With National Championship season wrapping up I thought I would end McCormick’s first season with some awards. Very creative I know.
Young Rider of the Year
For a team who has a major goal of developing young US riders and that included 7 25 and under US riders it is a little bittersweet to have to give this award to an Eritrean. But is impossible to deny that the winner was the standout among our young riders with his presence in the breaks in nearly every race in which he rode. His season was capped off by a highly deserved KOM victory in the Tour of Bulgaria. And the winner is:
Spoiler
Danial Habtemichael
Domestique of the Year
In 2019 being a domestique for McCormick was all about delivering Dan Holloway into position to do his magic. And one rider was consistently present for Dan, always at the front in the tough races and often the last man before Dan himself in the Holloway Express. And the winner is:
Spoiler
Mateo Frankovic
Rider of the Year
Obviously had to think long and hard about this one and after much consideration decided not only to give him the award but name it after him. So the first winner of the MCormick Dan Holloway Rider of the Year is
Spoiler
Dan Holloway
To wrap the season it seems appropriate to finish with some Dan Holloway factoids:
1. In 32 non-TT stages/classics Dan recorded 12 wins, that is a win rate of 37.5%. Taking out the 4 times Dan was thwarted by a late attack, so he wasn’t sprinting for the win, his win rate goes up to 42.9%
2. In 7 GCs Dan’s results were 1st, 5th, 5th, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd (bringing his win total up to 15)
3. In 32 non-TT stages Dan finished in the top-10, 25 times (one of those was a hilly stage, he only managed 4th)
4. Dan was consistent regardless of the competition, his non-TT win rate was C1: 35.3%, C2: 55.6%, C2HC: 20%.
5. Per the MGUCI Holloway accounted for 76% of McCormick's points, setting a record for that percentage.
Finally Holloway stats: (TTs excluded from stage results):
Holloway was wild this year and that overview really hammers that home Not sure there is ever going to be a more worthy rider of the year for any team ^^
As said in my HQ very proud of the work Habtemichael did with you guys in his neo-pro season with a great number of breakaways and building up to that KOM success in Bulgaria, and very pleased to see him with that award becoming a permanent part of your team's history Thanks for having him!
And it's almost benign to say at this point, but Holloway was stunning
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Not sure there is ever going to be a more worthy rider of the year for any team ^^
Thanks for having him!
