SADHBH O’SHEA

Best male rider of the year

It’s hard to look past Peter Sagan for this. Sagan is used to attention but wearing the rainbow bands was always going to make him a target in races. He’s dealt with the pressure beautifully, however, and is racing better than ever.

Best female rider of the year

I’m torn between Megan Guarnier and Anna Van Der Breggen but the latter gets it. While Guarnier had a superb early season, Van Der Breggen timed her form perfectly. Not content with winning gold in the Road Race at the Olympics, she took bronze in the Time Trial, too, and then added a European title.

Who else impressed you?

In previous years, Greg Van

Avermaet has been the butt of many bridesmaid-related jokes but last season he began turning things around. In 2016, he took another step and aside from his accident at Flanders he hit almost every note perfectly.

Best one- day race of the year

The Tour of Flanders has always taken up a big place in my heart and this year’s edition was one of the best in recent years. Sagan’s attack and the spirited chase by the soon-to-be retired Fabian Cancellara made for a dramatic race in what was an excellent cobbled Classics season.

Best stage race of the year

For me, Tirreno-Adriatico was the most exciting this year. Helped by the contentious cancellation of the queen stage, the one-week race went down to the wire.

Team of the year

Boels-Dolmans dominated the women’s calendar from start to inish, winning the irst ive rounds of the inaugural Women’s WorldTour. Then they won their irst team time trial world title and Amalie Dideriksen took the road race rainbow jersey

Up- and- coming rider of the year

At just 19 years old, Adrien Costa is one of the USA’s rising stars. This season, he inished second to Lachlan Morton at the Tour of Utah, beating the likes of Andrew Talansky to get there. He won the time trial at the Tour de l’Avenir and inished third overall. He will remain at Axeon Hagens Berman for 2017 but he will no doubt be snapped up soon.

Cock- up of the year

There have been many cackhanded moments this season but the debacle on Mont Ventoux takes the biscuit. Poor fan control and too many motorbikes resulted in the astounding sight of the yellow jersey running up the climb and one of the most chaotic stage inishes I’ve ever attended.