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FEATURES: RACY LANGUAGE: THE 2011 YEAR END REVIEW
Tim Maloney
December 31, 2011
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Most Spectacular Rider: Phil "The Thrill" Gilbert filled the bill here with his fantastic season. Not only did Glbert win 18 races in 2011, ending up as the #1 rider in the UCI World rankings, he won big and he won all season long. His first win was in Portugal in February and his last in the GP de Wallonie in mid-September. Alongside his Stage 1 win in the Tour de France that gave him his first career Maillot Jaune, as well as his Belgian road & time-trial championships and Tour of Belgium win, Gilbert's finest moments came in April when he completely dominated the Ardennes classics, a performance reminiscent of Eddy Merckx himself.
First there was his Brabantse Pijl win, followed by his second straight Amstel Gold Race, then powerful ride to win La Flèche Wallonne. Finally, Phil thrilled at Liège–Bastogne–Liège by pummeling the Schleck brothers in the finale and winning 4 straight world-class races, a feat hardly ever equalled.
After the Tour Phil continued to thrill, with wins in Klassika San Sebastian, a stage in the ENECO Tour, Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and wrapped up with the Grand Prix de Wallonie in September. Gilbert took the prestigious Velo d'Or award for his 2012 season in November and will look for another big year in 2012 with his major goals of a World Championships win in Holland.
Best Ride Of the Year: Andy Schleck, Tour De France Stage 18 / Pinerolo-Galibier Serre-Chevalier
200.5km. On Thursday, July 21 2011, Andy Schleck finally showed his immense talent in full. With the Tour De France on the line, Schleck attacked on the Col d'Izoard with 70km to race and eventually won the stage atop the Galibier. Schleck's move was authentic, old-school racing and almost netted him the Maillot Jaune, a prize that came the next day atop l'Alpe d'Huez. Although Andy Schelck finished second again in the 2011 Tour De France for the third year in a row, his audacious move on Stage 18 showed more than ever that he has what it takes to win Le Tour someday.
Best Sprint of the Year: With 200 meters to go in the 2011 World Championships in Copenhagen, it looked like British sprinter Mark Cavendish was out of the running. Despite the overall race domination by Cav's UK squad, the Australian team had played the finale perfectly and positioned Matthew Goss perfectly for the final uphill sprint. Cav was boxed in with 150 meter to go but suddenly he burst through a tiny gap to power up the right hand side and pass Goss in the last meters, taking the rainbow jersey by a half-wheel. A simply brilliant ride from the worlds fastest sprinter to take his first World Championship. Next stop for Cav? How about the Gold Medal in the the 2012 Olympic Road Race in London?
#1 Confirmation: Cadel Evans wins the 2011 Tour De France. He was close before; the Aussie had been runner-up twice with 5 top-10 places in 7 participations. This year, at 34 years of age, Cadel Evans finally confirmed what many thought he could: become the first Australian to win the Tour De France. The former mountain bike champion had a lot of ups and downs after he switched to road racing in 2000 but at this years Tour, all of his experience came together for the win. Although he only wore the Maillot Jaune on the final stage and was the the oldest to win the Tour's overall general classification in the post-war era, Evans Tour win is confirmation of his talent and determination.
#1 Surprise: When Tasmanian rider Matthew Harley Goss crossed the finsih line of Italian classic Milano-Sanremo on March 19th, it was the biggest surprise of the season. Previously though of as an understudy sprinter to Mark Cavendish on Team HTC, Gossy rose to the challenge in a tough Sanremo to blow the doors off of Leopard Trek's Fabian Cancellara in the sprint finish. Goss had some big wins previously like a stage in the 2010 Giro d'Italia and GP Ouest-France, but nothing like a major classic. After Sanremo, Goss was quiet with just a stage win in the Tour of California,but came alive for Silver in the Men's Road World Championship, narrow beaten by British sprinter Mark Cavendish for the world title. In 2012, Goss will ride with the first Aussie ProTour team, GreenEdge.
Top Revelation: Peter Sagan won't be 22 until January 26, but with 15 professional wins in 2011, the Slovak speedster was THE major revelation of the year. The Liquigas-Cannondale rider was 2008 Junior World MTB Champion and was also second at the Junior World Cyclocross Championships and the Junior Paris–Roubaix. Pro at 19, Sagan showed his talent right away at the 2010 Tour Down Under, impressing even Lance Armstrong. He won stages in Paris–Nice, Tour de Romandie and the Tour of
California that season. Going into his sophomore season with Liquigas-Cannondale, Sagan was under a lot of pressure to produce and boy did he ever! Sagan took 15 wins in 2011, including the overall win in the Tour de Pologne (including two stage wins), three stage wins in the Vuelta a España, he overall win in the Giro di Sardinia (including three stage wins), two stage wins in the Tour de Suisse and a stage win and the points classification in the Tour of California. 2012 should be an interesting year for Sagan, as he may make his Tour De France debut and will certainly be a favorite for the 2012 Olympic Road Race in London.
Biggest Loser: Pity poor Fabian Cancellara. 2011 was not much of a year for the powerful Swiss rider nicknamed Spartacus. He turned 30 and started the year as first loser in Milano-Sanremo. At the Tour of Flanders he was the most marked rider after a massive win just before in E3 Harelbeke but wasn't able to take the bouquet there. After a dominating performance in 2010 at Paris-Roubaix, Cancellara was again a marked man and was 2nd in Roubaix. Cancellara took some solid time trial wins but was only 3rd at the World Championships TT. Spartacus has now lost his crown as world best time-trialist to emerging German Tony Martin. Will Spartacus be back in 2012?
Saddest Day Of All: May 9 2011. Belgian rider Wouter Weylandt crashed on Stage 3 of the 2011 Giro d'Italia. With 17km to the finish, Weylandt had his tragic fatal crash. According to observers who were descending behind Weylandt, he looked back over his left shoulder at other riders before a slight left-hand bend, lost control and hit a concrete guard rail on the left side of the road with his foot and pedal. Weylandt crashed heavily on his right side and probably died on impact. May 10th's Stage 4 was neutralized, with teams taking turns to ride in front, and all riders wearing black armbands. A Bersaglieri band performed "Taps" at the beginning of the stage, while tifosi displayed messages of condolence and wore 108, Weylandt's race number to commemorate his passing. Rest In Peace, Wouter.
(photos courtesy of Roberto Bettini) |
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