Unsung hero of the year

RichN95.
RichN95. Posts: 27,137
edited October 2013 in Pro race
We've had threads about the best of everything else, so how about one for the unheralded riders of the peloton.

To start us off I'll nominate:

Tom Veelers - Marcel Kittel's lead out man
Albert Timmer - he raced the most kilometres (15,969) and shared the most race days with Adam Hansen
Twitter: @RichN95

Comments

  • meursault
    meursault Posts: 1,433
    Thibaut Pinot - Promising talent struggling with his fear of descending. I thought it brave to be so upfront about it.

    Geraint Thomas - Ridng the tdf with broken pelvis, including a team time trial.
    Superstition sets the whole world in flames; philosophy quenches them.

    Voltaire
  • Macaloon
    Macaloon Posts: 5,545
    Double agent Chris Horner.

    For media players despairing at declining traffic in the wake of Armstrong's boil-lancing, he delivered a performance enhancing infusion of faux outrage set to carry them through the off-season. For the recovering addict, a potentially awesome example of a cleaner peloton: if you can win clean at 41...
    ...a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.
  • Ian Stannard

    His San Remo ride was so unbritish, it was brilliant. And then he spent the rest of the season pulling the bunch around
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,878
    FrenchFighter

    Fought the good fight against the factory boys and bad shoes all year.

    Chapeau!
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    Kreuziger in the Tour. Only thing that kept AC involved at all.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    Yeah, it's UNSUNG hero of the year TWH! ;)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,511
    Richie Porte:
    - selfless support act
    - introduced me to the phrase "took a big pair of swingers to do that"
  • Macaloon
    Macaloon Posts: 5,545
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Richie Porte:
    - selfless support act
    - introduced me to the phrase "took a big pair of swingers to do that"

    His interviews at the Tour were routinely excellent:
    'Asked what Sky's problems were, Porte replied: "I think the peloton kicked our arses and that's all there is to it to be honest."'

    http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/worst-day-porte-drops-to-33-20130708-2pkmm.html
    ...a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.
  • mike6
    mike6 Posts: 1,199
    I will also go for Frenchie. His unwavering support for lost causes and his sepia tinted take on so called "Old school" riders was doomed to failure, but did he waver? He did not.
  • Macaloon
    Macaloon Posts: 5,545
    mike6 wrote:
    I will also go for Frenchie. His unwavering support for lost causes and his sepia tinted take on so called "Old school" riders was doomed to failure, but did he waver? He did not.

    The late-season pieces - his entire raison d'etre in bits on the floor after Froome virtually soloed up the Champs - were studies in superhuman sang-froid. We need an annual Frenchfighter award to acknowledge such feats.
    ...a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,511
    Macaloon wrote:
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Richie Porte:
    - selfless support act
    - introduced me to the phrase "took a big pair of swingers to do that"

    His interviews at the Tour were routinely excellent:
    'Asked what Sky's problems were, Porte replied: "I think the peloton kicked our arses and that's all there is to it to be honest."'

    http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/worst-day-porte-drops-to-33-20130708-2pkmm.html

    I also liked:
    Q: "Do you think it will be considered an illegal re-feed?"
    RP:"Yes, because it was"

    Still, I don't know what's happened to me, I'm voting positively for a Sky rider and an Aussie.
  • A therapy session for Beanie!
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,551
    David Lopez for driving that train... he looked like death on the Alp d'huez stage...
  • Macaloon wrote:
    We need an annual Frenchfighter award to acknowledge such feats.

    A small stuffed magical horse to the winner perhaps?

    breyer_wind_dancer_plush_toy_horse_aura.jpg

    Unsung hero of the year? Apart from the man who decided to take a stuffed boar up Mt. Ventoux...

    Got to be Titchy Richie (although I don't know whether you can be both unsung hero and rear of the year?)
    Correlation is not causation.
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    Adam Hansen.

    Completed all 3 GTs, won a a stage in the Giro...

    AND had a pint on Alpe d'Huez:
    lotto-renner-neemt-pintje-aan-op-alpe-d-huez_7_235x280.jpg

    AND wore a comedy wig on the Angliru:
    hansen-langliru.jpeg

    That, ladies and gentleman, is heroic.
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • mike6
    mike6 Posts: 1,199
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Macaloon wrote:
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Richie Porte:
    - selfless support act
    - introduced me to the phrase "took a big pair of swingers to do that"

    His interviews at the Tour were routinely excellent:
    'Asked what Sky's problems were, Porte replied: "I think the peloton kicked our arses and that's all there is to it to be honest."'

    http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/worst-day-porte-drops-to-33-20130708-2pkmm.html

    I also liked:
    Q: "Do you think it will be considered an illegal re-feed?"
    RP:"Yes, because it was"

    Still, I don't know what's happened to me, I'm voting positively for a Sky rider and an Aussie.

    I think its called "Having a balanced and mature outlook on life."

    If you dislike a whole team, and a whole nation, you have to have a fairly robust and detailed argument for that stance. :D
  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    Rafal Majka.
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • the FdJ' lead out train' - Geoffrey Soupe is big enough to be there but all the lighter ones got stuck in too and gave Demare and Bouhanni good positioning