VeloVoices Awards 2017 : All the results!

We had 11 categories, two weeks (or thereabouts) of voting and these are the results of the Veloshirians …

Rider of the Year (Women)

With a whopping 80% of the vote, this coveted award went to Annamiek van Vleuten. Anna van der Breggen received 12% of the vote, then Elisa Longo Borghini, Coryn Rivera and Chantal Blaak.

Rider of the Year (Male)

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With only one vote between Tom Dumoulin and Peter Sagan, the Dutch rider won with 31% of the vote, denying Sagan a three-peat of the title. Chris Froome came in third, followed by Michal Kwiatkowski and Greg Van Avermaet respectively. We had two write-in votes: Mikel Landa and Alberto Contador.

Breakthrough Rider

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This was the most voted for category and the winner took it by a mile. Coryn Rivera took 86% of the vote, leaving Matej Mohoric, Egan Bernal, Yves Lampaert, Fernando Gaviria and Mads Pederson to scrounge around for the scraps.

Best Women’s Race Finish 2017

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This wasn’t even close with Strade Bianche winning with 45% of the vote. Second with 28% is Tour of Flanders; 17% went to La Course. Giro Rosa, Stage 5 and Emakumeen Euskal Bira, Stage 5 tied for last.

Best Men’s Race Finish 2017

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This was almost a photofinish, with Milan-SanRemo, World Championships and Angliru stage of the Vuelta all within 2% of each other (in that order). Stage 6 of Dauphine and Il Lombardia were well behind. And we had a write-in vote for Rigo’s win in stage 9 of the Tour – ‘winning on essentially a single speed’

Unsung Heroes

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This was a popular category and the votes were spread out, but it was the Bora-bound BMC wildman, Daniel Oss, who took this award with 33% of the votes. Julien Vermote and Jarlinson Pantano came 2nd and 3rd respectively with 24% and 20%. Bridie O’Donnell took 12% of the vote. We also had a few write in votes for Maciej Bodner, Koen de Kort, Amanda Spratt and Sarah Connolly!

What the hell?

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While Peter Sagan’s DQ from the Tour won this category with 29% of the vote, the other places were pretty hard fought. However, 2nd was Thomas de Gendt not getting TdF most combative with 18% of the vote; a tie for third between Gianni Moscon’s behaviour and the ASO continual meddling with La Course at 15% each. The Pinarello ad and Tom Dumoulin’s unscheduled stop brought up the rear … so to speak.

That sinking feeling

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It was Cav and Sagan out of the tour with nearly half the votes at 42%; second was Claudia Cretti’s horrific crash at 28%; Vuelta top spot locked at stage 3 took 17%; and Samu Sanchez picks up last for his positive test.

If only …

We had a tie in this category: if only Peter Sagan had stayed in the Tour and if only there were more riders like Alberto Contador both brought in 38% of the vote. Another 14% of the vote went to if only Tom Boonen won his fifth (and final) Roubaix. The last lap of Luka Pibernik received 3 votes and there was one write in for: if only we could have full coverage of the women’s world tour.

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Best (Sagan) Hair

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Well, it seems you all like Peter Long Locks, as it was the Psycho Trucker look and the Man bun & beard combo taking the top two places. Then you went short with Starting over, followed by Goggles and locks and finally the super short Lion Shorn look.

Lifetime Achievement Award

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I’m surprised this wasn’t a bit closer between Alberto Contador and Tom Boonen but it wasn’t – Baby Blackbird flew away with this category with a whopping 65% of the vote, leaving Tommeke with 21% and Thomas Voeckler and Orica Backstage Pass bringing up the rear. There was one write-in vote for Transition man himself, Tyler Farrar.

If you fancy an indepth look at the 2017 season, have a look at our A to Z : Part 1 (A-M) and Part 2 (N-Z).