PATRICK FLETCHER

Cyclingnews features editor

BEST MALE RIDER

Primož Roglič continued his extraordinary development, with victory at the Vuelta after a formative Giro podium. He won four of the five stage races he entered – and his tally of 13 wins was bettered only by Dylan Groenewegen, a sprinter.

BEST FEMALE RIDER

The 100km solo to win the rainbow jersey was enough, but Annemiek van Vleuten also won Strade Bianche, Liège, and the Giro, in a race of her own. Other riders won more but Van Vleuten won bigger.

WHO ELSE IMPRESSED?

Julian Alaphilippe had a sensational spring and lit up the Tour, while Egan Bernal won the Tour at 22, plus Paris- Nice and Suisse. On the women’s side, Marianne Vos wound back the clock with 19 wins.

BEST ONE- DAY RACE

Amstel Gold for the white-knuckle, mindbending finale and the sense that Mathieu van der Poel is even more special than the superhuman we already had him down as.

BEST STAGE RACE

Drama, tension, tears, echelons, landslides, home heroes who made France fall back in love with its race, a defining victory for a generational talent. The Tour was wild.

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Deceuninck- Quick Step topped the victory standings and WorldTour ranking, but then they always do, so I’d be more inclined to go for Jumbo-Visma or Bora- Hansgrohe, both of whom had transformative seasons.

UP-AND- COMING RIDER

Mention must go to Tadej Pogačar – but it has to be 19-year- old Remco Evenepoel. Winning San Sebastián, and silver at the Worlds TT, when he should be getting his head kicked in in the U23s, is outrageous.

MEMORY OF THE YEAR

Enrico Gasparotto’s dancing at the Arctic Norway after-party will take time to fade. On a more serious note, after pulling on the yellow jersey, Egan Bernal bowed his head and started crying in the media zone in Tignes. Seeing that up close – a young man beginning to come to terms with his achievements, the sense you were looking at someone who could redefine the history of the sport – felt special.