British Cycling’s Emphatic Season
Posted October 07, 2011
There are very few traditional cycling nations. The main protagonists within the professional peloton can easily be said to be the Italians, the Belgium’s, the French and the Spanish; but as the professional season draws to a close, it’s hard to overlook the advent of another powerhouse nation: Great Britain. The rise of Mark Cavendish since the 2007 season has brought renewed interest in cycling within the UK. Bolstered by incredible performances from both the track and road squads at the Beijing Olympics, many critics found it hard to foresee a better season for Team GB.
2011 has been an absolute cracker for cycling in the UK. An incredible and rapidly growing Premier Calendar series, coupled with the exciting Tour Series and Nocturnes held in city centres through screaming crowds and to the soundtrack of upbeat music and raucous applause and of course a fantastic international season has seen British Cycling reach new heights. It would be impossible to fully congratulate each and every British rider with a stand out performance this year, so here are a few of my personal highlights from this season:
- Ben Swift’s fantastic sprint victories at the Tour Down Under. The first World Tour event of the year is always highly competitive, as teams battle it out for early season points in a gold-rush like frenzy. The sprint field at the TDU was one of the best amassed all season including the likes of Matthew Goss, Mark Cavendish, Tyler Farrar and Andre Greipl. Swift emerged from the event with two stage wins and a 3rd place overall to his name; a very impressive start to what has been a stellar season for the 23 year old.
- Bradley Wiggins has also had arguably the best season of his career. A first week crash in the Tour de France failed to put a damper on his season, as he came back in record time to take 3rd place at the Vuelta a Espana. Combined with the overall title at the traditional Tour de France tune up event, the Criterium de Dauphine, the GB national road race and 3rd place in Paris Nice, Wiggins is well and truly proving that his 4th place Tour finish in 2009 was merely a precursor to a fantastic road career. His ride to beat some of the best time trialists in the world to take Silver at the world championships was also a personal favourite.
- Geraint Thomas is also building on a successful 2010 season. His epic breakaway ride into the Alps during the Tour de France was fantastic to watch. Great riding throughout the classics including a top 10 in the Tour of Flanders and second in the Dwars door Vlaanderen have shown his all-round individual ability. Lead outs are definitely a speciality for Geraint as well, keeping team mates out of trouble and putting all on the line to deliver a team mate. G really could be the next massive thing for British Cycling, and I’m looking forward to seeing him race again next year!
- Peter Kennaugh showed himself well throughout the year. A 3rd place in the Route du Sud and a stellar performance to finish 5th in the Tour of Poland over terrain not necessarily suited to him capped off a great season for the young Manx.
- I don’t even need to write the name of the last rider on the list. 2 Giro stages, 5 Tour de France Stages, Green Jersey winner, London-Surrey Cycle Classic, World Championships: Mark Cavendish continued his prolific riding to cement his place among the greats of cycling. The Rainbow Jersey which has long been his dream will be flown with an as yet unnamed team for the 2012 season but wherever he ends up, it’s certain that Cav with continue his winning ways.
In conclusion, British Cycling has never had it so good. With a home Olympics next year we’ve got potential gold medallists literally everywhere. From the track to the road and time trial, it’ll be hard to keep the Brits off the medallist’s rostrum come August 2012!
photo via chrismaher.co.uk
