Cycling's Kings and Queens of the road: 2021 Year Wrap

The 2021 cycling season produced many outcomes that were exactly as we expected, while in between there were moments of great entertainment as unlikely heroes took centre stage.

Nic Dlamini made history by becoming the first Black South African to compete in the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish defied the odds, and the Slovenian duo of Tadej Poga?ar and Primoz Roglic continued their catfight for cycling’s biggest crown.

Egan Bernal flopped, as did Nairo Quintana and the Yates brothers. Marc Hirschi changed homes and forgot to take along the spark he had at Sunweb.

Team Bahrain eventually found their victorious formula, while Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel set this season ablaze and Lizzie Deignan ascended her throne.

Come the end of the season, Africa’s Team Qhubeka are once again clinging onto hopes of finding a sponsor so they can retain their World Tour status.

Here’s a look back at some golden moments of 2021 as we recognise the stand-out performers with a well-deserved pat on the back.

Snatched, in a flash

Sport has always been about making the most of the little windows of opportunity and seizing any chance that may bring gold.

Richard Carapaz breaking for the finish line like a man possessed at the Fuji International Speedway in Japan in the Olympic men’s road race will remain the unrivalled highlight of the year.

The Ecuadorian made his move (from a small breakaway group) with six kilometres to go as the peloton looked on and had to settle for battling for second and third.

While Belgian Wout van Aert (silver) and Tadej Poga?ar (bronze) were contemplating their tactics, Carapaz pounced and the rest will always be history.

With Carapaz claiming only his nation’s second Olympic gold in emphatic style, El Jaguar deserves this season’s ‘Golden Moment in Cycling’ accolade.

Heirs to the throne?

Van Aert and Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel were a cut above the bunch, often adding ‘razzmatazz’ to the lull of the peloton, as they battled for the finish line.

Scenes of Van der Poel’s audacious attacks on the opening week of the Tour de France will make highlights packages for many years to come.

His brazen grab of yellow by chokehold was something Grand Tour cycling had not seen in a while. He defended cycling’s most coveted jersey like a GC specialist and threw everything at keeping it for six days. Five more than what he should have, cementing his remarkable status.

His peer and biggest arch-nemesis, Van Aert, also had a stellar season if one looks at individual stages and races, disregarding monuments and the big classics.

The three-time cyclo-cross world champion dominated his way to a Tour of Britain victory and claimed three Tour de France stages, including on the iconic Mount Ventoux and at the finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, also adding two European classic races to his haul.

Both Van Aert and Van der Poel have upped their claims as the apparent heirs to the ?throne.

Queening with an iron fist

Women’s cycling continues to see growth in financial support and additional events.

Lizzie Deignan’s killer instinct helped her soar to new heights as she claimed the maiden Paris-Roubaix crown with a dramatic 80km-long solo break. The Brit also collected the yellow, points and mountain jerseys at the Tour de Suisse, along with an impressive fourth place finish at the Giro Rosa.

Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten claimed the women's individual time trial at the Tokyo Olympics, while unheralded Austrian Anna Kiesenhofer stunned the field to take took a surprise gold in the women's road race.

Arnold Schwarzenegger multiplied

“I’ll be back” are the infamous words of the globally recognised ‘Terminator’ and Mark Cavendish in his prime would have been viewed as the terminator of sprints.

Over the years the baton was passed on, and injury setbacks hampered his apparent zeal to compete.

The Manx Missile belatedly made it onto the Tour de France roster after his Quick-Step squad suffered a blow with injury preventing Irishman Sam Bennett from defending his green jersey.

Not even Cavendish himself would have dreamt of the sort of returns he would enjoy at Le Tour.

By the end, the 36-year-old had bagged four stage wins to equal Belgian icon Eddy Merckx’s record 34 Tour de France stage victories as well as taking the overall sprinter’s green jersey, only the second of his illustrious career.

Perhaps what will be remembered most when reflecting on Cavendish’s French outings this season will be his humility in acknowledging his teammates in getting him across the line.

For once, the cycling world was not divided on his victories. Cavendish gave cycling fans the ‘feels’ and deservingly walks away with the season’s ‘Most Heartwarming Performance’ award.

Bob the Builder

Cavendish’s 10 victories in the year would have been most welcomed at his former team, Ineos Grandiers.

