Cycling: Many months full of excitement and drama are behind us. The 2017 cycling season on the road is over. There were many surprises and disappointments. In the coming weeks we will be reminiscing in our big season recap. Today we are devoting ourselves to all the moments that made our fan hearts beat faster. These were our cycling highlights in 2017.
Van Avermaet, Gilbert & Valverde dominate spring
Spring belongs to the classics. This season, three professionals in particular have determined the one-day races: Belgian Greg Van Avermaet won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Prize Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix. His compatriot Philippe Gilbert was with the Tour of Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race the fastest. Once again, Alejandro Valverde was unbeatable. The Spaniard triumphed at Walloon Arrow and active in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. For these three old hands, the 2017 cycling season was a good one early in the year.
Kittel with five stage wins in the Tour de France
A German was unbeatable in the Tour de France – at least in the sprint finishes. Marcel Kittel won no fewer than five stages. He even trumped the German record stage winner Erik Zabel. By the way: The Quick-Step Floors team did not only set the tone in the mass sprints at the Tour de France. Fernando Gaviria proved to be the strongest at the Giro d'Italia, while Matteo Trentin was unbeatable at the Vuelta a Espana.
Froome manages the Tour/Vuelta double
The fact that Chris Froome is the best ranking rider in recent years should not be new to any cycling fan. This season, however, he managed to win two major national tours for the first time. After the Tour de France, the Briton also won the Vuelta a Espana for the first time. Can Froome do the Giro/Tour double too?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwAIf_d8f1I
Contador crowns his career at the Vuelta
Finding the right moment to take the leap in a successful career is not that easy. Many stars missed the right moment. Alberto Contador certainly didn't stop at the peak of his career either. Nevertheless, he managed to achieve a perfect ending. At the Vuelta a Espana, the Madrilenian won the 20th stage up to Angliru. The pistolero's last shot landed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoWrX3Gbn44
Sagan becomes world champion for the third time in a row
Peter the Great is definitely the greatest. In the Cycling World Championships in Bergen the Slovak proved once again that he is probably the strongest driver of our generation. After a difficult year (fall in Flanders, exclusion from the Tour), Sagan was crowned world champion for the third time in a row. No professional before him has ever managed this feat. Of course, Peter Sagan should not be missing from our big cycling season review 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS2rw1G95u8
Sunweb & Kämna with gold & silver at the World Championships in Bergen
German cycling has a hard time winning over the spectators. But the current riders and teams are doing everything they can to ensure that cycling gets back into the hearts of the fans. This was also seen at the World Cycling Championships in Bergen. The German team Sunweb won the gold medal in the team time trial. Attacked just a few days later Lennard Kämna at the U23 road race. In the two-man sprint, he lost to Frenchman Benoit Cosnefroy and won silver. However, Team Sunweb did not only provide cycling highlights in 2017 at the World Championships. Eventually Tom Dumoulin won the Giro and Warren Barguil and Michael Matthews were not unsuccessful on the Tour either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCzrwGmg014