Top ten moments in 2020
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

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

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- 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
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.
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.
- @ddraver
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.
- @ddraver
My comment was tongue in cheek. But drone photography will transform cycling when they get around to it.
Anyway, it's more or less a first for cycling footage. Nobody ever bothers asking what your second time was, do they?
Nothing in Avatar was as cool as that...
- @ddraver
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 -
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.
I think they were used for the finishes in the Giro Rosa though? Gave quite a good shot, IIRC.
Reminds me of my trip to Italy where the organisers had a drone. That footage is good.
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?
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
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet