EDWARD PICKERING

Editor

BEST MALE RIDER

Primož Roglič was consistent and Julian Alaphilippe sparkled like champagne but Egan Bernal shades it for me. Compare his wins with Roglič’s: bigger wins in bigger races, with bigger stories.

BEST FEMALE RIDER

My head says Annemiek van Vleuten. But my heart has overridden my head, because Marianne Vos won 19 races this year – her fighting spirit is a force of nature.

WHO ELSE IMPRESSED?

I thought Thibaut Pinot had it in him to win the Tour, but tactical naivety on the Albi stage cost him the race and reminded me that cycling crushes dreams where possible. Lizzie Deignan’s achievement in riding a good season after starting a family is an important one, even if she’ll regret missing out in the Harrogate Worlds.

BEST ONE- DAY RACE

Amstel Gold Race was already good, but Van der Poel's win was staggering. I had to watch on Twitter, and my timeline turned into stream- of- consciousness word spaghetti, interspersed with Van der Poel’s name. Watching it back later, I understood why. Best women’s one- day race: the Worlds, not exciting in the truest sense of the word, but a performance for the ages from Van Vleuten.

BEST STAGE RACE

Shave off my hipster’s beard and make me an instant coffee: it was the Tour de France.

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Jumbo-Visma should have won the Giro, could have won the Tour and did win the Vuelta. Plus they managed to keep Dylan Groenewegen and Wout Van Aert’s ambitions satisfied in and around that.

UP-AND- COMING RIDER

Stefan Küng, who will probably win ParisRoubaix one day. On the women’s side, Soraya Paladin made a real breakthrough.

MEMORY OF THE YEAR

My personal high point was finally getting to the Tour of California, and seeing a race with character, personality, fantastic scenery, loyal fans and real culture. It’s a shame that none of this ever translated to the television pictures and that I may have seen the last edition.