2011 in Review: Women's Awards

by Jens on Nov 8, 2011 12:55 PM EST in Cafe Happy Hour!

We've had three polls and while we also had a discussion on what men's teams do best in the social media it turns out that wasn't even necessary when it came to the women. The polls themselves turned out to be a good indicator of which teams are the most influential in that arena. As it turns out the polls became something of a powerstruggle in the ability to mobilize the fanbase. And the winners are:

Rider of the year: Emma Pooley

Pooley won the Battle of the Emmas when the Garmin fans made a late surge to best the norwegian Hitec fans in this poll. Despite a collarbone injury Pooley put together quite the season grabbing the first World Cup win of the year at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and wrapping it up winning the Tour de l'Ardéche. In between she had a strong Giro only losing out to phenom Marianne Vos on a rampage.

Best Moment: The Giro duels between Emma Pooley & Marianne Vos

No one really doubted the quality of Marianne Vos but the step up she took this year to be competitive in the toughest climby stagerace on the calendar impressed most of us. To win it she had to overcome Emma Pooley, the dominant climber in the euro peloton, in a series of hard stages. It made for memorable racing and had the rest of the field fighting for a distant third place.

Team of the Year: Hitec Products

Building steadily towards an established elite team, Hitec took a major step in 2011 with the recruitment of Emma Johansson. With her they upped their level, becoming a winning team. As the season progressed they became more and more a force to be reckoned with and the two biggest wins of the season , Omloop Het Nieuwsblad & Thüringen Rundfahrt, came as a result of strong teamwork. They ended up the third ranked team and are already looking to advance in 2012 with strong signings like France's Christel Ferrier-Bruneau.

Photos by Sarah Connolly & Dave Reitbergen via www.hitecproducts-uck.no

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I guess that 2nd place at the worlds cost Vos the rider of the year title.

by Uphill on Nov 8, 2011 1:30 PM EST reply actions

To be honest, I think it was more the mobilisation of the fans by Garmin & Hitec!

It was fun, seeing the changes in the votes following teams tweeting (and I think it was omne who said it’s lucky Karl Lima hasn’t turned his talents to politics, because he’s a superb campaign manager!)

(It’s not to dismiss the Emmas, they’re both superb riders, and worthy winners/second place riders – they’re great personalities and I would have voted for them + Vos + AvV if I could have!)

Aka Pigeons!

by Sarah Connolly on Nov 8, 2011 2:00 PM EST up reply actions

+ many

to this. Hey, anybody can add up the points. I love me a good interactive popularity contest!

De cross gaat out that door.

by Chris Fontecchio on Nov 8, 2011 2:22 PM EST up reply actions

with pics.

"Ants don’t worry, they operate like a fantastic team, they accept obstacles and deal with them in a positive manner, they don’t complain and remain positive. An ant doesn’t work on emotion, is proactive and always chooses the ant role."

by ant1 on Nov 8, 2011 2:35 PM EST up reply actions

Loved the tactics, they were fantastic!

Aka Pigeons!

by Sarah Connolly on Nov 9, 2011 4:51 AM EST up reply actions

Totally!

It added a whole dimension of fun to the voting. And I always thought our polls were just an excuse to get snarky in the comments anyway.

I'm not just a smartarse. Other parts of me are sometimes clever as well.

by omnevelnihil on Nov 9, 2011 2:01 AM EST up reply actions

it's like when

michael jordan didn’t win mvp every year even though everyone and their grandma knew he was the real mvp by a long shot.

by yeehoo on Nov 9, 2011 2:47 AM EST up reply actions

Now you start to sound like a politician.

I wonder if Vos will have to enter the TdF in disguise and win it to take the award next year.

by Uphill on Nov 8, 2011 3:26 PM EST up reply actions

Hey, the people have spoken.

Winning 31 races is nothing. Winning six, however, makes you rider of the year.

by blackswangreen on Nov 8, 2011 3:31 PM EST up reply actions

Vos has that automatic dutch 27 win deduction to overcome

by Jens on Nov 8, 2011 3:48 PM EST up reply actions

Poor woman, she just can't win.

by Uphill on Nov 8, 2011 3:57 PM EST up reply actions

Ah, so that's where all those Dutch wins went this season.

Decucted before they were realized.

by blackswangreen on Nov 8, 2011 5:18 PM EST up reply actions

plus vos beating pooley

on pooley’s turf (giro) – nah, that doesn’t really mean anything either.

by yeehoo on Nov 9, 2011 2:50 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

That's why she was head-and-shoulders my rider of the year!

Aka Pigeons!

by Sarah Connolly on Nov 9, 2011 4:52 AM EST up reply actions

yeah i love Pooley,

but she didn’t hold a candle to Vos this year. I guess it’s boring and obvious to pick Vos, just as it was obvious to pick Gilbert, but it hardly even seems debatable in my opinion. Better to debate over who was second.

by yeehoo on Nov 9, 2011 5:11 AM EST up reply actions

Pooley had four problems

1. The lack of the Tour de l’Aude, and races like Giro Trentino deciding they wanted to be less mountainous than in recent years, and

2. Her collarbone break

Poor Emma P, I love that she’s such a crazy attacking rider, and I hate the fact that the women’s race problems impact more on the climbers than on any other type of rider.

3. The Giro route having a couple of big climby stages that ended in major descents. It was a superb race, with a nice and varied parcours, but it wasn’t perfect Pooley territory.

4. Marianne Vos, who was just fabulous! Even before the road season had started, she had won World Championships in CX and on the track – she is just in another category!

Aka Pigeons!

by Sarah Connolly on Nov 9, 2011 5:23 AM EST up reply actions

I think a Pooley without the collarbone injury

would have beaten Vos “comfortably” in the Giro (even in spite of parcourse and brilliant Vos form) but that is a pointless discussion since it’s unresolvable.

by Jens on Nov 9, 2011 7:21 AM EST up reply actions

Yes, we will never know...

Well, not comfortably, but yes, that unlucky injury…she really had to be in a perfect physical condition to defeat such a brilliant Marianne Vos. My vote went to Emma :)…but Marianne was clearly the best during the whole season: she was nearly perfect! Anyway, Emma’s triumph in Cittiglio (Trofeo Binda) was the nicest race of the year, and I was there!

by Davide Ronconi on Nov 9, 2011 9:43 AM EST up reply actions