You’ve read the five of us discussing our thoughts on the 2012 season throughout the year. Now it’s time to make your voices heard as we open the voting for the inaugural VeloVoices Awards. Over ten days in ten categories – some serious, others less so – we’re asking you to select your choices of 2012. We’ll publish the final results in the run-up to Christmas. (Hopefully next year we’ll have a grand gala dinner in central London …)
We’re starting with the award for Rider of the Year. Our nominations are as follows:
Panache: One might question Bradley Wiggins’ haircut, his choice of words and his overall style but no one can question his results. He accomplished every one of his season goals by winning Paris-Nice, the Dauphiné, Romandie, the Tour de France and the Olympic gold medal in the time trial. He has bettered most successful careers in one season and established British cycling as the best in the world when it comes to Grand Tours.
Sheree: According to the UCI World Ranking, Cycling Quotient and Cycling Ranking, last year’s best rider was the pint-sized powerhouse Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) for the second time in three years. Only IG Markets [not exactly a disinterested party – Ed] had Bradley Wiggins in first place rather than second. Purito won two stages and placed second in the Giro, and won three stages and placed third in the Vuelta. This was book-ended by Classics victories at Flèche Wallonne and Il Lombardia. He was more consistent than Wiggins for longer and in a wider range of races. Does that make him the best? It does in my and a number of other books.
Tim: I said at the start of the season that Peter Sagan was going to be one of the men to watch in 2012, and the 22-year old Slovak exceeded even my expectations. Three stage victories and the green jersey at the Tour de France. Five wins at the Tour of California, four at the Tour de Suisse and four top fives in the spring Classics, including podium finishes at Gent-Wevelgem and Amstel Gold. He’s competitive against even the fastest pure sprinters, he can climb with the Classics strong men and he does it all with a smile on his face. I don’t say this lightly: he is an astonishing talent.
Kitty: Tornado Tom Boonen swept everything and everyone before him in the spring Classics, putting on a show of power, finesse and guts that was second to none this season. His wins were sometimes cunning, sometimes brute power, sometimes sheer audacity and all of them were thrilling. But the main reason I believe he should be Rider of the Year is because the races he won were one-day races. There was no room for mistakes, no room for bad luck or stray bidons, no time trials to bank time. He had a strong team supporting him, but by the end of the race it was down to him and him alone to finish them off. And he did. Spectacularly.
Jack: Though he may not have clocked up as many wins as the other nominees, Vincenzo Nibali certainly rivals Rodriguez for all-round ability and consistency. Establishing his short and long stage race credentials by winning Tirreno–Adriatico and being the only rider willing to challenge Wiggins at the Tour, Nibbles’ podiums at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Milan-San Remo reveal just what a talent he is. A podium at the Tour was a terrific way for the Italian to bow out of the Liquigas team at which he has been for six seasons. Had he had a bit more fortune, the Shark of Messina would have even more victories on his 2012 palmarès.
Tomorrow we’ll unveil our shortlist for Team of the Year.
Though I’d nominate mark cavendish too. Although he had perhaps a “difficult” year with Sky, he still achieved several stellar victories, was seen in a role, rarely if ever seen before, as a domestique for both sky and the gb team, more crashes than usual it appeared and all generally with a smile on his face. Most importantly there was rarely a word of dissention. How many others would act likewise?