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Top ten moments in 2020

RichN95.RichN95. Posts: 26,011
edited December 2020 in Pro race
These are my top ten moments of 2020 - men's road racing only.

10. Roglic retires in the lead and then Danny Martinez mugs Pinot
9. Gent-Wevelgem. The two cyclocross stars mark each other and the World Champ gets his iconic win
8. Filippo Ganna wins stage 5 of the Giro to become the next Italian star
7. Carapaz almost steals the Vuelta from Roglic in stage 17
6. Sam Bennett wins in Paris in the Green Jersey
5. Marc Hirschi wins Fleche Wallonne, confirming the talent we saw at the Tour
4. Dennis, Tao GH, Hindley and Hindley's jacket on the Stelvio


3. Roglic mugs Alaphilippe in Liege



2. De Ronde: MVDP v WVA reaches the road


1. The Tour TT

Twitter: @RichN95

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  • mrb123mrb123 Posts: 3,771
    2029? Pidcock wins his seventh tour.
  • jam1ejam1e Posts: 1,062
    I watched the giro d'italia 2018 stage 19 again - it was mint
  • tailwindhometailwindhome Posts: 17,443
    -Thomas and Froome not being selected for the Tour - change comes slowly then all at once

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  • rick_chaseyrick_chasey Posts: 61,580 Lives Here
    With #2 for me the real moment was when it was a trio...
    _
  • Lanterne_RogueLanterne_Rogue Posts: 3,390
    edited January 2021
    These probably aren't a top ten so much as "ten most memorable" - as proven by the fact these are what came to mind first. No particular order

    - Astana lifting the pace against the wishes of the entire peloton, on a slippery downhill section, only to fire Miguel Ángel López into a road sign and be forced to sheepishly sit up

    - THAT Stelvio stage. Raincoats and all.

    - TGH properly eyeballing Jai Hindley on stage 20 of the Giro. We rarely get to see the riders at the top of the GC fighting shoulder to shoulder, still less for one of them to start showing a bit of swagger (Rohan Dennis' Terminator routine was also good fun on that stage)

    - that moment right at the bottom of Planche des Belles Filles when it first became properly obvious that it really might be happening. The precise second will vary for all of us, but you'll remember your own

    - Julian Alaphilippe wrecks the sprint, celebrates too early, and gets relegated

    - Marc Hirschi's doomed sprint (what the hell was he doing being able to compete it?) followed by deserved victory a couple of days later

    - Lizzy Banks doing an absolute number on Eugenia Bujak in the Giro Rosa, sitting on and winding her up something chronic before attacking for the win. Also this moment of the top female riders going shoulder to shoulder the day before:



    - This mud



    - This heli shot



    - and Muhlberger's mussette

    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • RichN95.RichN95. Posts: 26,011
    edited January 2021
    Lanterne_Rogue said:



    - This heli shot


    I was less impressed by that. This is the sort of thing that should be routine, especially with high quality drone cameras. As a regular Top Gear viewer, these shots like this are standard. Cycling broadcasters should hire some of those guys.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Charlie_CrokerCharlie_Croker Posts: 1,495
    RichN95. said:

    Lanterne_Rogue said:



    - This heli shot


    I was less impressed by that. This is the sort of thing that should be routine, especially with high quality drone cameras. As a regular Top Gear viewer, these shots like this are standard. Cycling broadcasters should hire some of those guys.
    It wasn’t a drone, it was a full size helicopter filming that first clip. I have to say they do have some very good pilots over there. Well I'm impressed anyway B)
  • RichN95.RichN95. Posts: 26,011
    edited January 2021
    Charlie_Croker said:

    RichN95. said:

    Lanterne_Rogue said:



    - This heli shot


    I was less impressed by that. This is the sort of thing that should be routine, especially with high quality drone cameras. As a regular Top Gear viewer, these shots like this are standard. Cycling broadcasters should hire some of those guys.
    It wasn’t a drone, it was a full size helicopter filming that first clip. I have to say they do have some very good pilots over there. Well I'm impressed anyway B)

    I know that. But shots like that, and better, can easily achieved with drones with planning and imagination. Cycling should be doing more of it.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • ddraverddraver Posts: 24,303
    As the Cycling Podcast mentioned though, the problem is that usually there would be a line of fans each side of the road there which would have seriously reduced the epic-ness
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • RichN95.RichN95. Posts: 26,011
    ddraver said:

    As the Cycling Podcast mentioned though, the problem is that usually there would be a line of fans each side of the road there which would have seriously reduced the epic-ness


    That's a fair point. Let's get rid of them. If 2020 has told us anything, it's that fans are of limited use.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • ddraverddraver Posts: 24,303
    It did make it easier to see what was going on, but part of cycling for me is the rider parting the crowd shot too so I'm split....
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • RichN95.RichN95. Posts: 26,011
    ddraver said:

    It did make it easier to see what was going on, but part of cycling for me is the rider parting the crowd shot too so I'm split....


    My comment was tongue in cheek. But drone photography will transform cycling when they get around to it.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Lanterne_RogueLanterne_Rogue Posts: 3,390
    RichN95. said:

    Lanterne_Rogue said:



    - This heli shot


    I was less impressed by that. This is the sort of thing that should be routine, especially with high quality drone cameras. As a regular Top Gear viewer, these shots like this are standard. Cycling broadcasters should hire some of those guys.
    It's the perfect combination of race situation, parcours, and photography - the Platonic ideal of cycling footage. Even if drones enable shooting like that to become more commonplace, the circumstances that led to that shot being so brilliant are rarely going to come together. It's a bit like that Cavendish sprint from side on - it's not the tracking camera that makes it brilliant, it's the actual picture it's capturing.