The previous Team Sky went from being a consistently dominant, well-oiled and meticulous outfit to one that is seemingly fighting to find itself in its new identity. The rebrand seems to have introduced a shift in way of life for Dave Brailsford and his troops, reducing their usual prolific pickings to just a few low-hanging fruits.

Much like in Formula One, the baton seems to have been passed on, with a bit more brute force in cycling than we see in motorsport.

Team of the year

Having been under the microscope for possible doping, Team Bahrain Victorious will be the one side that walks away this season with their chests out. That media scrutiny did not deter their mission towards ‘thrilling racing’ as the team’s technical director, Vladimir Miholjevic, put it.

We will remember Matej Mohori?’s bold celebration at the finish of Stage 19 of the Tour de France for a long time as the team silenced critics with brazen cycling.

And who could forget those jubilant and emotional scenes moments after Sonny Colbrelli crossed the finish line to secure a famous Paris-Roubaix win?

The victorious outfit out of Bahrain rides away with the ‘Team of the Year’ award.

Special recognition

Nic Dlamini will see it as just doing his job, but his remarkable determination to finish the stage on his bike and not be ushered in by the ‘broom wagon’ (cycling’s quitters’ bus) at the conclusion of Stage 9 of the Tour de France after a massive crash, was the kind of reminder to never give up we all needed to see in 2021.

“I wanted to honour my dream to ride the Tour,” said the young South African, sending a message to us all that even during burdensome Covid-19 times, we should still endeavor to honour our dreams.

Proving that sport is indeed a nation-building tool, Dlamini walks away with cycling’s ‘Most Inspiring Performance’ prize for 2021.

Rays of rainbow, retained

At the 94th edition of the UCI World Road Championships in Flanders, Belgium, Filippo Ganna successfully retained his world time-trial title. The 25-year-old Italian pipped local favourite Van Aert who had to settle for silver with another Belgian, Remco Evenepoel, completing the podium.

In the road race, Frenchman and entertainer Julian Alaphilippe also retained his world crown in typical Alaphilippe fashion. After several attacking attempts, ‘Loulou’ made a successful break to cross the line ahead of Dutchman Dylan van Baarle and Denmark's Michael Valgren.

?In the women’s field, 23-year-old Italian Elisa Balsamo overwrote the dominant Dutch narrative that has ruled the last four editions of the road race, reducing Marianne Vos to tears in her half-a-bike-length victory.

South African Ashleigh Moolman Pasio finished 11th on the day.

Elsewhere, 38-year-old Ellen van Dijk comfortably ascended the world time trial throne. The Dutch star pipped European champion Marlen Reusser to see the Netherlands claim gold number three out of the last four editions of the championships.

Running out of time

?Primoz Roglic has enjoyed a successful season on the bike. He claimed Olympic time trial gold before adding a third consecutive Vuelta a Espa?a crown to his collection.

The 32-year-old also registered wins at the Tour of the Basque Country, Giro dell’Emilia and Milan-Torino, as well as winning the points jersey at Paris-Nice.

With all these remarkable achievements in one calendar year, the Slovenian will still feel somewhat disappointed, having failed to capture the Tour de France crown, let alone finish on the podium in Paris.

Ironically, on the road, Rogla is known as ‘the Slovenian dream crusher’ but that title, along with Le Tour, has been seemingly passed onto his compatriot Poga?ar.

Pogi’s world

Twenty-three-year-old Tadej Poga?ar is the sole reason behind Roglic’s demise in France.

‘Mr three-in-one’ has comprehensively completed the Tour de France double - winning three jerseys in back-to-back editions. He also added the 2021 Liège-Bastogne-Liège crown to his collection of wins this season, proving his versatility.

During the course of the season, PoGo went on to win the Tirreno-Adriatico plus two jerseys, the UAE Tour plus the young rider’s jersey, and the Tour of Slovenia with a mountains jersey. He also took the Giro di Lombardia crown.

The UAE Team Emirates star has been unmatched on the biggest stage and the rest of the field must be plagued with nightmares when they hear that Pogacar is part of the peloton.

Pogacar’s supremacy currently reigns largely unopposed, so it is no surprise that he gets the nod for the ‘Who runs the cycling world’ award.

As we look towards the new year, one can only hope that more new talent will come to the fore and live up to the glimpses of promise they have shown over the last two years.

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Bring on 2022!