The off-season is approaching slowly but surely...once the first single digit temperatures hit, most of you will probably quit our favorite pastime for now and store your bikes in your garages... But in order to find some motivation motivation for the last nice days ahead and to finish the season in a positive way, we from buycyle want to review some of the most important moments of this year's cycling season!
1. Mathieu Van der Poel broke records.
For the first time the Dutch cycling star won the world championship in road racing defeating fan favorites Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenpoel despite a late crash in the race. He thus became the first male cyclist in history to claim both the cross and road race world titles in the same year (the first cyclist to win both titles was Marianne Vos) - and he did so at the age of 28. Oh, and before we forget: Paris-Roubaix was also won by him. Double world champion and winner of the most exciting classics race - what a season for the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider.
2. Annemiek van Vleuten said goodbye.
It was the last season of the Dutch cycling icon, the 40-year-old had already announced her career end last fall. All the more beautiful for fans all over the world to see her have such a great season: Overall victory at the first edition of the Vuelta Feminina, her fourth maglia rosa at the Giro Donne and the title of the first cyclist to win all three Grand Tours Féminins. In the Tour de France Femmes she finished fourth, leaving the podium to the younger generation.... surprisingly generously so. Just after her toughest moment, in the fog on the Col du Tourmalet, she stood patiently on the summit, giving interviews and seeming at peace with the end of her reign.... She competed in the last race of her career, the Sima Ladies Tour, just 15 km from her home town, where she was celebrated for the last time by thousands of fans... We say thank you for an impressive career and for the inspiration she has been for so many young female cyclists!
3. Gold in individual time trial for Remco Evenpoel.
This was not really his season... first, a Covid-19 illness stole his (fairly certain) shot at the maglia rosa at this year's Giro, then there was the pressure of the back-and-forth surrounding the possible merger of his Soudal-Quickstep team with Jumbo-Visma, and at the Vuelta, his performance collapsed all of a sudden. Still, and this must be duly celebrated: He became the youngest time trial world champion in history at the UCI World Championships in Glasgow, ultimately prevailing by 12.28 seconds in a battle with Italy's Filippo Ganna. And Liège-Bastogne-Liège also went to him, as well as several stage wins in the Giro and Vuelta. So 2024 can only get better!
4. SD Worx secured the Spring Classics - and the Tour de France to boot.
One of the most exciting teams and one of the most successful ones too: Thanks to superstar Demi Vollering, who secured victories at Ardennes and Strade Bianche, but also due to the incredible performances of Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes and Marlen Reusser, 12 of the 17 one-day races went to SD Worx. The second edition of the Tour de France Femmes followed right after - Demi Vollering wore the yellow jersey victoriously, next to her on the podium stood teammate Lotte Kopecky.
Kopecky's highlight was definitely the Tour de Flanders, where she was considered unstoppable at the latest in the last 18 km. And also in other respects, together with Vollering, she can be called the star of the season with a clear conscience: Second place in the Tour de Femmes, the green jersey and a stage win to boot, gold medals in the road race, points race and elimination race as well as second place in the Strade Bianche join her long list of successes...
5. Pogačar flew through spring.
No other Tour de France winner could have impressed us as much as Pogačar has done this spring: He calmly and consistently prevailed against the best new-generation classics riders, and his stunning sprint in the Tour of Flanders earned him a place in history. Not only as one of only three riders to win both Flanders and the Tour, but also because no one had ever completed the Tour of Flanders in such a short time. In an interview after the race, he said:
If I were to retire after today, I would be proud of my career.
Rightly so. This was proven once again by the impressive attack with which he challenged Vingegaard on the final climb to Cauterets-Cambasque in the Tour de France, even if it was only enough for second place on the podium in Paris.
6. Alison Jackson surprised herself at Paris-Roubaix.
This year's edition - of the already exciting race as it is - really captivated spectators. A first breakaway formed early on and surprisingly maintained its lead consistently. EF-Education-Tibco-SVB's Alison Jackson was among the seven riders who went on to battle across the cobbles well ahead of everyone else and, in what we considered one of the most beautiful moments of the entire season, cheered on her fellow riders with waving arms to hang on and keep going. In the Roubaix velodrome, she finally put in a breathtaking sprint with the last of her strength - and won. And surprised everyone. Apparently, she surprised herself, too.
Jackson after her Paris-Roubaix victory and Pogačar after winning the Tour of Flanders.
7. Jumbo Visma won one grand tour after another.
The fact that Vingegaard once again took the overall victory in the Tour de France was clear from the 17th stage at the latest, when he took a whole five minutes from Pogačar on the ascent of the Col de la Loze... The Dane demonstrated consistent and conscientious performance of the highest order from the very beginning, impressing especially in the time trial and wearing the yellow jersey from the 14th stage - and keeping it until the end. But beyond the Tour victory, Jumbo Visma had an incredibly successful season: Roglič won the Giro d'Italia after an insane performance in the mountain time trial, and Sepp Kuss, after some complicated team-internal - let's call it - "dynamics," was able to win the Vuelta and take the first place on a Jumbo Visma-studded podium - ahead of Vingegaard and Roglič.
8. Scolding for the UCI and gold for Katarzyna Niewiadome at the Gravel World Championships.
At this year's Gravel World Championships, the riders and the entire cycling community were more than upset when, the night before the women's race, the UCI announced that it would not be televised as expected.... unlike the men's race. After intense complaints, the world championship organizers will now be required to produce TV coverage for both races in the future.
Without accompanying cameras by her side, but with even more loyal and cheering fans along the course in northern Italy, Katarzyna Niewiadome won the race after pulling away from favorites Silvia Persico and Demi Vollering on the penultimate climb with 15km to go.
9. Crit gold to the lone wolfs of the American national championship.
In Knoxville, Tennessee, the best of the best American criterium riders competed for the national championship title. Luke Lamperti, just 20 years old, held off strong riders from the Legion of Los Angeles to single-handedly win the race. The women's race was won by Cory Labecki, who hadn't won a criterium since 2016 - but this championship title was the 73rd of her career, so to underestimate the 30-year-old in years to come would be wrong.
10. Biniam Girmay was the only black rider to compete in the Tour de France.
It was the first Tour de France for the Eritrean cyclist and the first time in two years that a black athlete was on the start line of the Grand Tour. Girmay had already won the Ghent classics race and a stage of the Giro d'Italia last year. This season, he impressed most during the Tour de Suisse, when he left Wout Van Aert behind in a stunning sprint in the second stage and rode straight to the stage win. At the Tour de France, he finished 125th in the GC rankings - and while Gimay is undoubtedly an important role model for the new generation and BIPOC rider:ins worldwide, we have to realize that we're not talking about true equal opportunities and diversity in professional cycling and the pelotons of the Grand Tour are still overwhelmingly white... Time for that to change in 2024.
Of course (and fortunately), this year's cycling season has been full of many more beautiful, impressive, touching and motivating moments. If you can think of any that you would like to share with us, our team is always happy to hear from you. And if you need a new bike for the new season, buycycle is the right place to go: After all, we have more than 17,000 pre-owned and refurbished road bikes, gravel and mountain bikes available on our site. You can sell your old ride with us too, quickly, safely and easily! For questions regarding our services we are there always for you and for everything else around the topic of bikes, you best stick around on the blog for a little longer... We wish you until then, as always: Happy browsing, happy cycling!