    Anyway, it's more or less a first for cycling footage. Nobody ever bothers asking what your second time was, do they?
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • ddraverddraver Posts: 24,303
    Indeed, like the first time you went to a 3D film (remember them?) and the most impressive bit was when the Sky logo came out of the screen and floated in the middle of the room...

    Nothing in Avatar was as cool as that...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • RichN95.RichN95. Posts: 26,011
    ddraver said:


    Nothing in Avatar was as cool as that...

    Dances With Smurfs
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • andypandyp Posts: 8,930
    Some great choices so far. Here's some of mine.

    1. This sprint (although it was when Alvarado rode the run up that the camera didn't capture that closed the gap to Worst) at the CX worlds -

    2. This move the next day -

    3. The MSR sprint -

    4. MVDP at the BinckBank Tour -

    5. Simon Yates' win at Tirreno -

    6. TGH winning at Piancavallo -

    7. Sunweb at the Tour, but this was the best example of their collective strength -
  • RichN95.RichN95. Posts: 26,011
    Milan-San Remo feels like it was in a different season
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • bobmcstuffbobmcstuff Posts: 10,419
    RichN95. said:

    ddraver said:

    It did make it easier to see what was going on, but part of cycling for me is the rider parting the crowd shot too so I'm split....


    My comment was tongue in cheek. But drone photography will transform cycling when they get around to it.
    Isn't it a bit more difficult for live broadcast on open roads in cycling? I am sure they would prefer drones to helicopters just on price, if it were that easy.

    I guess you could set them up at some strategic locations but that gets less useful.

    Top gear is just recording the footage - they aren't doing live broadcast.

    I'm sure it will happen as technology advances.
  • Lanterne_RogueLanterne_Rogue Posts: 3,390
    Range for drones is a problem - you'd have to pepper the course or (more likely) key points. They're not immune to the same safety concerns / crowd considerations as helicopters, either - the AAIB monthly round up of accident investigations now has a regular "bits fell off my drone and then it flew out of control and left a smouldering crater" section. You wouldn't want that over a crowd.

    I think they were used for the finishes in the Giro Rosa though? Gave quite a good shot, IIRC.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • kingstongrahamkingstongraham Posts: 20,426
    The live broadcast aspect of it may be the limiter for drones - but the shots can be stunning even by amateurs.

    Reminds me of my trip to Italy where the organisers had a drone. That footage is good.


  • Charlie_CrokerCharlie_Croker Posts: 1,495
    @Lanterne_Rogue ^ Quite right.

    Drones would need to be carefully controlled/regulated/overseen
    Operating them in close proximity to road traffic/spectators/air traffic/infrastructure while constantly moving along the route would require some very special skills and a good deal of discipline, not to mention the extra noise polution and how many would you allow. The motorcycles and cars are pretty well sorted now, but its taken a while.
    It’s quite a headache and for what? Another TV picture angle, would it all be worth it?
  • kingstongrahamkingstongraham Posts: 20,426
    Anyway, my memory is terrible, so I'll say the things I remember from this year.

    Paris-Nice happening - can't remember anything else about it.
    Van Aert winning Strade Bianche, then that attack on the Poggio in MSR.
    Kwiatkowski winning a stunningly beautiful stage in the Tour.
    The Tour TT.
    Sagan's stage in the Giro.
    Ganna's hilly stage in the Giro.
    The Stelvio stage, and it's follow up two days later with Rohan Dennis monstering it.
    Alaphilippe getting beaten on the line, Alaphilippe crashing into a motorbike.

    I guess that adds up to 11
  • bobmcstuffbobmcstuff Posts: 10,419
    Lanterne_Rogue said:

    Range for drones is a problem - you'd have to pepper the course or (more likely) key points. They're not immune to the same safety concerns / crowd considerations as helicopters, either - the AAIB monthly round up of accident investigations now has a regular "bits fell off my drone and then it flew out of control and left a smouldering crater" section. You wouldn't want that over a crowd.

    I think they were used for the finishes in the Giro Rosa though? Gave quite a good shot, IIRC.

    Yes, by range I meant range for live broadcast relays and so on, not of the drone itself, hence probably needing to put them at strategic points for the live broadcast.
  • kingstongrahamkingstongraham Posts: 20,426
    My memory clearly thinks the Giro was the outstanding race of the year.
  • DeadCalmDeadCalm Posts: 3,901
    Some great suggestions already which I won't repeat, but my personal favourite is Benoit Cosnefroy's Bora-induced panic on stage 7 of the Tour as he was going for the KOM points on the first climb. Classic comedy gold.
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    Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
  • lincolndavelincolndave Posts: 9,441
    kingstongraham said:

    My memory clearly thinks the Giro was the outstanding race of the year.

    Definitely, the best of the tours in my opinion

  • Charlie_CrokerCharlie_Croker Posts: 1,495
    lincolndave said:

    kingstongraham said:

    My memory clearly thinks the Giro was the outstanding race of the year.

    Definitely, the best of the tours in my opinion

    I’d agree with that this particular year. I’m not sure how much the fact that no one rider dominated the whole thing made it so interesting or the three tours being run so close together, which in hindsight, I liked
  • Lanterne_RogueLanterne_Rogue Posts: 3,390
    DeadCalm said:

    Some great suggestions already which I won't repeat, but my personal favourite is Benoit Cosnefroy's Bora-induced panic on stage 7 of the Tour as he was going for the KOM points on the first climb. Classic comedy gold.

    I'd forgotten this, but yes - the look of relief as he was invited to take the points just about finished me.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
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