POLL: Signing of the Year - 2024 CyclingUpToDate End of Season Awards
Cycling
The 2024 road season has reached a conclusion and that means it’s time for the awards. For the second annual CyclingUpToDate End of Season Awards, we need your help! This time, you need to decide the signing of the year from our list of contenders.
Every vote counts and yours could be all important to deciding the final winner, so take a look through our nominations below and make sure you cast a vote via the poll at the end!
Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team to Team Visma | Lease a Bike)
Although he was already a rider viewed as someone with serious potential, Matteo Jorgenson has immediately realized that potential upon joining Team Visma | Lease a Bike for the 2024 season.
Taking two victories, Jorgenson proved his capabilities on a number of different fronts, emerging victorious and taking home stage race success at Paris-Nice, then equally impressively adding Spring Classic glory at Dwars door Vlaanderen. Coming just 8 seconds from overall victory at the Criterium du Dauphine, Jorgenson also took a top 10 finish from the Tour de France in support of team leader Jonas Vingegaard.
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe)
Arguably the biggest transfer in the entire peloton from last year's window, Primoz Roglic’s switch from Jumbo-Visma to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe didn’t succeed in bringing the Slovenian his ultimate goal of a Tour de France Maillot Jaune, but nevertheless there were multiple victories for the 34-year-old to reflect upon as his debut season at BORA comes to an end.
Most notable of those victories was of course a record equalling 4th Red Jersey at the Vuelta a Espana, but a stage of the Itzulia Basque Country and a narrow overall triumph at the Criterium du Dauphine ensured that even though his Tour de France dreams were postponed for another season, Roglic had a successful campaign.
Mikel Landa (Bahrain - Victorious to Soudal - Quick-Step)
Soudal - Quick-Step have been making a concerted effort to improve their climbing ranks over recent seasons. Although few had high expectations of Mikel Landa when his arrival was announced, given his relatively quiet couple of seasons at Bahrain - Victorious, the Spaniard performed his duties admirably over the course of the year, both in service of Remco Evenepoel and when fighting for his own goals.
Taking 2nd overall at the Volta a Catalunya behind Tadej Pogacar and then a top-10 finish at the Criterium du Dauphine, Landa especially excelled at the Tour de France, helping Evenepoel to a podium finish whilst securing 5th in the GC himself, backing that up with another Grand Tour top 10 at the Vuelta a Espana.
Daniel Martínez (INEOS Grenadiers - Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe)
Whilst the aforementioned signing of Primoz Roglic took the headlines for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, Daniel Martínez’s performances in his debut year at the team were also incredibly impressive.
Finishing 2nd overall at the Volta ao Algarve back in February, the Colombian the broke new ground in a Grand Tour capacity at the Giro d’Italia, taking his best ever three-week result as he finished 2nd on the final podium behind the dominant Maglia Rosa winner Tadej Pogacar. After then being drafted in at the last minute to BORA’s Vuelta a Espana lineup, Martinez supported Roglic in his Red Jersey success.
Jonathan Milan (Bahrain - Victorious to Lidl-Trek)
After a breakthrough 2023, Italian sprint star Jonathan Milan earned himself a big money move to Lidl-Trek for the 2024 campaign. Not missing a beat, Milan picked up right where he left off as well, successfully retaining his Maglia Ciclamino jersey at the Giro d’Italia, winning three stages en route.
More Points Classification victories also came in 2024 at races such as Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Deutschland Tour, plus notable one-day results at Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and the BEMER Cyclassics.
Pavel Sivakov (INEOS Grenadiers to UAE Team Emirates)
Similarly to Landa above, whilst Pavel Sivakov’s signing didn’t exactly send shockwaves through the cycling world when it was first announced, the Frenchman has proven to be a very shrewd acquisition from UAE Team Emirates as they continue to position themselves as the strongest team in the peloton.
After impressing when given leadership ambitions of his own, finishing 2nd at the Giro d'Abruzzo, Sivakov was a key rider of UAE’s Tour de France train, helping to fire Tadej Pogacar back into the Maillot Jaune. At the Vuelta a Espana, Sivakov again impressed, clocking a top 10 finish in the final general classification.
Remember, use the poll below to cast your vote! The winner is set to be announced one week from today (6th of November).
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- Avoiding him is a good strategy, you get more wins and then you can compete in the TDF relatively relaxed. Pit yourself against Pogi and not only there will be no wins, it will be considerable mental setbackabstractengineer21-12-2024
- If you hold onto then, you blowup in a minute and then you finish 5 minutes down like Ben O'Connorabstractengineer21-12-2024
- Based on what argument?Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- Agreed except the length of climbs, pretty sure you can stretch that to about a km unless we’re talking about half a dozen in quick succession.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- Lot of contradictory information floating around world cup contenders, someone should do some tidying up.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- A bit much to suggest that Pogacar is better than MvdP on most terrains. The only terrain Pogacar is clearly better is long climbs, on any other terrain they are pretty even except flat cobbles and short and steep climbs (max a few 100 mtrs) where MvdP is clearly better than Pogacar.Velovibes21-12-2024
- The likelihood of RE improving enough at this point to outclass TP or JV is less than zero.verve82521-12-2024
- That’s the most stupid thing I’ve read for a long time, did you not go to school and learn even the most basic physics? Aero depends on one thing only, drag, drag depends speed and the relationship is squared and apart from maybe at zero or the speed of sound or due to side winds that relationship is valid at all speeds, it dies not “suddenly” start at a magic number. Very simply, the faster you go the more the effect becomes important. If you think 25km/h is needed to have noticeable effects you’re delusional, athletic WR are cancelled as soon as winds top 2m/s that’s 7.2km/h, why because the assistance is already too important at that speed and the times prove it. You don’t even consider wind which can significantly increase the effective speed for aerodynamics and you underestimate speed of climbs, 6% is ridden more at 30 than 25km/h, a speed at which early generation high rims were considered to have more advantages than disadvantages. And finally, as in normal races you can’t just switch bikes according to terrain, it’s pretty pointless to discuss climbs as a separate situation, the aero will have justified itself plenty during the rest of the ride.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- If you look at how much TP progressed in that 1 1/2 years you can no longer say that’s nothing. If Remco improves as much he’s a challenger!Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- Froome wishing to ride the Vuelta...he won't even be selected for the team!frieders320-12-2024