Here's a place to discuss the awards for real-world cycling achievements. Time to decide which of your favorite superstars should win the awards.
We all enjoyed having a (mostly) full schedule back this year, at least at the WT level. There were amazing performances by many riders, though under were unfortunately robbed of a Pog v. Rog TDF duel. We saw young riders continue to dominate, but we also saw Valverde top 5 every Ardennes classic at 41. We saw new faces surprise that we like, and new faces surprise that we are convinced are doping. Lots of awards and perspectives to go around.
The awards are listed below or in the main awards discussion thread:
Spoiler
Rider of the Year
Surprise (Rider) of the Year
Team of the Year
Grand Tour of the Year (Nominations not necessary)
Grand Tour Stage of the Year
WT Stage Race of the Year
Non-WT Stage Race of the Year
Stage (non-GT) of the Year
WT Classic of the Year
Non-WT Classic of the Year
Note: This is mostly copied from Croatia's post last year:
The cycling awards are the ones that generally get the most attention in the voting phase, but because the nomination phase might be tougher for most, they actually get the least nominations. This thread serves as a way to brush up everyone's memory about what happened during the 2021 calendar year.
Last year this thread didn't get much action, but it would really help the nominations process to get a discussion going here, to help people's memories be jogged.
What you can do in this thread:
- Mention any particular that you think was worth remembering about the 2021 cycling season: specifically, you can post info about particularly worthy races that you think might have been overlooked, riders that had special seasons etc.
What you can not do in this thread:
- Go off-topic. This thread is strictly dedicated to the cycling awards. If you want to discuss other awards, you're encouraged to do so in the main thread:
- Argue about why you think something another user proposed is not even worth nominating;
- Officially nominate something. That should still be done via a PM sent to Cunego59 as instructed in the main awards information thread.
TMM's here to talk about Womens Cycling of course!
Surprise (Rider) of the Year Anna Kiesenhofer
The women with no pro team, no real national association support, who took on the might of the Dutch and shocked the entire world to claim an EPIC solo Olympic Road Race Gold. We have not see a shock like this in a National Teams race since... er... ever?
Anna is the embodiment of surprise through preparation and used her smarts and training to outwit the best of the best on a tricky and hot Tokyo course. Nothing even gets close this level of surprise in 2021.
WT Classic of the Year Paris–Roubaix Femmes
The mud! The rain! The crashes! Everything we want from a Roubaix, and then Lizzie attacked and rode away from everyone for the whole race in one of the purest shows of strength possible. Plus she crashed and still extended her lead.
Just a worth winner based on the fact alone she destroyed her hands on the bumps without adequate taping. This was the closest i've felt to a Golden Age 50's style ride in a long time. Truly epic way to celebrate the first ever Womens Roubaix.
Team of the Year Italy Women - World Champs
This was a master class in strategy and confidence. Balsamo had no right to win this race, she didn't have much pedigree to even put her as an outsider. But smart team riding from Italy kept almost their who contingent up front throughout the race. The confidence they displayed to trust other riders to control a frantic final few laps, to allow the Dutch to implode themselves, and then to wait until the final turn, it was magnificent. The Azzurri flooding forwards at that final turn, taking away any chance for Vos or anyone to challenge was a sight to behold. Not seen a more deserving team Worlds win since Cav '11.
ringo182 wrote:
Surprise rider of the year - Mark Cavendish.
Even at 36 surely he wins this one hands down this year.
Yeah, Cavendish has to be the biggest surprise, though most Bahrain riders could have won in other years.
Even Bahrain guys were a shock, and I think that's what most impressive to me personally. It wasn't just one or two guys showing themselves up...Cav beat a legion of legitimately great riders and teams with the guys at QS.
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