{"id":35111,"title":"Rijden's review of the 2023 cycling season","description":"The 2023 road cycling season is over, although for cyclocross riders there\u2019s still a way to go, so we thought we\u2019d look back at our highlights of the year. \n\nWe have the unique Rijden cycling awards and a review of how our interviewees have fared.","content":"

The 2023 road cycling season is over, although for cyclocross riders there\u2019s still a way to go, so we thought we\u2019d look back at our highlights of the year.<\/p>

We\u2019ve the unique Rijden cycling awards and a review of how our interviewees have fared.<\/p>

\"ImageWe look back at 2023. Image: Rijden<\/em><\/p>

Just like the UK\u2019s national broadcaster the BBC, there are no actual prizes for our awards but I\u2019m sure the world\u2019s best riders will be gratified to hear we\u2019ve included them.<\/p>

I imagine Mathieu van der Poel is crying into his Lamborghini to learn we\u2019ve left him off the list.<\/p>

Rijden\u2019s awards for 2023<\/h2>

Rider of the year<\/h3>

For me, it\u2019s no question. A rider who won not only the World Championships, the points jersey in the Tour de France as well as finishing second overall but also triumphed at the Ronde van Vlaanderen and fifteen other races.<\/p>

\u201cruthless, tactical calculation\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Of course, I\u2019m referring to Lotte Kopecky, the Belgian cycling superstar. Her ride in Glasgow was not only a demonstration of power but of utterly ruthless, tactical calculation. It would be hard to find fault in the way she rode that day.<\/p>

The only question is whether she can repeat her successes this year.<\/p>

Comeback rider of the year<\/h3>

2020 World Cyclocross Champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvardo looked like a shadow of herself during the 2020-21 season. She rebounded somewhat last season from the illness and injury that has plagued her to score five victories and the Superprestige title.<\/p>

\u201coff the pace of the leading riders\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

But she was still someway off the pace of the leading riders. This year, however, has been a different story. Her strength and skill look like the Alvarado of old, although she\u2019s still only 25 years old.<\/p>

Wins in the World Cups at Namur, Troyes and Dendermonde as well as two other victories means she starts the year in first place in both the UCI World Cup and Superprestige series.<\/p>

Contribution to road racing<\/h3>

Tadej Poga\u010dar opened his 2023 season with a win on the 13th of February and ended it with his 15th victory at the Giro di Lombardia on the 7th of October.<\/p>

\u201cwho knows what he might have achieved?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

He may not have won the Tour de France but he finished second and demonstrated his versatility by winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallone. Had he not crashed out of Liege Bastogne Liege fracturing his wrist, who knows what he might have achieved?<\/p>

And maybe best of all in an era when riders are controlled by the team\u2019s media men (and yes it largely is men) he seems to have a genuine sense of humour, personality and love for cycling.<\/p>

Breakout rider of the year<\/h3>

That Jasper Philipsen was a top-class sprinter was well known before the start of the 2023 season but he\u2019s matured into a real classics rider. It was his rides at Paris-Roubaix and in particular Classic Brugge-De Panne that demonstrated he could become a real force in the one-day classics.<\/p>

\u201cripped the field apart in the crosswinds\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

He ripped the field apart in the crosswinds at Classic Brugge-De Panne and hung on to Wout van Aert to pip the latter in Roubaix. He scored nineteen other road wins during the season including four stages at the Tour de France.<\/p>

Mark Cavendish had better be training hard if he wants to score one more Tour de France stage win.<\/p>

Descent of the year<\/h3>

Tom Pidcock\u2019s descent during the Strrade Bianche was one of my highlights of the Spring classics.<\/p>

\u201cDon\u2019t try this at home\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

He won the race by twenty seconds which was probably what he gained in that daredevil manoeuvre. Replays should have a warning \u201cDon\u2019t try this at home\u201d.<\/p>

Daftest comment of the year<\/h3>

This came from UCI President David Lappartient who in an interview with DirectVelo<\/strong><\/a> suggested that riders who skipped rounds of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup would be banned from the World Championships.<\/p>

\u201ctargeted in particular at Thibau Nys\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

His comments were targeted in particular at Thibau Nys. Lappartient didn\u2019t mention that this was a situation created by the UCI\u2019s decision to dramatically increase the number of rounds of the World Cup.<\/p>

In November 2023 the UCI announced, \u201c\u2026 the UCI has decided to initiate reflection on the participation of athletes in the rounds of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup and other events on the discipline\u2019s UCI International Calendar in order to guarantee the coherence of its major events.\u201d<\/p>

This sounds to me like dialogue from the former BBC television series Yes Minister<\/em>. When the minister\u2019s civil servants realised the minister had announced a crazed policy they\u2019d announce a review which meant it would never happen.<\/p>

Rijden\u2019s year in numbers<\/h2>

What we did<\/h3>

Over the last twelve months, we\u2019ve published 37 new articles and run two free competitions for newsletter subscribers. Our most popular ten articles were:<\/p>