That time again... and rarely if ever (in the two-year history of this award) has the choice been more agonizing and ambiguous! This year the peloton had an uncanny knack for distributing the benefits of the Pro Tour that would have made Lenin proud. To wit:
- Like your Grand Tour winners? Then you have to pick among DiLuca, Contador and Menchov.
- Are Monument winners your preference? Look over Freire, Ballan, O'Grady, DiLuca and Cunego.
- Do you consider raw number of wins the main factor? Here's the list of riders in double figures (counting all competitions, e.g. minor races, secondary jerseys, etc):
- Petacchi 22 wins
- Bennati 15
- Boonen 13
- Ciolek 11
- Contador 11
- Freire 10
- Are you among the last remaining true believers in the Pro Tour standings? After DiLuca was bounced, they had Evans, Rebellin and Contador in the top three.
Actually, while there's certainly reasonable debate about the precise merits of these standings, I will say that IMHO the ROY is almost certainly one of the Top 25 of the Pro Tour... or Danilo DiLuca. Or Ciolek. Or Bennati. Or Cancellara... You get the point.
Process Notes: This thread is for nominations. Submit your nomination -- which isn't necessarily your final choice, so don't hold back until you've agonized over it all. Nominate names, and give a little reasoning as to why. This thread will be our top continuing story for a week, at which point I'll put the matter to a final vote. So fire away!