).
 
RedheadDane said:
Koronin said:
RedheadDane said:
Koronin said:
Tonton said:
Best rider: Simon Yates. Great Giro, redemption at the Vuelta, good for him.
Best disappointment: Nairo Quintana.
Valverde. He can win Wimbledon too.
Best breaking the curse: Benoot.
Best one-day race, sportsmanship award, Nibali and Pinot.


LOL, I think Valverde is more likely to race Paris-Roubiax (which he said the only way he'll be in that race is in the team car) than he is to participate in Wimbledon. :lol: :lol:

Never say never.


Well maybe in about 5-8 years he'll start his new career as a cobbled classics specialist. Although he has said in the past he might race it in the Masters division.

I meant the Wimbledon part.

I didn't saw never. I just said it's more likely he'll race Paris-Roubiax. However, Wimbledon is highly unlikely as he's said after his knee injury last year he won't run anymore or do anything in which running is required as he doesn't want to risk any problems with his knee. (Granted different knee injury, but my husband had an ACL break and surgery and he won't do anything that requires running due to risk of re-injury to his knee. So I do understand this to a point.)
 
Re: Re:

tobydawq said:
Cance > TheRest said:
tobydawq said:
AnatoleNovak said:
- Best/most entertaining sprint: Paris Nice first stage, they were all exhausted long before the finish line! It's rather uncommon to witness a Demare/Izaguirre duel. A link because I think that I'm the only one to remember this:
https://www.eurosport.fr/cyclisme/paris-nice/2018/arnaud-demare-remporte-la-1re-etape-au-millimetre-pres_sto6663435/story.shtml

Good call with that sprint. And yes, I think that's the only time a photo finish has been necessary to separate Gorka from Démare in a sprint!
Technically an uphill sprint (2km á 5%), so kind of common overlap for a tough sprinter and explosive climber/allrounder. Don't forget we had Alaphilippe against Démare on a similar finish last year in Paris-Nice (not that Gorka is as explosive as Alaphilippe), so it can happen. But it was a really nice sprint nonetheless.

Alaphilippe vs. Démare was just the two of them, and Alaphilippe got mugged.

But of course, you're right, the 2018 PN sprint was just on the limit to suit either type of rider, though I must say I had never seen Gorka sprint that well before. The cobbles perhaps helped him somehow (he has a past as a cross rider).
The Demare-Gorka showdown might have been the best sprint of the decade!

The cycling world needs more odd sprints.

I'd like to see the outcome of a Koppenberg or Kappelmur HTF sprint with only a few hills before the final.

Sagan is the obvious choice but it might be steep enough for some of the climbers like Bala or Ala to do well. Or easy enough for someone like Kristoff to survive. I don't know.
 
Koronin said:
I didn't saw never. I just said it's more likely he'll race Paris-Roubiax. However, Wimbledon is highly unlikely as he's said after his knee injury last year he won't run anymore or do anything in which running is required as he doesn't want to risk any problems with his knee. (Granted different knee injury, but my husband had an ACL break and surgery and he won't do anything that requires running due to risk of re-injury to his knee. So I do understand this to a point.)

I think there might have been the slightest hint of irony in the others' posts...
 
I didn't think it was a classic Classic's season. My most entertaining races of the season were the Giro and the Vuelta even though the Vuelta didn't quite reach the standard of a few of the previous editions. Biggest surprise was Mas in the Vuelta and Thomas in the Tour. Biggest disappointment was Porte once again and Nibali in the Tour. Best super domestique performance was by Bernal in the Tour. Favourite classic performance was from Pinot in Lombardia. Favourite stage wins : Pinot and Ben King in the Vuelta and Froome in the Giro, all dual stage winners and Degenkolb's Tour stage win. Most disappointing team : Movistar in the grand tours. Most improved team : Michelton. Three riders that need a big result in a grand tour in 2019 : Porte, Aru and Quintana.
 

  • - Best rider of the year: Simon Yates
    - Best team of the year: Quickstep
    - Best climber of the year: Simon Yates
    - Best sprinter of the year: Elia Viviani
    - Classics rider of the year: Niki Terpstra
    - Breakthrough of the year: Enric Mas
    - Newcomer of the year: Egan Bernal

    - Best single day of racing: Strade Bianche
    - Best stage race: Paris-Nice
    - Best overall ride of the year: Niki Terpstra in the "Flemish classics"
    - Best climbing performance: Simon Yates in the first 17 days of the Giro
    - Best/most entertaining sprint: Champs Elysées
    - Best designed race/stage: AGR
    - Most emotional moment: Nibali winning MSR
    - My jaw dropped at orbital velocity when ... happened: Jafferau stage
    - The "True Spirit of the Cyclingnews Forum Award": QS in the one day races: making the race and running with it
    (You can name an individual rider, a group of riders, a team, a race or who/whatever you think fullfilled the spirit of this board the most during the year :D )
 

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