It’s that time of year, folks... time to head to the polls!
What? No! Calm down. I didn’t mean to suggest there was a political election. I’m sorry if I frightened you. I would never do that on purpose. It’s OK, there is no political election, I promise.
Just a simple democratic process for choosing who the men and women are that you consider the top professional cyclists of the year, and which days from each gender gave us our race day of the year. It’s very straightforward, and also the final results will be there for you to see, with full integrity and no outside interference from shady foreign internet people.
[Shout out to my new friends Y. P. and Д. З. for help setting up the voting feature!]
So now I turn to you. Tell us, in comments, who you nominate for each of the four categories. Or for one of them, or however many you want to offer. And before you look up from your tear-stained pillow and shout “TOM BOONEN!!” you must also provide something of a supportive rationale for your nomination. For riders of the year, that would be something the rider did this year, not over their career. [If I have accomplished only one thing in my 11 years of running this site, it’s the full and fair celebration of Boonen’s career.] Race day of the year is pretty straightforward, though I’ll point out it’s day, not race. Entire stage races aren’t eligible, individual stages are.
Please jump on this at your earliest convenience and I will assemble your votes into the poll by Friday. Then the voting can begin! OK, let’s get started. Ronde van Vlaanderen...