We’ve reached the final vote for Voxwomen’s Sharon Laws Rider of the Year award.
The two riders who received the most votes from the spring poll were Amanda Spratt and Anna van der Breggen. The two riders who received the most votes from the summer poll were Coryn Rivera and Annamiek van Vleuten.
Whoever receives the most votes from this poll will be named the Rider of the Year at the Rouleur Classic, the world’s finest road cycling exhibition, on November 1-3 in central London.
Coryn Rivera
One of your riders of the summer, this season Rivera has built on her 2017 successes to cement her place as one of the supreme sprinters of the Women’s WorldTour. Her overall victory in the Women’s Tour was down to her intelligent racecraft as much as raw speed. Try as she might, even the great Marianne Vos couldn’t steal a march on the American.
As well as being a mighty fast rider, Rivera’s personality – both on and off the bike – helps her stand out from the crowd. It was her aggressive move in the World Championship road race in Innsbruck that brought to life a race that had been somewhat lacking. Has Rivera been your rider of the year?
Amanda Spratt
The only rider to really challenge the dominant Dutch duo this season, Spratt beat both Anna Van der Breggen and Annemiek van Vleuten to the overall prize at the Emakumeen Euskal Bira. She also came close in the Giro d’Italia Femminile, winning one stage and the mountains jersey.
Second to Van der Breggen at the World Championships in Innsbruck capped the Australian rider’s best season to date. Could the Rider of the Year Award be the icing on the cake?
Anna van der Breggen
The Queen of the Ardennes simply rode away from the rest in Innsbruck. As she crossed the line 3 minutes 42 seconds ahead of Spratt, Van der Breggen had time to reflect not just on her first World Championship victory but a whole season of Women’s WorldTour wins that began back in March at Strade Bianche.
Despite still only being 28 years old her Worlds win – by the third largest winning margin in history – felt long overdue and the reigning Olympic champion has now won practically every big race around. Time to add rider of the year to her collection?
Annemiek van Vleuten
Even when Annemiek van Vleuten doesn’t win – which isn’t often – she manages to be superhuman. Only after finishing the World Championships road race did she discover that the crash she suffered with 95km to go had left her with a fracture of the tibial plateau. She came seventh. It wasn’t even the first time this season that the Dutch rider has shrugged off an injury that would have caused anyone else to scratch.
At the Tour of Flanders in April she dislocated her shoulder, popped it back in and still managed to claim a podium spot. In Innsbruck she also retained her ITT rainbow skinsuit to add to her season of successes which included wins at La Course, the Giro Rosa and the Boels Ladies Tour. Is she your rider of the year?
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