EDWARD PICKERING

When I look back over 2019, it strikes me that this was not a predictable year. The results were full of surprises - I’d never have believed that Alberto Bettiol was going to win Flanders, or Jakob Fuglsang Liège or Bauke Mollema Lombardia, let alone Mads Pedersen the Worlds. Even in Milan-San Remo and ParisRoubaix, I was a little sideswiped by the winners. Julian Alaphilippe is a decent favourite for La Primavera, but I never thought Philippe Gilbert could win Paris-Roubaix. Now he stands on the edge of greatness, with only a San Remo victory to go to score the fourth career grand slam of the monuments in history.

In the grand tours, I didn’t think Richard Carapaz would win the Giro, or Egan Bernal the Tour, though anybody could see that Primož Roglic was going to win the Vuelta. Not every race has to be a surprise.

However, what most of these had in common was that before the race, the winners were relative outsiders, yet in each case, you could look back on the race and also see that the victories were completely deserved.

On the women’s side, perhaps there were fewer surprises - Marianne Vos and Annemiek van Vleuten won a lot, though we did see breakthroughs from Chloé Dygert Owen and Lorena Wiebes. And in lieu of a surprise winner, we had a performance for the ages in Van Vleuten’s Worlds win - for me the ride of the season.

I’ve also been having a little debate with myself over who the male rider of the year is. There are equally strong arguments for Bernal, Roglic and even Alaphilippe (you can find my final answer on page 40).

This is our review of the 2019 season. We’ve covered all the races and riders that caught our eye throughout the year, and gone behind the headlines to find the stories that matter. We hope you enjoy it, and if you disagree with my rider of the year, let me know on Twitter or Facebook.